My sweet dog Bella has lost her sight from cataracts. Those who know her or know of her know that she's a very anxious dog. She has reason to be; she was essentially tortured from the time she was a puppy until she was a few years old. She was being kept in a windowless room in the basement of a parking garage and forcibly bred and otherwise abused by men. When someone found her and called for help, she was so checked out she was nearly unresponsive except for being terrified of daylight, which she hadn't seen for years. The excellent and caring people at the SPCA loved her and were gentle and kind and treated her well, and eventually brought her back to her essential dogginess.

Then she came to live with me! I was thrilled! We took things slowly; Bella doesn't go for big changes or places she's not sure of, and I think it's important not to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. It took six months to get her to go out of my garage on to the driveway, another six months to get to the end of the driveway, and another six months to get to the end of my street, but after that she was ready to go an explore the area.

Bella started having UTIs. After the second one, I got a call from the vet's office saying that she needed to come in the next day for more tests. The tests showed that she had diabetes. Want to know how to get over a needle phobia? Have a beloved pet who needs insulin. It took a while but we eventually got the dosage right and Bella and I negotiated the terms by which she'd accept getting shots twice a day. The terms involve peanut butter.

Diabetes affects the entire body. In Bella's case, it has very quickly given her cataracts, and she can no longer see. Her anxiety has ramped up. She can't get out of the car because she doesn't know how high she is off the ground. She isn't always sure whether she's at the last step, so she jumps and often lands badly -- her feet will go out from under her and her jaw will hit the floor. She stays so close to me that she'll put a foot into the back of the clogs I wear around the house, and since I think my foot is going to be there for my next step and it isn't, I fall. I've fallen down the stairs twice because Bella was so close she was in my shoe - luckily, it was the two steps down to the garage and I just land on my car and not the garage floor so I'm not injured, but I worry about falling down the longer steps inside.

Bella is only about 8 or 9. I think she'll have at least 4 or 5 more years if we make sure her insulin is always on time and keep up our long walks around the neighborhood. I don't want her to live those years afraid of doing things, walking into walls, falling off the bed, and pushing me down the stairs. Cataract surgery is expensive, but given her normal everyday levels of anxiety, and the extent to which her anxiety has skyrocketed, I think it's necessary for her. My dog Chris was partially blind, but he was fine, because he knew that everyone in the world loved him and he'd always be safe. Bella's experience of the world has been the opposite of that, and I can't stand the thought of her being afraid for the next 4 or 5 years. If you would like to contribute for Bella's surgery, I would be forever grateful. If you're unable to do that, your good thoughts are most welcome.

Thank you

Donna and Bella