Question about dog - eyesight

[Minnie824]

We have little poodle - 9 years old - and I think his eyesight is going bad. He could use a haircut, so its possible that its hair in his eyes, but I have 2 examples of whats been going on. When he gets a treat put on the floor in front of him, he doesn't eat it right away....he sniffs around like it takes him time to find it. Never used to do that. Also, we have a recycle bin next to our garage door...we take him out on a leash, and when he was coming in, he jumped right into the orange basket (it was empty) instead of up the stairs.

Now, we're taking him to the vet soon, but was wondering if any of you dog experts think that something may be wrong with his eyes, and if so, what could be done to fix it? Thanks for any information.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yes, sounds like a vision problem. I would take him to an ophthamologist. They can check for cataracts.

 

[tallyfamily]

With my dog, I would approach him from the left side and he didn't know I was there. I took him to the vet who agreed that he was definately blind in his left eye, but said that I would need to see a doggie opthamologist to determine if it is cataracts or a luxating lens (lens detaches and floats around). Then from there we could discuss surgery to remove the cataract if that is the problem, or remove the lens if it is a luxating lens. I'm not sure about the recovery of sight if it is a cataract that is removed, but if it's the lens and it is removed, he will still be blind.

 

[disykat]

My childhood Boston Terrier developed cateracts at age 9 (she could see when we left for vacation, blind when we came
back ) Her eyes definately looked cloudy. She coped quite well once she got used to it. We just didn't rearrange any furniture until after she died at 15.