Cataracts

[Bunch]

General area for discussion on cataracts - do any of your Lhasas suffer with this, do you breed with cataracts, do you eye test for cataracts?

[Bunch]

When I had Honey and Lexi eye tested recently, I was advised to ask specially for testing for cataracts. I asked for this because cataracts can also cause blindness. Had Lexi's test come back that there were positive signs of cataracts irrespectful of the GPRA being unaffected, I would have declined from breeding her as cataracts can end up as the same result as blindness. xx

[dieselsmummy]

Most cataracts in dogs are inherited. The cataract may develop rapidly over weeks, or slowly over years, in one or both eyes.
Like humans, dogs also develop cataracts with age (often after 8 years of life).
Cataracts can also develop in dogs with diabetes mellitus or in orphan puppies on an artificial milk replacer diet.


Once a lens has developed a cataract, there is no known method to make the lens clear again. Immature and mature cataracts can be treated by surgically removing them.

The procedures and equipment used to remove cataracts in dogs are the same as those used in humans. A small incision is made in the eye and a hole is made in the capsular bag that holds the lens. Phacoemulsification is then performed, in which a special probe ultrasonically emulsifies and removes the cataract. After the entire lens is removed, an artificial replacement lens, called an intraocular lens or IOL, is placed in the bag. The eye is closed with extremely small sutures. Because even the slightest damage to structures in the canine eye can have disastrous effects, the surgery is performed under high magnification using an operating microscope. If both eyes are affected, usually both eyes are operated on at the same time.

[Bunch]

I hope none of my three ever have to go through this in the future. Although on saying this, if they needed to, then of course it would have to be performed.

I have seen dogs who are blind and I feel so sad when I look at their eyes as I wonder if at any time something could have been done to save the sight xxxxxxxx