I have an 11-year-old Border Collie who is very fit and healthy. However, recently I have noticed her eyes clouding over. Could this be cataracts? It doesn't seem to have affected her sight in any way, but it is concerning me.
Chris Whitehead, by email
Claudia Hartley, Animal Health Trust senior clinician in ophthalmology, says…
As dogs age, like us, their lenses harden. We call this ‘nuclear sclerosis’ and it is the reason that we need reading glasses as we get older. In dogs, as they don’t have the visual acuity to read, even when in their prime, it doesn’t have any observable visual effects for them. It can make their lenses appear slightly grey or blue though, and this apparent cloudiness can be mistaken for cataracts. Your vet can distinguish between the two for you as nuclear sclerosis will still give a clear view of the retina whereas cataracts obstruct this view so to be sure it would be wise to book an appointment with your vet. Some dogs will develop senile cataracts so this is a possibility, but as your dog appears to be seeing normally I would suspect that this may be nuclear sclerosis.
I have a 10[-year-old Collie X and found the same recently. Lots of people commented on the bluey-tinge of her eyes, so I took her to the vet for a quick check. She is slowly losing her sight due to old age and they will cloud over, but I reccomend you take her for a quick check up if you are worried about her sight.
ReplyDeleteOld dogs get something called nuclear sclerosis, where the eye appears cloudy. It doesn't usually affect their vision, and it's perfectly normal. Cataracts typically look like a bit of white stuff in the eye. If in doubt, your vet will be able to tell the difference.
ReplyDeleteI have a collie cross (maybe!) that has always had kind of cloudy eyes from at least the age of 3. The vet said not to worry as they have always been like that and there's nowt wrong with her sight.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, best to get them checked, especially if it has only just come on. You could catch something early, and if not, put your mind at rest. Heaven knows, dogs give us enough to worry about! The more worries we can strike from our list the better :)
My old collie has had cloudy eyes for years but her vision is still fine (her hearing is a different matter!), and it's not cataracts. A quick trip to your vet ought to clarify.
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