Puppy Cataracts

**101RRS** · 30th April 2011, 11:37 AM

My puppy is now 14 years old and is a bit deaf and has cataracts. She can still spot a cat at 100m but not the door at 1m - low light she sees nothing.

Things are not so bad at home except she trips over shoes a lot and runs into the occasional door. Away from home she has real problems and needs the reassurance of being on the lead to walk anywhere.

When the problem first arose I spoke to the vet and they said that they just remove the cataract lens but didn't put in a replacement so that while the milkiness would be gone the dog could still not focus. As a result I could not see the point in paying for the operation.

However, I have since found out that the Vet gave me wrong information

and that a new lens can be inserted.

So has anyone had the cataracts removed in their dog and had a new lens put in? Was it successful and how expensive was the operation.

Thanks

Garry

**Randylandy** · 30th April 2011, 12:10 PM

My hound is exactley the same would also be interested.

**LandyAndy** · 30th April 2011, 07:32 PM

Hi Gary
Poor old dog is already 14,not too many years left.Old dogs dont handle the anesthetic too well at all and have a fair chance of not coming around after the operation.
Our last 2 Golden Retrievers had the same problem,they cope really well with their reduced eyesight,as long as you dont change obstacles around without telling them

.We too toyed with the operation on both dogs,money wasnt an issue.They werent suffering in any way just had to makesure visitors were aware of their plight and didnt leave the gate open.
Andrew

**Slunnie** · 30th April 2011, 08:22 PM

14 is ok for the anaesthetic, lots at that age go under and I wouldn't let that be too much of a factor in the decision making process. The question is whats best for the pup. An operation and eye sight, or to be left. If there was time left in the pup (ie not a 14yo great dane) then I'd help the dog out under guidance from the vet.

**101RRS** · 30th April 2011, 08:31 PM

Thanks Andrew - as of right now doggie is in bad books and has been banishd to the back yard for a while - her life revolves around food and if I do not get her dinner when she thinks I should get it, she pees on the lounge room carpet - she does it as payback.

As far as anaesthetic is concerned - she nearly died when she was about 8 getting her teeth cleaned so she now gets a different anaesthetic that is easier on her system.

It sounds as if you dogs coped well - mine does reasonably well but I have a lot of stairs and they have caused problems - last year I think she fell and was paralysed for a week but recovered well.

Thanks

Garry

**p38arover** · 2nd May 2011, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by garrycol

So has anyone had the cataracts removed in their dog and had a new lens put in? Was it successful and how expensive was the operation.

If the technology is there, I would expect it to be expensive. I had it done on my left eye. I was 6 months without a lens in the left eye.

The result of having the lens fitted has been brilliant.

**101RRS** · 2nd May 2011, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by p38arover

If the technology is there, I would expect it to be expensive. I had it done on my left eye. I was 6 months without a lens in the left eye.

The result of having the lens fitted has been brilliant.

$25 in a third world country. My Mum has had hers done and she thinks it is great.

**101RRS** · 8th May 2011, 07:40 PM

New problem with doggie

.

My doggie has always been a companion dog and has free range of the house and outside via a doggie door. She sleeps in the corner of the bedroom and has her own arm chair in the lounge room. She is fully house trained and even at 14 is fully continant.

Over the past year her life seems to revolve around food and she has become very annoying from around 5.30 in the afternoon as she wants dinner. Now I feed her when I get dinner at about 7.

Two weeks ago she peed on the carpet outside the kitchen where she gets feed - I believe as payback for not feeding her when she wanted. She has now done it a further three times all around 6-6.30 at night all on the carpet just outside the kitchen

.

So I start feeding her at 6 and I still have dinner at 7 - but two days running she has now starting peeing just as I am finishing dinner - not only does she want her own dinner at 6, she now wants my dinner at 7.

Any suggestions would be welcome as this cannot continue.

In the absence of better advice - she will be now fed at 6 downstairs in the laundry and then banished outside until bed time. She will not like this as she has never been locked outside in the dark and cold. If she continues to wee in the house then she will banished for all time outside and after 14 years that will be hard for her as she wants to be around people.

Any thoughts greatfully accepted.

Garry

**abaddonxi** · 8th May 2011, 08:41 PM

Two small meals?

**Lotz-A-Landies** · 8th May 2011, 08:56 PM

Not on the peeing and meals issues but on the eyesight.

If you don't get the cataracts removed and replacement lenses inserted, there are a few rules. It's just like with blind people or significantly impaired vision.

Don't move things around the house, or place items in a path the dog usually uses. If you have steps or other obstacles like doors it is good to have them with significant contrast to the adjacent environment, like a thick brilliant white line on the edge of a step against a dark wooden deck. Remember dogs use smell as their primary sense, place something with a unique scent (in your house/garden) next to things like the steps or a doorway. In time the dog will learn to identify the scent and the obstacle.

Hope this helps.
Diana

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