Home-made obstacle course offers early warning on eyesight problems

Tony Smyth's dog Olga developed glaucoma and went blind. 'It happened suddenly. But once I noticed, I took Olga to see the vet,' says Smyth, who lives with 11 dogs in Yuen Long. 'At first I thought, my goodness why didn't we notice this earlier? You feel so disheartened that it came on so quickly ... but sometimes there is no way you can know about it. It just happens.'

To reduce some of the swelling and pain that developed, Smyth treats his seven-year-old Husky with two different types of eye drops three times a day. 'There was some swelling of the blood vessels [in her eye], which is quite painful and itchy,' he adds. Another of Smyth's dogs, Karloff, an 11-year old Husky, is also blind.

'Dogs can become blind when they are young or old; it's the natural progression of life or sometimes unnatural progression. It's stuff that happens to all of us,' says veterinarian Kylie Griffin, at The Ark Veterinary Clinic. She adds, in general, for younger dogs that go blind, the onset occurs much faster than in older dogs. While blindness can be genetic and breed related, Griffin says, other possible causes include retinal inflammation and infection, which can result from a host of incidents from accidents to tick fevers.

If you suspect your dog is going blind, you can perform a quick test at home. Griffin suggests moving around some furniture to make an obstacle course. Then turn off the lights and watch if your pooch bumps into objects. Make your dog do it again and, if you notice any sudden changes in your pet's vision or appearance of the eyes, Griffin recommends a visit to a vet.

Owners may not realise their four-legged friend has a visual impairment until vision is completely lost. She says: 'Dogs can easily learn to walk around the house without being able to see. So with older dogs, some owners won't even notice their dog is blind.'

One of the most common reasons for sight loss is cataracts, the vet says. Cataracts happen when a cloudiness forms in the lens, preventing light from passing through to the retina.