Hi all

Louis the 13 year old CKCS had to go to the vets yesterday and the vet noticed that his eyes were cloudy and he has medium cateracts.

She also noticed his "scillaries" (sp?) were loose meaning he may be at risk of a glaucoma and we have to look out for bulging eye or closed eye or acute pain symptoms.

Just wondered if anyone had experience of cataracts and how long before he might lose his sight, and also how likely that the glaucoma will happen/how scary or bad it will be/  any experience of this?

I am also worried as he is already deaf so if he goes blind, how will he manage?

Am hoping someone can put my mind at rest a bit!

Cheers
Alex

Have no experience of glaucoma but my 14 ½ year old Cavalier is both deaf and blind. It's not much of a problem. He obviously has to be on a lead during walks so we use a Flexi, when he has to go outside etc at home we go and touch him and then he follows us. When food is on the go his nose tells him!! He's coping really well and it's not bothered him at all what with it being gradual processes it won't come as a big surprise all of a sudden.

Thanks Marianne. Does he wander around the house alright without bumping into things? Can he sense where youa re by your smell or do you have to let him know if you are changing rooms?

Cheers

Re the glaucoma side, I had a girl who had the worst score for testing for glaucoma.  At 13 she had her last yearly eye test and I was advised that she would never get glaucoma now with her being the age that she was.  She died at 15, still seing wonderfully and never getting it. 

So in reality it's hard to say, but just so that you know even a dog diagnosed as being likely to get glaucoma doesn't mean that they will.

> Does he wander around the house alright without bumping into things?

Don't know about Marianne, but I have a positive experience of a blind dog.  I had a Toy Poodle years ago that had to have one eye removed, and the vet said that sight was going in the remaining eye.  I started talking to him while out on walks, using the word careful when we reached a pavement or obstacle.  Once blind he coped admirably, and I could actually go running in fields with him loose, as long as I kept talking to him, so he could stay close.  He trusted me completely, and we learned to get about quite well.

He already knew the layout of the house and garden, and I just never moved the furniture, so assumed he got about from memory.  Then the upheaval of a house move came, and friends said it was cruel to move him.  Not so!     He moved to a house with a very much huger expanse of garden, and I couldn't believe it when he made his way round the perimeter, keeping close to the sides, and sniffing as he went.  He did just find, and lived to a ripe old age.  It can be done! 

Hi perrodeagua, thanks that's reassuring, hopefully he won't actually develop it fingers crosssed!

Hi JeanSW thanks for your comments, hopefully Louis will be alright as long as his sense of smell is intact! Sounds like kI don't need to worry as much as I thought about him bumping into things. BTW I love toy poodles! Cheers

One of my old boys went blind very suddenly in one eye and then lost the sight in his second eye over a few months. He coped really well and no-one realised he was blind until we told them.
We just made sure to keep things as regular as possible at home, didn't move the furniture around and also had a few of our doors hung differently so that he had better access.
The funniest thing about him was that he went from being a boy who never begged or even looked at you when you were eating to just taking the food right out of your hand...I think he thought it was just floating in mid air with no-one attached.
He also went practically stone deaf around the same time but as my dad commented 'funny how he can hear a rustling poke!' (thats a bag to those not familiar with west of Scotland terms). I think it was selective deafness.

Thanks Bostontea that's really reassuring as well, especially that he coped well even though it was relatively sudden onset.

I like the story about the magic levitating food

My dog was 5 yrs old when she got Glaucoma, she was a nervous dog in general before she lost her sight, She had it in both eyes one eye to the point the pressure was so high she had the eye removed and the other eye was treated with eye drops....We did try treating both eyes but because one eye was worse it was agreed the eye would be removed, at first i didt know how we would be having a dog with one eye but it made no diffences to her in the sense she was blind from the Glaucoma....The vet was amazed that I had said she was noticing the postman again walking past etc from long distances and after having the eye out the other eye improved so much !!!

all i would say is we found it really daunting and up setting at first but she manged really well around the house and still used to be let of the lead on her walks in the field and once treated she was so happy again and er self, sadly when she first starting going blind we did not notice as she had no effects that were visable apart from it didnt help was that it was november and there were loads of fire works and we thought her quiet behaviour was due to being scared and it was until she started tripping over the kerb we picked something up

anyway good luck!!