Dry eyes are itchy, and dogs may scratch at them or rub them on the carpet in an attempt to relieve the itch. It starts to produce more mucus, causing a goopy discharge. If that happens, the eye becomes dry and irritated. Tear production tends to decrease with age. Tears, which are produced by the lacrimal glands, lubricate, protect and cleanse the eye. Other age-related vision problems, such as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, better known as dry eye, require aggressive treatment. They compensate by relying more on their hearing or their whiskers. Like dogs, cats adapt well to vision loss. They are more likely to suffer vision loss from retinal diseases, uveitis (a painful inflammation of certain eye structures) or glaucoma. If your dog’s cataracts are so bad that he’s running into things, ask your veterinarian about cataract surgery. Dogs rely more on scent than sight, however, and they can get around very well simply by using their noses - as long as you don’t move the furniture. Cataracts may start to appear when dogs are 6 years old to 8 years old and can eventually lead to blindness. They look like a milky gray film behind the pupil.

The good news is that it doesn’t affect vision and doesn’t require any treatment.Ĭataracts are cloudy spots on the normally transparent lens of the eye. That bluish haze you may see in a pet’s eyes isn’t cataracts, as is often suspected, but the result of a normal aging of the lens. One change you may notice is a condition called lenticular sclerosis, or nuclear sclerosis. Eye diseases are among the most commonly seen problems in older dogs and cats. All of us, including our dogs and cats, find that as we age, our bodies just don’t work as well as they used to. Whoever said that getting old isn’t for sissies knew what she was talking about. Cataracts are a common cause of vision loss in older dogs, but they usually don’t require surgical removal unless the dog is having trouble getting around.

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