Dogs with Cateracts

[Ginn]

We think our old labrador has cateracts and I wondered if anyone else has had this problem, if (and how) it was treated and what the associated costs were. Berk's is about 14 now so we don't want to subject him to a GA etc unless it is really necessary and being epileptic we don't know if that will have any effects on the treatment but if removal is a relatively straighforward proceedure then we will look into getting it done.

 

[GinaB]

My Tinadog had a cateract, she never received any treatment for it. (she developed it at the age of 5/6 ish) However, just around Christmas there it developed glucoma and an ulcer. Vet advised us to have the eye removed so it wasn't taken out just after Christmas. She has been grand although has a cateract developing in the other eye

 

[badgerdog]

My old collie got cataracts when she was about 13 and the vet advised us against having anything done. She lasted until she was 17 and seemed to cope fine, it was the arthritis and old age that got her in the end.

 

[sade1986]

I think alot of dogs develop cataracts, ours have had it and we have never done anything veterinary wise. Doesn't seem to really effect them, suppose it is just like when your eyesight gets a bad. One of ours used to get confused and think things were what they weren't. Like ladies with shopping trollies must have looked like dogs cos he always barked at them!

 

[amarief]

Our old rescue bedlington Skye developed cataracts. She also had numerous other problems when she was rehomed and we advised to leave them alone. She lived to the good age of 14 years old and never had any problems despite the fact that her sight had deteriorated and was not what it used to be. She loved to work and go out on the hunt, only problem was she couldn't see what she was chasing, hehe, she relied on scent and always coped well. It was old age also with her that caught up with her in the end.
At his age in life I would not worry about cataracts, you will be surprised how well he will adapt. Treat him as normal and just enjoy what time you have left together.
AM.

 

[flofis]

just found this site - dog drops
any thoughts/experiences to offer

 

[brightmount]

My dog had a serious eye injury last year, which required the eyeball to be stitched and grafted by a specialist opthalmic surgeon. We were warned that she may develop a post traumatic cataract.

We took her back to the same surgeon for a check up a couple of weeks ago, as she is developing a partial cataract, and the advice we were given is that it is preferable not to intervene to remove cataracts in dogs, as it is a much more complicated and less successful operation in dogs than in humans. (They also adapt to the loss of sight better than humans because it isn't their primary sense.)

The surgeon said that if she lost her sight in the other eye then removing the cataract in the damaged eye might be worth considering, but as things stand, it is best to leave it. She is six years old.

I thought you might be interested in this information, as this opthalmic surgeon is a specialist and there are very few in the country.

 

[star]

there's a big difference between old age nuclear sclerosis which makes the eyes go cloudy and true cataracts. most old dogs with cloudy eyes have nuclear sclerosis and there is no treatment for this. only true cataracts can be surgically removed. vets still call them cataracts because owners so widely use this term but it's not technically correct.