However, for this to happen, you need to know what to look for, and act quickly.

How To Tell If Your Cat Has Poor Vision

Here are the common signs of vision loss or blindness in cats:

• Bumping into things they should be able to see
• Dilated pupils (large black eyes)
• Sudden anxiety about moving around or going outside
• Crying or aimless wandering
• Blood in the eye or a cloudy eye

The cat pictured above has a dilated pupil, but even that is not as wide as we typically see in a blind eye. Often you can barely see any of the usual yellow or green iris colour.

The actual cause of blindness does not always come on as suddenly as it seems. Cats can cope very well with poor vision and it’s often only when the lights go out completely that you will notice.

The Causes Of Sudden Blindness In Cats

There is a long list of possible causes of blindness in adult cats, of which only two are common.

• Hypertension
• Anterior uveitis
• Damage to the eye or its nerve supply
• Tumours anywhere along the vision pathways
• Progressive retinal atrophy or PRA
• Cataracts
• Glaucoma

Of these, eye damage can be from head trauma secondary to car injury or lacerations from cat fights. PRA is a genetic disease causing retinal degeneration, and only likely in young purebreeds (I saw my first ever case just last week in a Toyger). Tumours are rare (often iris melanoma) and cataracts and glaucoma even rarer (these diseases are explained here).

Of the two common causes, anterior uveitis is seen as a red, painful or cloudy eye that’s no longer clear inside. The cause is usually an immune response to infections like FIV, FIP or toxoplasmosis. It needs to be treated quickly to avoid blindness but is usually quite obvious.

The one I want to focus on in depth is feline hypertension. This is the most likely reason for sudden blindness in older cats and its effects are often reversible.

How Hypertension Causes Blindness

Hypertension, or raised blood pressure, is common in old cats. It’s often secondary to kidney disease or hyperthyroidism, but also occurs on its own. If untreated, it can cause two things to happen the eye:

1. The retina (the light sensitive layer) separates from the rest of the back of the eye. This is retinal detachment.
2. Blood vessels burst leading to bleeding inside the eye or on the retina. The blood then blocks vision.

The picture shows a severe case of retinal detachment. You can see a widely dilated yellow pupil, and the greenish bulging retina in the middle.

Treatment Of Hypertension

My experience is this: if retinal detachment is detected while the retina is only partly peeled away, it will reattach once the blood pressure is controlled. In other words, cats who are brought in as soon as the problem is noted have a very good chance of their vision being restored.

When we see a disease known to be linked with hypertension, we will measure blood pressure. I saw such a cat a few weeks ago with blood in the eye. Within a few hours we had tested her and started her on antihypertensive medication. Her blood pressure is now normal, and she’s made a full recovery.

Medication for high blood pressure in cats is only once daily, cheap and generally very effective. Of course, we always check the response after a few weeks just to be sure.

So the take home message is not to overlook even the slightest hint of eyesight problems. While cats can live happily even after losing their sight, for many of them, it never needs to happen.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

In this article you will find the best evidence we have for:

• colour perception,
• ability to see detail,
• light sensitivity, and 
• long and short-sightedness

And before I go on let me say that I’m also very interested in cats; I just wish there was more information. However, my feeling is that what’s true for canines will also be true for our feline companions.

Let’s dive in!

Dog Colour Vision

Dogs see colour. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s just that their perception of a colour won’t be the same as ours. 

The retina of a dog’s eye contains short-wave (blue) and long-wave (red) photoreceptors, but not the medium-wave (green) ones also found in humans. For any given wavelength of light, what dogs see will depend on how the brain processes the two signals.

For example, we know that dogs can discriminate between all three primary colors and grey. Where they are likely to differ is in complex or nuanced colours, which they probably won’t pick out as clearly as we do.

Does it matter? Almost certainly not. In the everyday ways dogs use their vision, there’s probably no difference between us and them. 

Dog Visual Acuity

Where humans do have a clear edge is in our ability to pick out details. It’s thought that dog vision sacrifices fine detail for the ability to see better in low light.

Studies don’t completely agree, but humans are thought to perceive detail around two to four times better. This means that you should be able to recognise a face at two to four times the distance that a dog can.

Before you get too cocky, don’t forget that dogs have remarkably better hearing and smell. This is probably why they still seem to recognise individuals at greater distances than us.

