Cataracts

Cataracts we see fairly commonly in old dogs. They will also present in diabetic dogs because that is one of the things that happens in a diabetic dog. You get fat deposits in the lens of the eye. The same thing happens in older dogs and cats. Lesser in cats, but it can happen. They are formed from fats coming to the lens and depositing in that lens. The lens is central to the eye. It will still work if you've got fat deposits in there. But the main problem we have with the cataracts is that it can block the lights coming from the front of the eye to get to the back of the eye, which is where your vision is coming from. In a lot of dogs and cats, cataracts are not a massive problem until they become fully formed and completely block the eye, completely block the light coming into the eye.

They don't read books. They don't watch television, so they don't need that fine focus that we need in the things that we do every day. You will find that as they develop, they, dogs and cats, will not cope quite so well in dark situations, where there are shadows or in the evening. So, evening walks might need to be stopped in dogs because it might be frightening for them not to be able to see where they're going. They might bump into things. They're less aware of steps and things that they've got to climb up on. But otherwise, they live perfectly happily in most cases with cataracts. There is the option of having surgery to remove the lens and to then remove that cataract. And that then enables the sight to return in most animals.