# Cataracts in dogs - rescue dog problem



## CazD (4 July 2013)

I've just taken on a rescue dog from my local rescue kennels. I was aware she had crap teeth and agreed with the kennels that I would stand the cost of a dental for her.  I took her to the vets for her 2nd vaccination and have just been told by the vet that she has cataracts starting in both eyes!  The vet has said it is a case of just monitoring them for the time being but that if they get worse then the dog will go blind.  

Does anyone have any idea of the cost of a cataract op?  I'm guessing we are talking £1k plus maybe??  What if I do nothing - would she cope with being blind?  WWYD??


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## Amymay (4 July 2013)

WWID? I'd ask the vet for an idea on costs and go from there.

I'm sure people will say that a dog will cope with blindness.  I'm not so sure. But I dont have any experience of it .


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## sheddy00 (5 July 2013)

I have a jack Russel that got cataracts at 5 yr old.. she went totally blind by 7.. it doesn't bother her at all. You just don't have to move anything in the house or garden. She comes for regular walks an follows us everywhere. She has learnt what to me means and can avoid puddles and obstacles by listening to my voice. She plays with her toys and can even fetch a ball by listening to where it lands..she is11 now, and leads a full and happy life.her hearing and sense of smell made up for her missing sight. Operating on the cataracts were going to cost over4000. Vet told us that they may shrink with age to give her some peripheral vision but that has not happened yet.when you are out with her we have to explain that she is blind to people who want to stroke her as they never guess.she regularly chases our Labrador around biasing him about.. she leads a fuller life than many sighted dogs


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## CazD (5 July 2013)

Sheddy00 thank you so much for your reply.  That has helped tremendously.


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## dianeholmes (12 July 2013)

I have been looking into dogs with visual impairments as we maybe taking on a puppy born with congenital eye problems (breeder is waiting to see if they clear). Vision is a dogs third most important sense after smell and hearing. Dogs cope well with loss of vision especially when it happens slowly. Many owners rush their dogs to the vet worried they have gone blind and it often emerges the dog has been blind for sometime, has learned it's environment, then something changes (somebody moves the sofa etc) and the dog walks into something.

Dogs have a capability we do not have - they can create a map of their world in their brain and use that to get around safely. Their eyesight in daylight is actually poorer than ours but much better at night (comes from their woolf ancestry to enable hunting at night). Their other senses sharpen and develop to compensate for reduced sight.

A friend who is a vet took on a dog brought to the surgery to be put down because of cataracts and the op cost her £1200 but that was with a lot of things free because it was done at her work place. The cost was for the specialist surgeon and consumables, so I suspect it would cost a lot more at full cost.


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## JillA (12 July 2013)

Like sheddy00 I had a dog (cocker spaniel) who went blind gradually over months and yearsin old age - he coped withut any trouble at all so long as he was in a familiar environment. Dogs rely on their eyesight a lot less than we do anyway - hearing and scent are what matter more to them. He'll be fine, don't tiptoe round him, let him find his own way. Sudden blindness is something altogether different but with cataracts his sight will deteriorate gradually giving him chance to compensate. Good luck, he is a lucky dog.


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