Question:
Our 13 year old Cocker has cataracts. When they remove the cataracts, they
leave the dogs without a lens. In human cataract surgery, they replace the
lens, and even then vision may be so so. Does anyone have experience in how
well the dog surgery works?
Answer:
I just graduated from the college of veterinary medicine at Michigan
State University. My last clinical rotation was ophthalmology. I saw quite
a few cataract surgeries. The success rate is quite high for sight after
surgery depending on the stage of your dog's cataracts. First, however, if
they cannot see the fundus (the very back portion) of your dog's eyes to
make sure the retina looks OK, they will want to do an electroretinogram to
make sure the retina is intact. Sometimes a dog can have cataracts and also
problems with the retina, so even if you did the surgery for the cataracts,
they still wouldn't be able to see due to the problems with the retina.
Once they've established that the retina is intact, they will go ahead
with the cataract surgery. In most of the cases I saw, we did place an
artificial lens after removal of the cataract. The only case that I
observed in which there was not placement of an artificial lens was one in
which the lens capsule had become so fragile that it was detached. The dog
did receive an artificial lens in his other eye though. You may want to
check out your local vet. school or veterinary referral service to see if
they perform this surgery with high success rate (MSU's ophthalmologists
quote about 90% success at their school) for sight after surgery and
placement of artificial lenses.
