Sorry to hear this-I know what you are going through as my Kerry Blue terrier bitch Cherry has cataracts. We went recently to the specialist vet at Fakenham and she shocked me after she examined her as she said she was completely blind in one eye and poorly sighted in the other yet I had been doing agility with her!

She is off soon to the other specialist vet practice in Newmarket where she willbe examined to see if they will do a cataract operation. She is 9 but very fit an happy.

How old is your dog?

Fortunately we have insurance for Cherry but for the 6 years I have had Cherry and Parker if I had saved this money spent on insurance I would have had about £3,000 and I know when Cherry's policy comes up for renewal it will probably be unaffordable.

I wish I had put the money in to the vets each month as other people have said they do on here.

Best wishes for your dog-I think they cope better than us with these things as they just adjust. We certainly didn't think Cherry's eyesight was as bad as it is.

Such a shame, Emma. Hugs to you and to the delish Isla x0x

I am so sorry to read about this, it is very sad but on the plus side as Kerryowner hinted at - dogs do adjust extremely well to loss of sight; much better than us humans. Obviously if things get worse, then precautions have to be taken to ensure her safety and peace of mind.

Give her a cuddle from me, and good luck with her.

We realised that my welsh collie had very poor eye sight when she was about 5. It was a guy in the pub that said she was blind but believe it or not she was so good that we didn't believe him...that was until she bumped into a parkd car at full pelt and nearly knocked herself out.
We took her to the vets and he said that she had cataracts in both eyes and was probably born with them.
Luckily she was insured so we took her to Manchester to have one operated on. Loads of drops later (!) she definitely improved.
She's now 11 and her operated eye has very little eyesight in it now and she's completely blind in the other eye.
However she runs around like a looney with my other dogs and it really doesn't bother her at all. It really is amazing how she's adjusted.
I hope everything goes ok with your fur baby. Please try not to worry....dogs are very resilient creatures. xxx

Thanks hun. It was sooo close though, after being given the all clear in her eye test by the vet the previous March I was all set to mate Isla the following February. Isla didn't come into season as planned so I had her retested in March when she was due - which showed the cataracts. She could so easily have come into season in Feb and been in whelp when the cataracts were diagnosed in March. If I ever met that vet again I'd probably shoot her to be quite honest.

Thanks, me too.

Thanks luv.

It's surprising how well they cope isn't it? There are instances when I look back and now think "Hmmm, that may be because of her eye sight...". For example she lost me on a walk the other day which was very strange, plus she seems to find it quite hard to locate balls thrown into the sea now, but then she always has been a bit dizzy when it comes to balls in the sea so perhaps I'm putting too much emphasise on that one!

Isla was 4 in May, she is insured but I doubt they'll pay out as I think her previous test will go against her (even though she wasn't diagnosed with cataracts at the time). The vet I use now has been very helpful though so I'm still a little hopeful. If the insurance won't pay then it's bye, bye nice car, hello old banger!

I'm sorely tempeted to do what you suggest as even though insurance can be a life saver, it's not much of a life saver when they look for every loop hole going to avoid paying.

Thanks hun.

Thanks.

Thank you.

I think this could also be the reason they don't want to operate just yet as I have heard that the cataracts can grow back. Not sure if that's true though?