Light Sensitivity

While humans do better in good lighting, dogs have it all over us as soon as the light intensity fades. The main reason for this is that the central part of their retina contains many more light photoreceptors and fewer colour ones.

The second reason dogs see better in low light is the reflective layer you can see at night or in flash photos. It’s called the tapetum lucidum (“shining carpet”) and it functions as a natural mirror in the eye.

When light strikes the retina, the part that isn’t absorbed gets bounced back through for a second pass. The reflected light will be just a little scattered, hence a loss in detail.

Higher light sensitivity might explain why dogs are much more affected by ‘photo bleaching’ than us. Dog owners should be aware that dogs going from a bright to a dim environment will take twice as long as us to adjust. 

Dog Vision Defects

Have you ever wondered whether dogs experience long and shortsightedness like people do? Well the answer is, yes, and it’s very much dependent on the breed.

I can do no better than present this table from an excellent recent study. To give perspective, my myopia of -3 dioptres means I can’t recognise a face over 5 metres away.

Prevalence Of Long & Short-Sightedness In Dogs

Stunning, isn’t it? I would be very interested to know if these dogs are less trainable or more anxious as a result. It changes how we think about certain dog breeds.

And that in fact is a larger point to consider. Dog vision has probably evolved in different breeds differently. Sight hounds like greyhounds probably do have good vision, whereas toy and small breeds need it less. And within the same breed, dogs from working lines are likely to have better vision than those from show lines.

Understanding both the abilities of dogs to see, and the possibility that some might not see well can only help us relate to them better. There is so much still to know.

Related: How Dogs Hear Human Speech

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

References

Byosiere, S. E., Chouinard, P. A., Howell, T. J., & Bennett, P. C. (2018). What do dogs (Canis familiaris) see? A review of vision in dogs and implications for cognition research. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 25(5), 1798-1813

Kubai, M. A., Bentley, E., Miller, P. E., Mutti, D. O., & Murphy, C. J. (2008). Refractive states of eyes and association between ametropia and breed in dogs. American journal of veterinary research, 69(7), 946-951

Of course, puppies can and do get more than one sort of eye problem. I’ve put a list at the end of all the common causes of eye discharge in dogs. Feel free to take a look and then come back.

Now let’s get to that puppy problem.

The Other Eye Discharge In Puppies

Sleep, goop, crust, booger. Just some of the delightful names we give to what you can see arrowed in this Cavoodle. It’s something that new puppy owners ask me about regularly.

What you are looking at is a hard, dry, brown accumulation below the inside corner of the eye. It builds up on a daily basis in many haired breeds but especially:

• Cavoodle, Spoodle, Schnoodle, Labradoodle
• Any Poodle or its cross
• Lagotto, Spanish Water Dog
• Maltese, Shi Tzu, Lhasa Apso
• Yorkshire Terrier

I could keep going, but you get the idea. All of these breeds share two features:

1. An upright face and a high forehead
2. Hair under the eye

The concept is simple: the shape of their face causes some tears to spill over the lower eyelid and end up trapped in the hair. These dry out and pick up dust, creating the classic ‘sleep’. If that’s the case, all you have to do here is pick it off each day, and get your groomer to keep the hair short.

Importantly, there’s minimal wetness, both eyes look exactly the same and the eye is not red or sore. Therefore, probably the most important question you could be asking right now is: “how do I know when an eye is painful?”

Signs Of Eye Pain In Dogs

In addition to having an ocular discharge, a dog with a painful eye will either:

• Slightly close the eye
• Blink frequently
• Paw or rub at the eye
• Be quieter than usual

None of these should be happening with the examples above or below.

Eye Discharge In Pugs & Bulldogs

A similar thing occurs in the short-faced breeds. Tears also tend to spill over their eyelids, in fact usually even more. This time, there’s no hair to trap them, but something even worse: a skin fold.

Although almost normal for some individuals, constant wetness on the face can cause skin fold infections. Therefore, many Pugs and French Bulldogs are better off with a thin smear of barrier ointment in the fold each day.

If infections keep happening, these dogs often do best with a bit of minor surgery to reduce or remove the offending fold.

