My Boston is 11 and has glaucoma. We have been using eye drops and his numbers have been relatively good. Unfortunately, he has lost most of his vision. The vet Optomologist thinks that his loss of sight is due to his cataracts and she wants to remove them.
I took him to another specialist for a second opinion and he said not to remove the cataracts because they would just complicate the glaucoma.
He also said that Boston’s have a 40% higher chance of complications with cataract surgery along with glaucoma.
I’m torn as to what to do.
Anyone else have any experience with this issue?
We too are experiencing the exact same thing. Bobby is 10.5 years old, he was diagnosed diabetic in January, now into June and he started going blind 5 days ago. He too has cataracts and decided ourselves not to operate due to his age and with a heavy heart also due to the cost. Today I would say he is totally blind.
What we are experiencing is Bobby sleeps much more soundly at night, in the morning he is very hard to rouse and once up he is totally disorientated for about 1/2 to 1 hour. From then on he switches from moving very cautiously to running around in the park without a lead.
He has always walked without a lead so we are encouraging his confidence by letting him off in the safe park and calling him or just talking so he can hear and follow our voices.
Hi Judy – my Bassett Hound was diagnosed with glaucoma at 5 years of age. After countless vet visits, adminstering eye drops 3 times per day, pressure spikes, pain, and eventual vision loss we made the decision to remove both eyes in June 2023. One year later she is doing amazing. She is happy and pain-free. It has been a learning experience for all of us but seeing her thrive has been worth it. Even though it was a terribly difficult decision to remove her eyes, it was the right decision and she is better off. Dogs are incredibly reiliant and your pup will adapt wonderfully. We have found that keeping a consistent routine is very helpful and keep him engaged with toys, playing, and talking to him.
Our 4 year old Australian bernadoodle has been diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes a year ago. We made all the arrangements to have them removed and before the surgery he developed glaucoma also so no surgery. He is almost totally blind. Just wanted to hear others experiences living with a young blind dog.