Every four-legged pet owner wants him to stay healthy for as long as possible. However, like humans, animals often encounter various diseases. Sometimes the ailment appears against the background of the age of the dog, sometimes the hereditary factor becomes the cause of the ailment.
Glaucoma in dogs is quite common. This pathology can adversely affect the quality of life of the pet. If the dog’s eye condition worsens, then the animal’s body cannot function normally. This will lead to additional problems for the owner, who will have to pay much more attention to the helpless creature.
To make a pet feel good even at an advanced age, it is important to learn how to recognize glaucoma in dogs in a timely manner. Therefore, it is necessary to study the signs of pathology, varieties and basic methods of treatment, as well as prevention.
What is glaucoma?
This pathology is an eye disease that appears against a background of excessive eye pressure. This may lead primarily to the lack of drainage of excess fluid in the area around the visual organs. If the eye is healthy, then the regulation of pressure is carried out in normal mode. However, with age, the functioning of many systems slows down, excess fluid begins to accumulate in the eyes. Against this background, blood flow is clamped, the optic nerve, and sometimes even the eyeball, is damaged.
Glaucoma in dogs is a rather dangerous condition. If you do not take measures to treat the pathology, then there is a big risk that the animal will lose vision during the first year of development of the pathology. Of course, such a condition greatly affects the quality of life of a beloved pet. The animal loses its orientation and cannot fully move and eat. Therefore, it is important to determine the treatment of glaucoma in a dog with drugs to improve its condition, etc. as soon as possible. If you expect the disease to disappear on its own, you can cause irreparable harm to the health of the pet.
You also need to consider that some dog breeds are more prone to this type of pathology. For example, such an ailment is most often found in husky, poodle, chow-chow and spaniels.
Forms of pathology
There are several varieties of the disease. The primary form of glaucoma in dogs appears without any prerequisites. This means that the disease does not cause previous problems with the visual organs. In this case, visual impairment is due to other problems.
Secondary glaucoma appears due to inflammatory processes, injuries, neoplasms, cataracts and other problems. Often the cornea of a dog’s eye suffers against a background of congenital pathology. It is worth considering this form of the disease in more detail.
Inherited form
If we are talking about a genetic disease, then getting rid of it is almost impossible. The only thing left to do is pay more attention to the healthy eye. Particular care should be taken by owners of small pets. Eye diseases in small dogs with a genetic predisposition are much more common. However, larger animals may be at risk. It will not be superfluous to study the pedigree of a small pet and clarify whether his parents had vision problems. If such problems have been observed in the past, then special vigilance must be shown.
Congenital glaucoma is characterized by various defects of the optic nerves. If they are pronounced, then they appear in the puppy from the first days of life. Sometimes owners of animals learn about an unpleasant pathology only years later, when heredity begins to make itself felt.
Regardless of the form of pathology, it can be detected in a timely manner. To do this, pay attention to the symptoms of glaucoma in dogs. If you know how the disease manifests itself, then there is every chance to save the eyesight of your beloved four-legged pet.
Symptoms of pathology
At the first stages of development, the ailment is rarely manifested by obvious signs. Because of this, timely diagnosis is much more complicated. Over time, the animal can behave normally. This is because the pet's body is trying to adapt to changes in vision. In addition, there is compensation at the expense of other senses. Thus, an animal that already develops glaucoma uses hearing and its excellent sense of touch and smell more.
However, with exacerbation of seizures, the symptoms become more pronounced. Redness of the eyes in the dog may be observed. Often there is the so-called cobra syndrome. This means that the vessels of the sclera overflow and begin to wriggle more. In addition, tearing of the eyes increases, the cornea becomes more cloudy. Often, one eye is enlarged in an animal. This symptom is commonly called the bull’s eye.
As the pathology develops in the animal, orientation begins to deteriorate, and appetite gradually disappears. However, the main danger lies in the fact that intraocular pressure may increase, and then there is a big risk that the animal will lose eyesight forever. Therefore, do not delay the treatment.
If we talk about minor symptoms, they are so subtle that owners of animals simply do not pay attention to them. The only way to see the beginning of the development of the pathology in time is to periodically bring the dog to an eye examination, regardless of the external condition of the animal.
Reasons for the development of pathology
Most often, animals suffer from this pathology due to age-related changes, so experts recommend that you carefully monitor the visual organs of pets when they are over 6 years old. In this case, it is recommended to visit the veterinarian annually and check the dog’s intraocular pressure.
Also, do not forget that animals, like humans, often suffer from diabetes mellitus, hypertension, diseases of the cardiovascular apparatus and other systems.
Determining the exact causes of the development of pathology is very difficult. To do this, it is best to place the pet for a while in the animal hospital and conduct all necessary examinations. However, do not despair, complete blindness occurs in dogs only in the most neglected situations. If pathology is identified in a timely manner, then there is every chance of helping the beloved four-legged.