White Dog Tear Staining

Then if any of these breeds are light coloured, you also get what we can see in the picture at the start: tear staining. This probably bothers owners more than anything else. I only have one piece of advice for you: join me in not seeing it!

Owners of such dogs need to learn to normalise the appearance, or it drives them crazy. Sometimes it even pushes them into doing silly things like using harmful or unnecessary cleaners, or useless dietary supplements. The only thing I suggest is keeping the hair short.

The way I see it, some breeds just have tear streaks. As long as the skin underneath is healthy, it’s only a cosmetic issue. And it’s so normal to me that I seriously don’t see it until an owner points it out.

Is It A Blocked Tear Duct?

To finish, it’s time to tackle a common misconception. Almost none of these dogs have blocked tear ducts.

I get asked occasionally to flush the tear ducts, mostly based on a Google search. I’ll do it, but the ducts usually work just fine. It’s the shape of the face that’s the issue.

Note I said issue, not problem!

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

Causes Of Ocular Discharge In Dogs

Descriptions (and pictures!) for all of these can be found in our page on eye problems. Tip: turn your phone sideways to see it better.

What is a Grass Seed?

The grass seed that causes most problems in dogs comes from a weed called barley grass. It sheds little awns called foxtails that have a sharp point and tiny barbs for attaching to the hair of animals.

When a dog walks past, the grass seed sticks to the dog and the point starts working its way into the body.

How Are Grass Seeds Dangerous To Dogs?

Grass seeds can become lodged in many places in dogs. In order of frequency, these include:

1. The paw
2. The ear
3. The nose
4. The eye
5. The body

More places I’ve seen them go have been in the gums, the tonsils, the vagina, the chest and the abdomen. In other words, basically anywhere.

What Do Grass Seed Problems Look Like?

I’ll go through each of the common places and show you what to look for.

A Grass Seed in a Dogs Paw

Does your dog have a blister or red bump on the top of the paw that’s being licked constantly? In the right time of year, the most common cause is a grass seed. The picture at the start shows the classic appearance of a seed in the foot.

Prevention: check between the toes after every walk and keep your yard free of barley grass. In country areas, dogs may need to be kept near the house. If you have a hairy dog like in the picture, ask your groomer for ‘poodle feet’ in Spring.

It’s a great idea for puppy owners to get their pup used to foot handling from the very beginning. Gentle handling accompanied by praise and treats will make later inspections a breeze.

Removing Grass Seeds From The Paw

If you find a seed between the toes shortly after it attaches, you can easily remove it with finger and thumb. Once the seed has disappeared and all you see is a small hole, only a vet can remove it. The procedure requires deep sedation, pain control, the correct tools,  and an experienced hand. You’ll see me remove one in the second video.

This video shows how grass seeds move and then how to check paws.

A Grass Seed in a Dogs Ear

A dog that suddenly starts frantically shaking the head and scratching or rubbing the ear often has a grass seed in the ear canal. This is especially true if your dog doesn’t normally get ear infections. If the seed isn’t removed an infection will develop within a few days.

Prevention: avoid unmown areas of long grass when seeds are present. Unlike the feet, grass seeds enter the ear so quickly that checking usually isn’t going to prevent one getting in.

Removing Grass Seeds From The Ear

Only a vet can remove a grass seed from the ear. The less squeamish among you can watch me remove one below. This is for vets only: without the correct tools and an unconscious dog, any attempt will be useless. It will also cause severe pain and damage hearing.

Beware: just because your dog appears to improve does not mean that the seed has gone. Dogs are masters in hiding pain and will ‘get used to’ anything. I have seen grass seeds left in ears for years, always causing permanent damage. I have never seen one come out by itself.

A Grass Seed in a Dogs Nose

Dogs have a violent and prolonged bout of sneezing when a grass seed goes up their nose. It usually starts suddenly and is severe enough that dogs bang their nose on the ground when sneezing.

Prevention: like for ears: all you can do is avoid access to seeded and unmown areas of longer grass.

Removing Grass Seeds From The Nose

The size, complexity, and length of a dog’s nose make it a challenge to remove grass seeds. Under anaesthetic, we pass a scope until we can see the tips of the awn hairs. Then we grasp them with ‘alligator forceps’ (yes, that’s really what they’re called).

