Dr. Lera Clone explains why older dogs develop cloudy eyes, using Max, an 11-year-old dachshund, as an example. Most age-related cloudiness is lenticular sclerosis, a bluish haze from increased lens density that rarely affects vision. It's different from cataracts, which show focal spots and need treatment.
Questions this video answers
Max — 11-year-old male neutered mixed-breed dachshund.
February 26, 2021.
Around 6 to 9 years of age (varies with dog size).
No — Dr. Clone states there is no treatment recommended for lenticular sclerosis.
Chapters
Hey guys. Dr. Larry here today. I am here with Max. Max is an 11 year old male neutered mixed breed dachshund. And the topic of today are these cloudy eyes. As you guys can tell, Max is definitely nervous. So I'm gonna have the lovely Burt go ahead and whisk him off to the Oasis. So the cloudy eyes, most people think that that's cataracts. And the reason that people think that's cataracts I anticipate because that's what most people know most of the time. What ends up happening is it ends up being something called lenticular or nuclear sclerosis. And so that's essentially just a fancy way of saying it's not cataracts. The lens in the eye is kind of like a skittle. And so if you imagine the skittle, what happens is the body will lay down more and more fibers in that skittle or the lens over time. And so it starts to become more dense. And as it becomes more dense then typically it's going to have that cloudy or bluish or pearl like appearance. When you guys see it normally you may not see it as well when you look at it straight on and maybe more from the side kind of thing that you'll see it better. And so the short version of it is, because there isn't a whole lot about this is it's something that is going to go ahead and you will see a noticeable difference. Your dog or cat may not see that big of a difference. They might have a little bit more difficulty seeing things from afar, but for the most part they should be fine, especially in familiar settings. It is something that is typically seen in older dogs, not in something in younger dogs. So I think I want to say between either 6 and 9 years of age is when we first start seeing those kinds of lesions, depending on the size of the dog. And there is, you know, a lot of times we'll see dogs with the lenticular sclerosis and cataracts developing, developing them up around the same time, but there is no correlation or causality. Meaning that cataracts cause lenticular sclerosis or that lenticular sclerosis will cause cataracts. Cataracts can cause glaucoma. There'll be a link at the end of the video for you guys. Go ahead and if you want to learn about that. There is no treatment for the lenticular sclerosis, nor is their treatment recommended at this point. And the way that usually it is diagnosed is when I have patients come in, I will go ahead when I do my physical exam, I'll use my indirect, indirect ophthalmoscope or even the direct ophthalmoscope. So one is a lens that the doctors will hold from a distance and they'll kind of hold a light over here and put the lens right in front of your dog's eye. And then the other one is a one where they hold that thing on their eye and they kind of look at your dog's eyes. And so when we're looking in there, we can actually see whether or not there are like little smudges or like little stars, star shaped things on the lens. If we see little smudges or stars on the actual lens and not the cornea, that is indications of cataracts. By far the majority of the time with my patients, I will see lenticular sclerosis when people actually think that it's cataracts. So it's not something for you to be concerned. Concerned about. It's definitely not the first thing I wouldn't be concerned about cataracts right off the bat. The first thing that I would think most likely would be lenticular sclerosis or nuclear sclerosis. And that is something that usually only your veterinarian will be able to tell you whether or not it is or it is not cataracts based on using one of those instruments. Hopefully you guys found this video helpful. If you did, please hit that thumbs up button. And if you found this video, if you like it, please subscribe. And if you know somebody who needs to watch or want to share it with them, please share it with them. Thanks for watching. Have a great day and be safe.
