Question:
My vet recommended a dog ophthalmologist who wants 2500.00 to perform cataract
surgery on my poodle. Is anyone aware of a school who does this type work by
students at a cheaper rate?
Answer:
I don't know of any that will do it at a reduced rate. Is there any way you
can arrange a payment plan with the Ophthalmologist? Or set up fundraising
campaign? In deciding to go through the surgery there several things you
should consider, the age of the dog, how well he/she is cooping with visual
impairment and how hard recovery will be on him/her. If your dog is not
experiencing any pain, a blind dog can still live a long and happy life without
vision. They rely much more on their other senses then they do vision (I have
a malamute with glaucoma who is doing just fine except running into an
occasional tree). My girl has had surgery because glaucoma is very painful,
but I have a friend with a shitz zu (sp?) with cataracts who decided against
surgery and Yuppy is doing very well. If you decide against surgery, there is
a wonderful support list for blind and visually impaired dogs, with over 900
members. It's at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blinddogs/
If you decide for surgery, you might want to look into IMOM's blind dog fund.
They won't pay for the whole thing, but will help you with fundraising once you
fill out an application and try all other options. It's at:
http://www.imom.org/
