Blindness is the loss of vision in one or both eyes. It can occur gradually or it can also be acute. Most owners will not be able to pick out early signs of gradual vision loss because the animal can adapt to and memorize its surroundings.
Blindness in Dogs Causes
A number of things can lead to blindness in dogs. Some of these can occur acutely while others are chronic.
- Cataracts
- Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA), Cerebrovascular infarct, stroke
- Dry eye syndrome
- Encephalitis
- Hypoxia, a condition where the body is starved of oxygen resulting in tissue death and irreversible brain injury.
- Lens displacement with glaucoma
- Neoplasia, this may be benign or malignant
- Progressive retinal degradation
- Retinal detachment resulting from malnutrition
- Retinal detachment with congenital causes
- Severe entropion
- Severe pannus
- Severe uveitis
- Sudden acquired retinal degeneration
- Toxicity, lead poisoning and other toxins
- Trauma, head trauma or a traumatic avulsion of the optic nerve
Symptoms
Most of the dogs taken to the vet with owners complaining of sudden blindness with find that it is not acute blindness at all. Chances are the dog has been losing its vision for a while but has been able to memorize its surroundings.
Often, it is only when total vision loss occurs or when the dog is brought to a new place that they start to exhibit symptoms.
Some symptoms to watch out for include the following.
- Becomes lost in the backyard or inside the house
- Gets easily startled and may act fearful
- Has a hard time finding food or water dishes
- Decreased amount of play or interaction with humans and with other pets
- Inattentiveness
- Increased sleeping
- Occasional clumsiness of bumping into new things
Treatment
Treatment is going to depend on the actual cause of the blindness.
- Keep the arrangement of the backyard or the inside of the house the same to avoid confusion.
- Keep water and food dishes in the same place.
- Keep the pet from scratching the eye, especially if the eye is painful because of it is inflamed because pawing at the eye can make it worse.
Treatment for a canine blindness is going to depend on what is causing the issue in the first place. Surgery may be necessary if there is retinal detachment. A course of antibiotics is prescribed for blindness related to an infection.
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