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Cataract surgery - beneficial or not? - Over the last six months our female has lost her vision. In April we noticed that the left eye had a cataract and the right eye was slightly cloudy. By July it was obvious that she had lost all vision in the left eye. Now she..
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Vox Humana

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Since: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 37



(Msg. 1) Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 2:54 pm
Post subject: Cataract surgery - follow up
Archived from groups: alt>pets>dogs>sharpei (more info?)
I just got back from the ophthalmologist with our female. She was examined
and tested for glaucoma. The vet tells us that she is completely blind, has
bilateral cataracts, and glaucoma. He said that even with cataract surgery,
that she would be blind and that the cataracts will prevent the treatment of
her glaucoma.

He gave us the options of having her eyes removed and the lids sutured
closed or having the contents of the eyes replaced with prosthesis.

She was seen by our vet in December for eye problems, and he did entropion
surgery. She had just turned 7 at the time. There was no mention of any
other eye problems. We noticed cloudiness in one eye around April. She
contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in June and was seen buy at least 9
vets and no one mentioned the eye issue. In Late July she was seen for her
check-up and I brought up the eye problem. Our vet said that there was no
use in getting cataract surgery because it wasn't very helpful. When I
brought up the issue of glaucoma, he dismissed it. I made the appointment
with the ophthalmologist without a referral because I thought there might be
some hope of saving some vision in one eye and I wanted a second opinion
about the cataracts.

The ophthalmologist tells me that glaucoma is fairly common in shar pei, but
cataracts are not. This is an issue that I wasn't aware of. I guess I am in
shock at the moment. One hand, I am pretty amazed at how well she is doing
considering she is completely blind. On the other hand, I just wasn't
prepared to find out that her eyes needed to be removed and that she was
probably in a considerable amount of pain. The vet said that she was most
likely having migraine-like symptoms from the glaucoma. He said that he
recently treated another shar pei with the same condition and that after
removing the eyes, the dog was much more comfortable and active.

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Kasupei

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Since: Dec 01, 2003
Posts: 11



(Msg. 2) Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2004 6:53 pm
Post subject: Re: Cataract surgery - follow up [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
I've heard of a Shar-Pei with eye removal and seen a mini Bull Terrier....both
handled it GREAT. At this point, you can't change the sight but you can change
the pain issue...I think the hard part is to think about a dog without
eyes...but thats a human thing and not a dog thing, bless their hearts...they
are MUCH more resilient than we are!



Karen Kleinhans
Kasu Shar-Pei since 1982
Illinois, USA

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Judi Todd

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Since: Feb 17, 2004
Posts: 25



(Msg. 3) Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 10:29 am
Post subject: Re: Cataract surgery - follow up [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
I agree with Karen. "Most" dogs do very well without their eyesight.
Dogs use their eyesight only as a tool, unlike we humans who rely on it
also as a "pleasure" sensation. A dog's other senses take over and the
loss of eyesight is a minor problem.

I know a breeder who is trying to get more shar-pei breeders to do CERF
testing on their pei to try to cut down on the use of animals for
breeding who have glaucoma as it is a "genetic" problem. CERF testing
your dogs every year is the ONLY way to ensure that affected dogs are
not used in a breeding program.

I had a male who had glaucoma (Karen it was my Nike, Jay's brother) and
he did not handle blindness very well. His personality was such that if
you tried to aid him by guiding him, he felt you were confining him and
he didn't handle that well. So, after MUCH thought and very serious
consideration, I felt it better for HIM to be humanely put down. But
this is the rarety.

I also had a female who had only had sight in one eye from the age of 6
weeks (eye tack knot had scratched her eye very severely and it
shrivelled up) and then lost the eyesight in her other eye from chronic
keratitis about two years before I lost her to other problems. She did
VERY well. You didn't even know she was blind. She'd run in the yard,
run up the deck stairs and as long as I didn't move the furniture, got
along in the house like a sighted dog.

So "each" dog is an individual and must be treated differently. If your
girl is getting along with not much sight now, then removing the eyes or
putting in the prothesis (this is for YOUR benefit, not hers) then I'd
say she should get along very well and continue a productive life.

Good luck with her, and let us know how she does. Whatever your
decision, I'm sure it will be made with LOVE and CONCERN for your girl.

Judi
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Vox Humana

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Since: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 37



(Msg. 4) Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:33 pm
Post subject: Re: Cataract surgery - follow up [Login to view extended thread Info.]
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"Judi Todd" <BlugrassPei.TakeThisOut@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:7067-4162AFE2-499@storefull-3137.bay.webtv.net...
> I agree with Karen. "Most" dogs do very well without their eyesight.
> Dogs use their eyesight only as a tool, unlike we humans who rely on it
> also as a "pleasure" sensation. A dog's other senses take over and the
> loss of eyesight is a minor problem.
>
> I know a breeder who is trying to get more shar-pei breeders to do CERF
> testing on their pei to try to cut down on the use of animals for
> breeding who have glaucoma as it is a "genetic" problem. CERF testing
> your dogs every year is the ONLY way to ensure that affected dogs are
> not used in a breeding program.
>
> I had a male who had glaucoma (Karen it was my Nike, Jay's brother) and
> he did not handle blindness very well. His personality was such that if
> you tried to aid him by guiding him, he felt you were confining him and
> he didn't handle that well. So, after MUCH thought and very serious
> consideration, I felt it better for HIM to be humanely put down. But
> this is the rarety.
>
> I also had a female who had only had sight in one eye from the age of 6
> weeks (eye tack knot had scratched her eye very severely and it
> shrivelled up) and then lost the eyesight in her other eye from chronic
> keratitis about two years before I lost her to other problems. She did
> VERY well. You didn't even know she was blind. She'd run in the yard,
> run up the deck stairs and as long as I didn't move the furniture, got
> along in the house like a sighted dog.
>
> So "each" dog is an individual and must be treated differently. If your
> girl is getting along with not much sight now, then removing the eyes or
> putting in the prothesis (this is for YOUR benefit, not hers) then I'd
> say she should get along very well and continue a productive life.
>
> Good luck with her, and let us know how she does. Whatever your
> decision, I'm sure it will be made with LOVE and CONCERN for your girl.

After getting over the initial shock, we have decided to have the eyes
removed and not get the implants. We realize that there would be absolutely
no benefit to her to get the implants and that they would be a potential
source of problems and would require a fair amount of maintenance. Part of
the shock was finding that she is completely blind. We knew that she was
blind in one eye, but not both. Unless the doctor was wrong about her being
totally blind, I think she is doing exceptionally well. She gets around
without running into things, finds her way outside through the dog door, and
manages to jump up on the bed and couch at will. She has become confused a
few times, but that is very unusual. I guess that having the eyes removed
is an emotional thing that I didn't even suspect would be a consideration.
I did expect the doctor to tell us that she had very limited vision and
would soon be blind, but I was shocked when he told us that the eyes would
need to be removed. This is on the heels of her almost dieing in June. It
has been a rough summer.
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