A Grass Seed in a Dogs Eye

A grass seed lodged in a dog’s eye just looks like any severe eye infection or conjunctivitis. The difference is that if it stays there, serious damage to the cornea can ensue.

Prevention: like for ears and noses: other than staying away from unkempt areas, it’s a case of rotten luck when it happens.

Removing Grass Seeds From The Eye

Please never attempt to remove a foreign body from the eye, even if you can grasp it. It may have perforated the cornea and you are risking severe eye injury. The video shows me removing one under local anaesthetic once I had judged it to be safe.

A Grass Seed in a Dogs Body

The best clue to a grass seed in the body is a firm, painful lump or abscess. Often there will also be blood or pus draining from a small hole. Removal is a surgical procedure under general anaesthetic.

Prevention: keep hair short and combed to prevent grass seeds from attaching or hiding in the coat. Check through medium- and long-haired dogs after walks.

I’m a big fan of clipping long-haired breeds in Summer. Despite what you’re told, the coat always grows back properly unless there is a medical problem.

Can Grass Seeds Kill Dogs?

Yes, although it is rare. A grass seed on the body can sometimes migrate into a vital area, especially the chest. In here it causes a severe infection called pyothorax.

Once the infection takes hold it is extremely difficult to find the foreign body that caused it, even for specialist surgeons.

Which Dogs Get Grass Seeds?

The chance of problems depends on a dog’s coat. Although all breeds can get grass seeds, long-haired non-shedding dogs are at a much higher risk.

Think of all the animals that have been brought to Australia and New Zealand in the past 200 years. Just about all of them went feral very quickly, except one. The sheep.

Without regular shearing, sheep don’t make it. They are dependant on us to keep them going. And so are our long-haired dogs.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

Thanks to the owners of Hillary and Oliver for allowing their procedures to be shared.

The use of non-veterinary drugs is a common question from pet owners. When is it a good idea to give your dog human medications? Sometimes, surprisingly, it is. Just not that often.*

Here are the top over the counter (OTC) drugs you can give, and a few you definitely can’t! Plus some guidelines for safe and appropriate use. See full disclaimer below.

Dog Antihistamine Dose Chart

Antihistamines can be used in dogs to reduce the signs of allergy. The following antihistamines appear safe in dogs (note that Benadryl is no longer sold in Australia as diphenhydramine tablets).

These doses have essentially been worked out by trial and error and often scaled down from human doses.

Bad stuff: We don’t know why, but dog allergies respond very poorly to antihistamines. Even the best (cetirizine) only helps 20% of dogs. The response may improve if combined with EFAs (see below) and it’s worth trying a few before giving up.

Aspirin, ibuprofen, Naproxen for Dogs

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like these work well in humans with minimal side-effects. This means we get a lot of questions about using them in dogs.

Bad Stuff: Please don’t use these drugs at all. Human anti-inflammatory medications are almost universally toxic to dogs. A single dose of Nurofen or Voltaren can be fatal, and survivors are left with permanent organ damage. Even aspirin, although used in the past as a blood thinner, is not recommended.

The veterinary pain medications are the only safe option. Read about effective treatments for arthritis in dogs here. If your dog has taken any human anti-inflammatory, contact a vet immediately. See also paracetamol below.

Carsickness Treatments

Mild motion sickness in dogs can be treated with Phenergan or Benadryl antihistamine tablets (see doses above) which may also cause mild drowsiness. Ginger products used for people also appear safe.

Bad Stuff: Most dog owners don’t see much success. Nowadays the only good drugs for car sickness are prescribed at the vet. Dramamine was great but was taken off the market due to problems with human abuse.

Read a lot more about stopping car sickness in dogs here.

Cough Suppressants

Dextromethorphan is an ingredient found in many human dry cough treatments. We often use it to comfort dogs with kennel cough at a dose of 5, 10 or 20mg depending on the dog’s size (usual dose 0.5-1 mg/kg twice daily). Just make sure that the product you use contains no other drugs.

Bad Stuff: You need to be 100% sure that the cough can be safely suppressed. Click here for the common causes of coughs in dogs. If it is caused by lower airway infection, heart disease or a foreign body then suppressing it is very dangerous. Even when the diagnosis is confirmed to be kennel cough, antibiotics usually work faster so please see your vet first.

