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What are dog cataracts?
Cataracts are a dense opacity (cloudiness) in the lens of the eye. The normal lens is clear and transmits light onto the retina in the back of the eye. A cataract will block this transmission, leading to vision impairment or even full blindness.
What are some signs that your dog might have cataracts?
On examination, you may see a blue, gray or whitish color change in the center of the eye. This should not be confused with nuclear sclerosis, an aging change that causes cloudiness in the lens but does not cause blindness. Dogs with cataracts will often bump into things or be hesitant in unfamiliar environments. They often don't want to use stairs or jump. They may appear disoriented or even acutely blind in some cases.
What are the treatment options?
Currently, the only treatment option for cataracts in dogs is surgical removal of the lens. Your veterinarian is likely to recommend a visit to an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) for a thorough evaluation of eye health and vision before being considered a candidate for cataract surgery.
How do cataracts form?
Cataracts are frequently inherited in the dog. Over 40 breeds are predisposed to getting them. Cataracts form for a variety of other reasons, including trauma, diabetes, and nutritional imbalances during puppyhood. They also can be secondary to other eye diseases. In these situations, the lens becomes damaged, which leads to the development of a cataract that can progress very rapidly or very slowly. Vision impairment ranges from mild to complete blindness.
Is there a prevention for cataracts?
There is no medication or lifestyle change that can prevent cataracts. If you have a dog with a genetic predisposition to cataracts, perform weekly at-home eye exams and contact your veterinarian if you detect any changes. Early diagnosis and treatment of eye problems in any dog will help prevent damage to the inside of the eye which could cause cataract formation.
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I stongly disagree that there is no preventive measure. I was in Florida and a lady had goggle like sun glasses on her pet. Just like humans, pets need protection from ultra violet ozone depleted light. I wish I would have done surgery for my poor doggy.
Actually Karyn, the "Doggles," or sunglasses for dogs unfortunately will not prevent cataracts. There are certain disease such as Pannus, which is common in German Shepherds that can be helped or prevented with goggles, but not cataracts.
My 15 Year old 5 pound Yorkie has this disease. My question is, when do I have to have her put down. She is actually bumping into things now, but other than that, she acts normal. It will hurt me so badly. Am I being selfish and thinking only of myself or should I go ahead and do it for her own good. She is so precious and still looks like a young puppy. What do I do??????
If bumping into things is the only problem your little Yorkie has, there's absolutely no reason to put her down. Just don't move things around in your house and she'll gradually adjust and stop bumping into things. Dogs are amazingly resilient and can be perfectly happy without sight.
Joyce: I've had 2 dogs become blind. As long as I didn't move the furniture they did quite well. Even on walks outdoors (on leash of course) they learned the voice command "watch out" and they'd stop and sniff to figure out where the problem lay. They adjust much better than we do to the whole problem.
I have a Yellow lab " Jake " who at about 6 months started running
in to things and not catching his favorite ball..we took him.to a vet
and they told us he had
degenerative retina desease.... at first I thought I would have to
put him down and my family was heartbroken... he is such a sweet boy.
but, he is almost 7 years old and totally blind he is a happy guy..
you would not even know he is blind... we even found a ball with a
bell in it so he can play .. he has adapted so well, he truly is
amazing
Hi,
Please don't put your dog down. My cockapoo was 15 and recently passed away. She lost her eyesight about 7 years ago from retinal degeneration and adjusted great. It was a gradual loss so she had time to "get use to it" There sense of smell gets them everywhere. She was fetching balls even after she went totally blind. In her last few years of life she also lost her hearing. If your dog is otherwise doing well, she will still have a great quality of life. Sheckels died a month ago and I think about her everyday.
MY 17 YR OLD YORKIE IS ALMOST TOTALLY BLIND. CAN THESE CATARACTS BE REMOVED? I WONDER HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST? ANYONE EVER GET IT DONE ON A DOG. SHE IS HEALTHY OTHERWISE.
I had my 6 y.o dogs cataract removed by a specialist and then had an intraoccular implant inserted. He sees just fine! He will need to have the other eye done in about a year. The surgery was reasonable. I say go for it. Find a good vet ophthalmologist and
Before you allow some quasi "EXPERT" vet, who wants to charge you $3000/eye or more, as a couple who did almost everything we could, to keep our 17 year old dog in pretty good health otherwise, MAKE SURE YOU GO TO AN ENDOCRINOLOGIST, or even get an opinion from a vet who doesn't have a monetary reason for performing cataract surgery. In older dogs, they have what looks to us like cataract, with a cloudiness over the eyes...I discovered this is normal and it's call Nuclear Sclerosis..and it's part of the reason your dog's vision get increasingly worse. But remember one thing, if some GROSSly money hungry eye surgeon tells you it's Cataracts and others tell you, if your dog can get around without hurting him or herself, TAKE THEIR ADVICE!
We lost our dog to GROSS negligence on the part of an alleged Canine Opthamologist who GROSSLY misdiagnosed our dog's problem, as he did not check out his endocrine problems which were actually the MEDICAL cause of our dog's vision loss. Tiny blood vessels can go into spasm from a number of other conditions, Diabetes, or Adrenal and sometimes Thyroid problems. All I'm saying is, give your dog the benefit of OTHER opinions, before you believe just one EXPERT--your dog won't be able to tell you how much they'd love you, if you get their diagnosis correct. And not that moeny would be an issue, if you end up getting both eyes done, you could (like we did) end up spending $3500. per eye.
No amount of money could bring our guy back; but his surgery is what made him get so bad, we sadly put him to sleep, from the side effects of surgery and poor diagnoses. God Love our Dogs.