Poodles & Eye Diseases

• Cataracts are one eye disease that can effect the older poodlestandard poodle with ball image by MichMac from Fotolia.com
  
  Despite their fancy looks, poodles are hardy dogs that were once used for retrieving items from water. The Poodle Club of America states that poodles are ruggedly built dogs with even tempers and generally good health. However, there are some health issues a poodle owner should be aware of, including congenital and degenerative eye diseases.
  
  

Optic Nerve Hypoplasia

• Optic nerve hypoplasia is a congenital disease that can be inherited by all types of poodles. ONH occurs when the optic nerve fails to develop correctly in one or both eyes. It can cause blindness and abnormal pupil response.
  
  ONH is typically suspected at birth and is diagnosed by an opthalmoscopic examination. There is no treatment for ONH, but it can be prevented by not allowing affected dogs or dogs that are closely related to breed.
  
  

Progressive Retinal Atrophy

• The term "progressive retinal atrophy" includes many types of inherited disorders that deteriorate the retina. The type of PRA that effects toy and miniature poodles is generalized PRA. Generalized PRA includes early onset photoreceptor dysplasias and later onset photoreceptor degeneration. In both cases the photoreceptor cells of the eye do not develop normally and a complete loss of vision will occur suddenly or gradually.
  
  PRA may be diagnosed by an electroretinogram if the disease is suspected.
  
  There is no treatment for PRA and dogs with this condition should not be bred.
  
  

Cataracts

• Cataracts are one of the most common ocular diseases is dogs. Typically, it is only older poodles, eight to 10 years of age, that suffer from cataracts, but they are occasionally found on younger dogs. Cataracts appear as a bluish or silver-grey covering over the cornea. Untreated, cataracts can cause partial or total blindness.
  
  Surgery is the recommended treatment for cataracts and success rates are high. However, general anesthesia must be used for canine cataract surgery, so only healthy dogs who can withstand anesthesia are candidates for treatment. Unfortunately, this sometimes rules out the older dog who may have other health complications that contraindicate the use of general anesthesia.