Cataracts

[nancyweNW]

I have an older Border Collie mix, Mickey. She is just starting to develop cataracts in her eyes now. One is more prominent than the other. The vet said that they can be removed and that she'll be able to see better but won't be able to focus. Has anyone had experience with this? Price? Any problems? Worth it?

Mickey Mom - Nancy

[cyber-sibes]

Aww, she's beautiful. I don't have any experience with age-related cataracts, but we adopted a dog with juvenile cataracts - Sherman. I researched it a good bit first. We opted not to have surgery because he's adjusted fairly well, and he has pretty good peripheral vision. I think if he could hardly see at all, we might have one eye done. My vet told me that just having one eye done will greatly improve their quality of life. He says most dogs do well if they at least have one good eye. You might want to check that out. I have no idea about cost.

[Pam]

I work for an ophthalmologist and, though dogs are not among our patients, I know that if us humans live long enough we will all develop cataracts to some degree. When cataracts begin to get in the way of a patient's activities of daily living they usually chose to have them removed.

I had a toy poodle with cataracts in both eyes and he never gave us any indication that his sight was a problem. He got along just fine. It actually concerned me more when he lost his hearing. Nevertheless he lived to be 17.

I believe the operation is probably a couple of thousand dollars. A former co-worker of mine had cataract surgery performed on her standard poodle several years ago and I believe that is the fee she mentioned to me.

Maybe your vet could put you in touch with the owner of a dog who has gone through the surgery, and they might share their thoughts with you as to whether it was worth it or not. I doubt that I'd do it unless my dog was experiencing real problems. You would be amazed at how long some humans wait before making this decision and they are out there driving!

[Freedom]

Oh the vet only has HALF the story!!!

Sugar arrived here in Dec 2006, age 9, and just about totally blind with cataracts. We knew this when we adopted her. We also knew we would have the surgery. My vet refered us to 3 eye vet surgeons. We choose the one closest to home, as there are quite a few office visits the 2 weeks after the surgery.

The surgeon looked at her eyes with several high powered scopes. But the test for me was the simple drop test. First the surgeon took a white cotton puff, tossed it up and let it drop to the floor. Sugar didn't move. Then the surgeon did the same with . . . something else, I'll edit this later to say when I remember. Same result, that is nothing. Then the surgeon took a metal tool, tossed it up and let it drop. When that hit the floor, Sugar looked. So she was going by sound, couldn't see a thing and these were 2 feet or closer in front of her.

Sugar had her left eye done Jan 29th. The surgeon did not suggest having both done together, as bichons are prone to retina detachment during the healing process. Sugar was totaly blind in the left eye. Her right eye had about 15% vision, could see some shadows. So that was better than nothing; and if a retina detaches, that is it, there is no solution.

We had the lens implant; it was never even an option with our surgeon, just a normal part of the surgery. Dogs see most things up close -- on the floor -- so of course you want them to be able to focus!

Sugar went in that morning blind . . . and when I picked her up at 4 PM she had full vision in her left eye! Later out in the back yard, she tracked a bird as it flew from one tree to the other in my backyard. Brought tears to my eyes! She chases squirrels and basically has a MUCH better quality of life now that she can see.

It takes 6 months to heal. The first 2 weeks, you are putting in three different types of eye drops, some 4 times per day. Very intense. And frequent office checks as well. Right now, she still has one eye drop once per day, and another check up later this morning. We plan to do the other eye in Sept., Oct., when the surgeon says this eye is OK.

There is no pain with this surgery. But inflammation and infection are high risk and pain will come with either of those. So it is critical that you have the time and ability to do all the follow up drops and office visits. Sugar had some inflammation at the 4 month mark, we had to add one eye drop, yet another med, for one week to heal that. She is doing great!!!

When Sugar arrived, when she ate, she'd leave a lot of food ont he floor. Wahtever she dropped, it was "lost." Now, she cleans the entire kitchen floor, her crumbs AND ours, he he he.

Cost. Well, it is pricey. If you've read any of the threads on vet office visits, you know the prices vary all over the country. I tend to be a high price area. IF Sugar had been a candidate to have both eyes done together, it would have been $2800. It does cost more doing one eye at a time; think about it. They have to anesthatize twice, kennel twice, certain other procedures have to be duplicated. We did one eye, it is $1800. Fortunately, because it was our surgeon's recommendation, the place lets us lock in the price for the second eye (no charge) so we won't hit any price increase over the 8 months or so between the 2 surgeries. At this place, ALL follow up visits are included in that price. So when her eye got red at 4 months and I had to make an unscheduled appt., it was still no charge, all part of the surgery fee. The meds are all billed separately.

By coincidence, my Dad had an eye doctor appt. before we met with the vet surgeon. I asked him about it and he gave me a list of questions to ask the surgeon. By talking it over with him first, I was able to follow the surgeon's discussion MUCH better!

I can't recall all of the factors in doing this. One is age; they won't do this for an 18 year old dog. The risk with the anesthesia is too great. And they won't do this if the dog has diabetes; my vet ran the blood work and faxed it over with the referal, saved us time and money. I think there was another item or 2 before the surgeon would even see us.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions!

[mruffruff]

I am so glad that Freedom posted their experience.

I had a dog that was not a candidate for the surgery. I didn't know it was because of his diabetes, however. Thanks for that info. I got a lot of support and information by joining the wesite at ezboard.com, blinddogs. The people there are a lot like PTers; helpful and friendly.