By Dr. Anndrea Hatcher
Olive Branch Parke Veterinary Clinic
www.olivebranchvet.com
olivebranchvet@gmail.com

….. although if he manages to wolf whistle, you might have to wonder. Sorry, but eye disease just lens itself to low brow humor. As a pupil in veterinary school, I thought ophthalmology had such interesting sounding terminology, but I’ll try to stay focused on the topic at hand. (You just have to keep a sense of vitreous humor and don’t let the big words sclera.)
How do you know when your pet’s eye problem needs veterinary care? When is it an emergency? Here is a good rule of thumb ... er, eye. If the eye is popped out (exopthalmos), it is an emergency. Those adorable dog breeds with the squashed flat faces (brachycephalic) and overly large eyes can relatively easily pop out an eye if too much pressure is applied. For example, if a child falls on the dog or the dog is attacked by a larger dog. The injured eye will stick out from the face further than the other eye. It will look oddly like a protruding cigar. Blood supply to the eye is rapidly cut off by the swelling. The pet needs to be taken to a veterinarian immediately to try to save the sight or even just the eye.

If one eyeball looks bigger than the other, this is also an emergency. This may be glaucoma, which is increased pressure in the eyeball. It must be treated quickly if sight in that eye is to be saved. The intraorbital pressure can be measured using a digital or Shiotz tonometer. (Don’t those words just roll off the tongue?) Now this is a less obvious ocular emergency, but still one that should be seen within a day of noticing symptoms. If your pet starts winking at you or squinting one eye (blepharospasm), that is because that eye hurts and your pet might have a corneal ulcer. Veterinarians apply fluorescein stain to the eye to check for an ulcer and then can prescribe appropriate treatment. If a corneal ulcer is left untreated the eyeball can rupture (burst descemetocele) and the fluid inside the eye will spill out, like a rotten grape.

If an eyeball ruptures and isn’t treated, it will shrivel up (phthisis bulbi). The grape turns into a raisin. This eye is, of course, blind.

Reaching into the fruit bowel again, an eye condition that can look like an emergency, but isn’t, is cherry eye. It can look like your dog or cat suddenly has a red tumor in the inside corner of her eye, but it is a prolapsed gland in the third eyelid. Although this isn’t an emergency, it should be surgically repaired. If your pet’s eye looks red or bloodshot and has a green or yellow discharge (but no squinting), he may have a bacterial infection (bacterial conjunctivitis) or uveitis. He should be seen by a veterinarian within a few days. Normal looking eyes with a clear discharge are usually fine. Tears may stain the fur of some white haired breeds rust colored. While this may be annoying, it is normal.

Although not an emergency, you shouldn’t turn a blind eye toward cataracts. Cataracts are when the lens of the eye turns white. The lens is normally the clear part that appears as the black pupil of the eye. Cataracts may occur due to trauma to the eye, genetic defects or disease. If cataracts develop suddenly in your pet, you should have him tested for diabetes. Cataracts do lead to blindness. Veterinary ophthalmologists can perform surgery to remove the affected lens and can replace it with an artificial lens. (So your pet can continue reading the newspaper.)

Keratoconjunctivitis sicca! Hyphema! Iris bombe! Synechia! So many cool ophthalmologic words, so little column space! Well, I know I can’t keep going on forevah.