Tao, a 10-year-old blind golden retriever just got a new friend. Another puppy! And not just any puppy, but a puppy named Oko who helps him get through the difficulties he's facing due to his blindness. Tao has been on Instagram for a while and has more than 14 thousand followers, but suddenly, a few months back, a new dog, Oko, started appearing in almost all of his pictures - out on walks with him, sleeping with him, eating with him, and generally looking like he's helping him navigate life more easily, and we think it's one of the most adorable things in the world.
TimesNowNews reports that Tao's owner, Melanie Jackson, first realized that Tao had a problem with his eyes in 2019. She took him to the vet where "it was advised that one of his eyes needed removal." She found out there that Tao had glaucoma and both his eyes. Eleven months after the operation to remove one of his eyes, his second eye unfortunately needed to be removed as well.
Melanie Explained that "[i]t began in February 2019 - we had a normal morning. Everything was absolutely fine. But you just know when the dog is not his normal self. By the night, he was in the most pain I have ever seen so we took him to the vets. He was scratching his face. I said: 'You are going to think I'm mad - but Tao has lost his sight'," adding that "[t]he pressure was so high in his eye. We didn't have any other choice but to have the eye removed."
and friend in Oko of course. We are so glad to see these two dogs together, making each other happier. Puppies are a never-ending source of joy in the world. For more puppies making a difference in people's lives, take a look at this puppy who was given to a 4-year-old cancer patient by a 6-year-old cancer survivor.
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