Diarrhoea Meds

PAW Digesticare is an OTC veterinary probiotic and prebiotic food supplement. Combined with a bland diet, it helps restore the normal gut bacterial flora and can assist with some diarrhoeas. We supply either sachets or you can purchase a whole tub.

Vets use binding products to help reduce the unpleasant symptoms of diarrhoea. These include bismuth sub-salicylate, kaolin or montmorillonite. All are fairly harmless but you might have trouble finding them as they aren’t used much in people.

Bad Stuff: Home treatment is only appropriate for bright and happy, fully vaccinated adult dogs with mild diarrhoea of no more than a few days duration. They need to also have a good appetite and no blood in the stool. Although I understand why frustrated owners may resort to it, there is no place for Imodium in canine medicine. If symptomatic treatment doesn’t work, it’s off to the vet.

Ear Drops for Dogs

Epi-otic and similar veterinary ear cleaners are an essential part of good preventive management of problem ears. Aqua ear can be used to dry the ears of frequent swimmers and prevent infection. Except for these, there isn’t much.

Bad Stuff: OTC ear drops are over-used and frequently abused.  They are only appropriate for prevention, not treatment. None will fix even the mildest problem so don’t be fooled by your dog’s ‘improvement’. They are just learning to live with the pain. Most ear drops permanently damage hearing if the eardrum is ruptured, and are always painful in diseased ears.

Read a review of over-the-counter ear cleaning solutions here.

Eye Drops for Dogs

Human artificial tears and OTC antibiotic eye ointment can be used in dogs.

Bad Stuff: The use of these products without a diagnosis masks serious disease and could lead to loss of the eye or loss of sight. Glaucoma, dry eye or corneal ulcers look the same as conjunctivitis without testing.

Glucosamine for Dogs

Glucosamine and chondroitin supplements for arthritis can be given to dogs with a very low risk of side effects. Doses are assumed to be similar to that of a human of the same size.

Bad Stuff: There is next to no evidence that glucosamine works in pets. Read here about the caregiver placebo effect and more effective arthritis treatments for dogs.

Laxatives for Dogs

Lactulose is a safe and effective laxative suitable for prolonged use in most dogs. It is sold as a liquid in pharmacies and given at approximately one teaspoon per 5kg body weight. The dose is then adjusted to give a faecal consistency neither firm or sloppy.

Paraffin oil can also be used at similar doses but must be mixed with food, and is much less suitable for long-term use.

Bad Stuff: For every five dogs that owners think are constipated, only one really is. Unless you’re certain (e.g. your dog always gets bound up after chewing a bone) it’s best to confirm the diagnosis first and rule out more serious problems. Severely bound up animals will need a proper enema, and I don’t mean Microlax.

Melatonin for Dogs

Melatonin is commonly advocated as a mild and safe sedative for dogs.

Bad Stuff: Evidence is sorely lacking for its efficacy, and the only ‘melatonin’ sold without prescription in Australia is homeopathic. How they can even claim it’s really melatonin is beyond me.

Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids

There’s very solid evidence for the benefit of omega 3s in dogs. They are proven to reduce signs of dermatitis and may play a role in reducing cardiac arrhythmias. They are safe and often well-tolerated by dogs at a dose of 1 g fish oil per 4-5 kg bodyweight.

Bad Stuff: Although they are useful, omega 3 fatty acids do not exert a strong effect in most dogs. Don’t give up too soon though; they can take 3 weeks to show an effect. They should be avoided in dogs prone to pancreatitis.

Pain Relief for Dogs

So what can you give a dog for pain? The best of a bad lot is paracetamol, sold as Panadol, Calpol or Tylenol (called acetaminophen in the US). It is sometimes used by vets at a dose of 10 mg/kg twice daily.

Bad Stuff: My strong advice is to avoid paracetamol unless it’s impossible to get to a vet. Paracetamol is nowhere near as safe or effective as pain meds made for dogs. It is extremely toxic to cats.

Skin Creams

Hydrocortisone 0.5% cream (e.g. Dermaid) is available without prescription. It can be used for areas of minor irritation or allergy.

Many antifungals (e.g. Canesten) can be used in pets.

