katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,378 
|
Post by katybee on Aug 3, 2017 21:43:57 GMT
My dog has cataracts and is almost comepletely blind. I'm mad at my vet, because his eyes have been getting increasingly cloudy for the past several years, but she said that was normal aging and wasn't affecting his vision. Well, last year, it was clear he was losing his vision. A new vet joined the practice and she confirmed that he was, indeed, going blind. For a long time, he seemed to be adjusting well. But it's getting worse and I feel like it is now negatively affecting his quality of life. I googled, and there is surgery available. It would cost about $3500-4000. My dog is a shitzu, 13.5 years old and otherwise in good health. Has anyone had had this done in their dog? Am I crazy for even considering it? It's a lot of money, but if it greatly imporove his quality of life, I might consider it... Attachments:
|
|
hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,621
Location: Adelaide, Australia
|
Post by hannahruth on Aug 4, 2017 0:43:13 GMT
I have not done this myself but have heard of others that have and have considered the cost to be worth it. However consideration was given to the dogs age and general health. I know we all want our fur babies to have the best we can provide.
Don't be mad at the vet, the advice given would be the advice for any cataract, so to be given that advice is what I would expect.
If you or I saw a doctor with the same condition we would be told to wait until it had progressed as that seems to be the norm with them. A cataract is a film on the eyes so in that respect 'blindness' is temporary as once the cataract is removed vision is restored.
Thinking about our little fellow, I would at least consider having this done for his quality of life but at this time he is considerably younger. So I guess my answer to you is , no I don't think you are crazy to think about it and if it it within your means then I would seriously discuss it with the vet.
|
|
leeny
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,642
Location: Northern California
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 1:55:53 GMT
|
Post by leeny on Aug 4, 2017 1:22:07 GMT
Ours has cataracts and we decided against it. He is older, a house dog and knows his way around. One eye is fully blind, the other is partial. He isn't complaining, and doesn't bump into things too much. We decided for us, this was not an expense we wanted to have and our dog seems just fine. Plus, given his age, he will probably have other issues at some point, so we are being a bit proactive.
|
|
|
|
Post by PolarGreen12 on Aug 4, 2017 1:37:32 GMT
I have not done this myself but have heard of others that have and have considered the cost to be worth it. However consideration was given to the dogs age and general health. I know we all want our fur babies to have the best we can provide. Don't be mad at the vet, the advice given would be the advice for any cataract, so to be given that advice is what I would expect. If you or I saw a doctor with the same condition we would be told to wait until it had progressed as that seems to be the norm with them. A cataract is a film on the eyes so in that respect 'blindness' is temporary as once the cataract is removed vision is restored. Thinking about our little fellow, I would at least consider having this done for his quality of life but at this time he is considerably younger. So I guess my answer to you is , no I don't think you are crazy to think about it and if it it within your means then I would seriously discuss it with the vet. Their vision is only fully restore if you also pay for the lens implant, just like with humans. That is usually another couple thousand. I've had two Cockers with cataracts. One developed them late in life around age 12. He got around just fine and had drops to aid with any infammation. We did not do surgery with him. At 13 years, as much as I love my pets I would not do surgery unless there was a medical need. |
|
|
|
Post by chaosisapony on Aug 4, 2017 1:54:42 GMT
I would not do most surgery on a pet of that age. There was a time when we got our cats whatever surgeries they needed when they got older. To date, after a procedure, the longest one ever lived was 2 months post surgery. These would be cats around 12-15 years old. My vet said they just can't handle the anesthesia very well when they get older. Maybe it's different for dogs, I don't know but I'd definitely look into the risks associated with putting your pet under anesthesia for something like this if they are otherwise doing well.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dixie Lou on Aug 4, 2017 2:08:26 GMT
My elderly yorkie had cataracts and I decided against surgery. He got around fine.
I paid a butt-load to fight our lab's bone cancer but that was life/death and he was only 8. If I had a do-over on that one I wouldn't do it.
|
|
|
|
Post by alexa11 on Aug 4, 2017 2:23:10 GMT
Louis is 13 and started getting them around 11. He still sees pretty good- hasn't affected his quality of life yet. It's a tough call. I would be afraid of the anesthesia.
|
|
katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,378
|
Post by katybee on Aug 4, 2017 2:32:01 GMT
Louis is 13 and started getting them around 11. He still sees pretty good- hasn't affected his quality of life yet. It's a tough call. I would be afraid of the anesthesia. He goes under anesthesia once a year for his teeth cleaning. The vet says the benefits are worth the risk (for the cleaning). |
|
katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,378
|
Post by katybee on Aug 4, 2017 2:37:12 GMT
I'm going to talk to the vet. I'm not at all saying I'm going to do it. But after a little more research, I found that other complications can happen with the cataracts that we should be watching for/treating, I have noticed his eyes are more bloodshot and he gets eye boogers more frequently. I think that needs to be checked out. His vision is almost completely gone. At first it was cute when he bumped into things. Now it's just sad. He has to go on walks to poop/pee. I recently moved, and he's had a HARD time adjusting to our new route. He falls a lot (he's stubborn and won't always go the way I try to lead him). And stairs are getting hard for him. I have to carry him a lot. It's no fun watching your pets get old.  |
|
|
|
Post by paperamy on Aug 4, 2017 3:36:06 GMT
One of my Great Danes had early onset cataracts in his blue eye (he had one blue, one brown) We opted for the surgery when he was a little over two years old. Less than a year later, we started having aggression problems with him. We tried obedience training, which did not help with the aggression.
About 6 months after starting training, his blue eye became extremely red so we went back to the eye specialist. He was a jackass and said nothing was wrong.
Took him back to our normal vet who put him under to examine his eye and said there was damage that most likely came from complication from
the surgery.
At that time, we had our normal vet remove the eye, and the aggression problems went away.
We think he had pain without visible symptoms, which was causing the aggression.
So, if you pursue surgery, make sure you 100% know everything AND make sure you trust your vets. I will never put a dog through it again. My boy eventually lost most of his sight in his remaining eye, but was happy and pain free. I'd rather my dog be blind than in pain.
Good luck to you and your pup.
|
|
|
|
Post by PolarGreen12 on Aug 4, 2017 3:39:19 GMT
I'm going to talk to the vet. I'm not at all saying I'm going to do it. But after a little more research, I found that other complications can happen with the cataracts that we should be watching for/treating, I have noticed his eyes are more bloodshot and he gets eye boogers more frequently. I think that needs to be checked out. His vision is almost completely gone. At first it was cute when he bumped into things. Now it's just sad. He has to go on walks to poop/pee. I recently moved, and he's had a HARD time adjusting to our new route. He falls a lot (he's stubborn and won't always go the way I try to lead him). And stairs are getting hard for him. I have to carry him a lot. It's no fun watching your pets get old. See if your area has a veterinarian ophthalmologist. That is who is going to give you the best low down. There is only one in our entire state and luckily he has an office in our city. Rocky had two drops he took twice a day till he passed that were for inflammation. One was an antibiotic. He also got his eye pressure checked ever 3 months as glaucoma is a higher risk with cataracts. His eye pressure was a bit elevated but did not get to a concerning level. I'm guessing at his age unless he has advanced glaucoma they won't say surgery is necessary, that it is up to you. So trust your gut. |
|
