My beagle has a cataract on his left eye...

Hi everyone. I just started posting on this board recently, just sorta discovered it and I'm kinda hooked at looking at everyone's new daily dog photos. Anyway, cutting to the chase, my beagle Hector (recently DOTD on June 30 -- http://dogoftheday.com/archive/2008/June/30.html) recently (not sure when) developed a cataract on his left eye which my mom and I just noticed tonight. My first questions is, has anyone ever had a dog which had a cataract removed? If so, was it expensive, painful to the dog, etc..?? Please respond. Thank you.

I had a dog with cataracts. I did not have it removed. At that time, which was about 13 years ago it was $800.00 for the operation, and there was no guarantee it wouldn't develop again. I did not have it removed. The dog is in no pain from the cataract and can learn to compensate for the loss of vision (sort of like looking through a window curtain sheer). In some cases the cataract may even break apart on it's own.

It happens to most dogs as they grow older, so I've only experienced it in the older dogs, and they seem to adapt to them very well....

My mom's RB Harley had cataracts and didn't have the surgery.
Like Ginger's mom said, they adapt.

How old is he?

When we adopted Sugar, she was 9 and almost totally blind with cataracts. We knew when we adopted her that we planned to have the cataract surgery. Bichons can easily live to 16 years, so it made sense (to us, anyway.)

She had about 30% light getting in on her right eye; the left eye was totally blind. So the surgeon recommended only doing one eye at a time, in case something went wrong Sugar could still see from that right eye for a time. The old "do no harm" adage applied.

Dog cataract surgery is the same as for humans, except the dog does not wear eye glasses for a few weeks. :p:D In at 8 AM, out at 4 PM. In blind in that eye, out with full, perfect vision! The dogs must think it is magic! The surgery itself is painless. You have a very intensive eye drop regimen for the next 3 weeks, to make sure all heals properly. Infection, swelling, these can cause pain. the drops are all to prevent this happening. Still, Sugar did get some inflammation th 2d week, which meant ANOTHER eye drop added, for 5 days. Our surgeon was terrific, there were LOTS of follow up visits (another time constraint), so we caught the inflammation early on, and it really didn't seem to bother Sugar much.

We also chose to have the lens implant, which not everyone does. Again to us it made sense. Dogs look at many thing close up: crumbs on the floor -- so we wanted her to be able to focus. That added $200 to the fee.

For one eye, in January 2007, it was $2200. That covered all the return visits for one full year, as many as the surgeon - or we! - felt necessary. For both eyes, back then, it was $3200. (You only pay once for the anesthesia, kennel fees etc.) I wish now we had done both eyes at once, but hind sight is always like that, eh?

Sugar had a few other things develop (unrelated to her eyes) and was under anesthesia 4 times in 14 months. That is a LOT, for a 9 year old dog, or a puppy, or a human! So we opted not to proceed with the second surgery.

I don't agree with what Ginger's Mom said, we were told the cataract does not return.
You should have a knowledgeable vet check the eye as some cataracts are signs of glaucoma setting in which is a whole different issue.

I tell you, Sugar went in the morning blind and that after noon at 5 she was out int he back yard tracking a bird as it flew from one tree to another! Brought tears to our eyes! The quality of life for Sugar is MUCH improved by this.

If your dog is young, juvenile cataracts are almost always removed surgically as they pose different issues long term.

Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!