Bad Stuff: Do not use creams on broken skin, and always be aware of how much is being swallowed by pets. You could easily reach a toxic dose by reapplying creams that are licked off. It’s best to fit an elizabethan collar if using and see your vet if there isn’t rapid improvement. Prolonged use can cause skin damage.

Fungal infections in dogs are very unlikely. If it looks like ringworm, it’s usually bacterial. The best thing for this is our magic pink chlorhexidine disinfectant scrub (available OTC).

Vomiting Suppression in Dogs

Bad Stuff: Antiemetics & antacids should never be used in dogs without veterinary advice. If your dog is vomiting, there is usually a good reason, and suppressing the vomiting is probably not the best answer. Antacids are used commonly in people but have almost no place in canine medicine.

Disclaimer

None of these drugs has been properly tested for safety in animals so pet owners need to accept that there may be unknown and possibly serious adverse effects. Always check first with your vet if these medications are suitable for your dog and be very careful if your pet has any other health problem or is on other drugs. Doses in mg/kg are estimates only; a 20kg dog X 2 mg/kg diphenhydramine would receive 40mg.

*Why Are Vet Drugs Different?

There are four reasons why most animal drugs don’t get used in people and vice versa.

1. Different diseases: many of the common problems of dogs or cats are rare in humans
2. Different drugs: even when the disease is the same, another medicine may work better in animals
3. Different metabolism: many drugs successfully used in people have a ridiculously impractical half-life or dose, or actually are toxic
4. Different legislation: for reasons lost to me, but possibly related to points 1, 2 & 3, companies often release separate drugs onto the veterinary market than the human one

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

If A Dog Has A Cataract

1. Don’t panic: most of what are called ‘cataracts’ are part of normal ageing
2. To check for true cataracts you need to see either a vet or an eye specialist
3. Senile lenticular sclerosis does not cause blindness and needs no treatment, whereas cataracts require removal to restore vision

Now dive deeper.

Is It A Cataract?

Many owners of older dogs with hazy eyes  get told that their dog has cataracts, and then live in fear of their dogs going blind. The truth is most of these dogs have nothing of the sort.  After reading this, you can be the one to correct the next giver of bad advice.

Cataracts do happen in dogs and are probably at least as common as in people. When they occur they are very important, both as common causes of bindness and signs of other important diseases such as diabetes and progressive retinal atrophy (PRA).

However, the vast majority of dogs said to have a cataract instead have ‘senile nuclear sclerosis’ (or lenticular sclerosis). This is the condition which proves to me more than any other that we are not supposed to live forever.

What Is Senile or Lenticular Sclerosis?

As we age, our lenses continue to create new layers from the inside of their capsule. This creates an onion-like effect, with older layers moving towards the centre. The problem is that despite the new lens material being produced on the edge, the lens cannot get any bigger. Therefore, the lens becomes more and more dense in its centre, or nucleus.

By about 8 years of age, this dense nucleus starts getting visible, and as the dog ages it reflects more light, giving the dog’s eyes a bluish-grey look as in the picture above.  The trick is that most light still goes straight through as normal and the dog’s sight is hardly affected if at all.

What Does A Cataract look Like?

It only takes a quick visit for a vet to tell the difference by seeing if the retina is visible (as in nuclear sclerosis) or not (as in the cataracts seen here). You can also see in this picture of mature cataracts how the lens has irregularities and it much whiter than the earlier picture.

If you are concerned by advice from others about your dog’s eyes having cataracts, please don’t lose sleep as it is much more likely that they are wrong. However, do make an appointment with your vet just to be sure. Cataracts eventually cause blindness but can be removed by a vet eye specialist to restore vision. That’s what the pictured dog had after this photo.

Importantly, cataracts caused by diabetes need to be treated very early before they swell up and rupture their capsules. This can lead to severe uveitis and an inability to implant the new lens.

What Happens When Dogs Go Blind?

Another myth worth tackling is that a dog going blind is a big problem. Most owners don’t notice their dog’s blindness, and the dogs don’t seem to mind as long as they can sniff their way through the day.

If all this sounds a bit blasé, try to see the world from a dog’s point of view. Unlike humans, vision is probably their third most important sense. If you really feel like messing with your mind, read more here on this concept of ‘umwelt’. It might just change how you see animals!

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.