When Kaycee Meracle brought Luna the senior dog home from the shelter, she could never have predicted the difficult decision that lay ahead.
Meracle hadn’t planned on adopting Luna when she visited her local shelter in Wisconsin. “I had actually gone in to meet another dog—and I told myself I wasn’t bringing home any more white dogs,” she told Newsweek. “But the moment I met Luna, I knew she was coming home with us. She was incredibly sweet right away, just a complete lover.”
Everyone at the shelter loved Luna, but like many dogs in that position, she’s experienced rejection. “We don’t know much about her life before us,” Meracle said. “What we do know is that she was microchipped, and the shelter tried multiple times—calling, emailing, texting—to reach her previous owner, but no one ever responded.”
There was one more thing that was immediately noticeable about Luna: her eye problems.
“One eye was small and round, while the other was slightly bulging, and both were affected by severe cataracts,” Meracle said. “The shelter advised us to have our vet evaluate her right away.”
Canine Cateracts
Canine cataracts are a sad reality for many senior dogs. A study published in the journal Veterinary Ophthalmology found that by the age of around nine years old, roughly 50 percent of dogs will have developed some form of cataracts.
By the time Luna came to the vets, hers had advanced to such an extent that there was only one option. “Our vet recommended removing both eyes—one needed to come out immediately, and the other would have continued to deteriorate,” Meracle said. Whatever vision Luna had left, would be gone. “Before surgery, she could only see faint shadows. Now she is completely blind,” Meracle said.
Luna had barely been with Meracle a month and already everything had changed. Yet, as time has gone on, it’s become a change for the better. “Luna has adjusted incredibly well. She is still so sweet, and she gets around with confidence. She’s learning her surroundings and trusting us completely,” Meracle said.
Luna’s Life Now
Luna may be blind but she’s more active than ever now. She loves going for walks, design and riding in the car with her head out of the window. Meracle lives on 200 acres of land and woods. It’s the perfect place for dogs to run free and, as she puts it “just be dogs.”
Soon she’ll be headed to Alaska with Meracle for yet more adventures. “We have property on an island,” Meracle said. “There, she’ll get to explore, play in the water, and experience a completely different kind of freedom.”
It’s a remarkable turnaround and one Meracle offered a glimpse of in a video posted to her TikTok @meraclepaws. “We started sharing Luna’s story online because we are building a senior dog retirement community for dogs who are abandoned later in life—after years of loyalty and love,” she said.
Meracle was inspired to create a safe space for senior dogs after seeing too many get “left behind simply because they are no longer convenient.”
“We want to bring awareness to that and show people that when you adopt a dog, it should be for life,” she said. “Our goal is simple—to give them the best golden years possible.”
After a difficult few months, Luna is already well on her way to achieving that goal herself.
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