Diagnostic measures
Before treating the eyes of a dog, you need to make the correct diagnosis and determine the causes of the development of an unpleasant ailment. To do this, it is best to contact the ophthalmology department of the veterinary clinic, conduct a comprehensive examination using modern equipment. As a rule, in large clinics, experts suggest placing the dog in a hospital for animals, where experienced specialists will be able to analyze the level of intraocular pressure of the pet and assess the condition of the fundus. Additionally, biomicroscopy of the anterior visual organs is performed. The veterinarian also checks the optic nerve discs.
On the one hand, glaucoma is a dangerous disease that can significantly affect the quality of life of the animal. However, it is not uncommon for dogs to live with such a diagnosis for many years and not have experienced serious difficulties. But only an experienced specialist can qualitatively assess the stage of the disease and the possible consequences of its development.
Dog Glaucoma Treatment
After diagnostic measures, the specialist decides how to help the animal. First of all, it is necessary to reduce the level of intraocular pressure. As a rule, special eye drops for dogs are primarily used. The dosage and the drug itself are selected based on the health status of the pet, as well as on the stage of development of the disease. It is forbidden for the breeder to prescribe such treatment on his own because he cannot determine to what level the intraocular pressure should be reduced in order to alleviate the animal’s health.
It is worth noting that modern eye drops for dogs are quite effective. They are convenient to use. In addition, the use of medicinal preparations of this type does not cause much harm to the pet, since drops do not have almost any side effect.
If we talk about how to rinse the eyes of a dog, then a specialist can prescribe several types of drops. For example, there are special anti-glaucomatous drugs that help reduce intraocular pressure due to fluid outflow. Other means are aimed at reducing the production of a watery component. In especially difficult situations, the veterinarian decides to combine several drugs at once.
However, it must be understood that even if the specialist advised how to rinse the dog’s eyes (it is better not to choose the drug themselves), then with regular treatment there is only a 50% chance that negative processes will stabilize. Sometimes it is not possible to save visual functions using such methods. In this case, surgery may be required.
Surgical intervention
If the drops are inactive and glaucoma has reached an acute stage, surgical treatment may be required. In this case, excess moisture is removed from the diseased eye of the pet using a special drainage system (a kind of filter). If, for one reason or another, it is impossible to perform surgical intervention, then the only way to help the suffering animal is evisceration. It is a cosmetic procedure in which a silicone implant is inserted into the orbit of a four-legged patient, which completely mimics a healthy eye.
In this case, the animal goes blind in one eye, but for others such a defect becomes almost invisible. Only if you approach the dog’s face by 20-30 cm, you can see that one eye does not move. Such procedures are in great demand today.
Preventive actions
So that the owner of the animal does not have to face problems of this kind, it is recommended to do everything possible to reduce the risk of developing pathology to a minimum. First of all, it is necessary to introduce special additives into the dog's diet. For example, beta-carotene is a good preventive effect. Vitamins C and E will not be superfluous. Such components help to maintain the visual organs in good condition longer.
The animal’s health problems can be caused even by constant conflicts in the family. As you know, four-legged pets become depressed and experience severe stress if households constantly swear and scream. These are not groundless arguments of specialists, but the real picture. The fact is that against the background of stressful situations in the body of the animal, oxidative processes begin, which are especially active in the ocular organs.
In addition, it is necessary to ensure that during walking the collar does not squeeze the dog’s neck. It is best to use special harnesses that are not able to disrupt blood circulation.
Particular attention should be paid to older pets. It is important to examine the dog’s eyes daily and note any changes in the pet’s behavior. If the dog began to refuse food and behaves sluggishly, this is the first sign that her health has deteriorated. In this case, it is recommended to visit the veterinarian as soon as possible.
Preparations
If the treatment is carried out on an outpatient basis, then a 1-2 percent solution of pilocarpine hydrochloride is used to treat the eyes. Other liquids are also used, the concentration of which is determined by the doctor. Additionally, Glycerol and Diacarb may be prescribed. To try to restore visual function, sometimes Riboxin or drugs of the combined group (for example, Fotil) are used.
Glaucoma Treatment Success
It must be understood that no veterinarian will undertake to guarantee the complete cure of the animal. Of course, a specialist can take measures in order to preserve vision and stop the development of pathology. However, if glaucoma has already passed into the chronic stage, then you will have to spend a lot of money and effort on trying to restore health to the eyes of the pet. Therefore, it is best to stop the ailment at its initial stage.
The success of the treatment also depends on the skills of the veterinarian. If we are talking about an experienced specialist, then it will be easier for him to assess the condition of the fundus and identify an unpleasant ailment. It is very important that the animal undergoes all necessary diagnostic measures. Only on their basis can a specialist prescribe a particular drug or offer the pet owners an operational method to solve the problem.
The good news is that glaucoma usually affects only one visual organ. Pathology does not spread and does not affect the second eye. Therefore, even if it was not possible to save the visual function, the animal can still see halfway. However, do not delay the treatment. If there is no way to go to the veterinary clinic on your own, then you should call the veterinarian at home. In no case should you engage in self-diagnosis or treatment.