It is possible it is in reaction to the medications. But you will never know until the neuro can take a look. Weird behavior can be a sign of a brain tumor.

Prednisone makes one hungry and thirtsy. Also frequent urination. Maybe she eating the paper because of the prednisone?

Fingers and toes crossed that she'll be okay soon.

Definitely the prednisone. It makes them VERY hungry and VERY thirsty, so you are also probably noticing a lot of drinking and urinating. They eat anything they can get to. Perfectly well-behaved dogs have been known to steal food from countertops, plates, even their owners hands. Once the pred is decreased, the side effects wear off pretty rapidly.

Thanks everyone... however the newspaper eating isn't the result of the Prednisone, she started it the day she went blind, 2 days before starting the drug.

I'm guessing it's stress-related. She's coming along a bit, it's pretty amazing to see her pace around the living room learning to avoid furniture. She does bonk her a head a lot, so I'm using "Oops!" when I see her heading straight at something, and she's learning to curve her body and slip right past the obstacle.

She still gets lost a lot, but she's trained me to respond to a single sharp load bark that means, "I'm stuck - come get me!"

We did a rush job to cover the inground pool yesterday so she can now noodle around in the back yard safely. And when I came home from an errand, she trotted (slowly!) from around the couch, wagging her tail - first tail-wagging I've seen since this whole thing started on Monday morning.

Thanks for your good wishes.

Susan

Susan-can't offer any advice about the newspaper chewing, but wanted to share some advice with you when you are not at home. We put our SARDS dog in her crate whenever we were not home after finding her stuck a couple of times up on returning home. It became her safe place. I hope the blindness is temporary for your little one, but if it isn't, it isn't the end of the world. You have already seen over the past few days how wonderful they adapt. Most people who met our SARDS dog never realized that she was blind. Good Luck,
Linda

11 years after you posted this, my little dog has virtually the same symptoms (aside from eating newspapers). Her treatment mirrors Poco’s as well. Can you tell me how things resolved? Thanks!

WOW - blast from the past... I'd forgotten I even launched this post all those years ago! Somehow the wrong dog name got associated here - this story was about Penny. (Poco was our other JRT.) As it turned out, the likely culprit according to the vets was a brain tumor. We had her tested by a neurologist who attached electrodes to her head to measure whether the optic nerves were responding normally. They were, and that pretty much left a brain tumor (or other brain issue) as the only option. And the sight loss had actually started at least several months before... we eventually recalled a strange incident when we parked next to a big field near sunset for walkies, and Penny absolutely refused to follow us or leave the vicinity of the car. Totally out of character for our bold little athlete. But now we realize that we were walking off away from her straight into the setting sun, and she probably couldn't see a thing with her already failing eyesight.

Unfortunately Penny did not adapt after all to being blind and pretty much stopped initiating any activity. I can't recall the complete sequence of events after all of this time, but we did feel the need to put her down within a few months. She was a wonderful soulful funny girl and much missed.

Funny story - we got her from a breeder at around 12 weeks old. She had previously been sold to another family and returned (not sure why, maybe the funky bony "knob" at the base of her tail made her not perfect enough for them). When the breeder called after a few days to see how she was working out we told her that we had named her "Penny"... she paused and then said, "That's funny, that's what the other people named her!"

nerdnase, I hope your dog turns out to have a treatable diagnosis!

Susan

Thanks very much and so sorry to know Penny had a tough time at the end. Pups are often the family members that cause the least friction and provide the most comfort. (No pressure to read further, but if you’re interested in Gigi’s experience, some of it follows). Again, thank you for responding after all this time has passed.

I’m quite sure that Gigi’s vision has been slowly deteriorating for at least the past year — she would display odd behaviors, so I’d thought on multiple occasions, ‘can she see me?’. But, then she’d be able to track small movements in low contrast toys or treats, and erase that thought for a while. I asked the neurologist about the likelihood of a stroke or tumor, but the staff & students fairly uniform positivity & avoidance lead me to think they’re directed to be positive. I do hope they are correct, but pragmatically, I’m leaning less in that direction — there have been no noticeable improvements in the weeks post prednisone.

Fortunately, this nine pounder is fairly intrepid despite blindness — she careens about in the house and yard like a furry cue ball — I envy her resilience. (Goggles on order because she’s fairly adept at removing her cone).

Susan, I’m glad you have happy memories of sweet Penny and thank you. ~ Steve