I have noticed that my older dog's eyes are starting to look slightly cloudy. Is this an indication that her eyesight might be worsening?

The most common cause of cloudiness of the eyes in elderly dogs is nuclear sclerosis. The lens of the eye is made up of little fibers and as a dog ages, it becomes denser and more compact with these fibers. This makes the lens look cloudy but it doesn’t seem to interfere too much with a dog's ability to see. There are no nutrients that can help with this so it’s best if you just feed your girl a balanced diet that’s designed for seniors. Some products claim to help this cloudiness but as yet there are no scientific studies to show they make a difference.

There are a couple of other conditions that can make the eye cloudy and they can be serious. Glaucoma is an increase in pressure in the eye and it frequently leads to blindness. Corneal inflammation also results in cloudiness. True cataracts make the lens quite white in appearance and they do affect vision. It would be well worth taking your dog to the vet to have her eyes checked just to make sure it’s just nuclear sclerosis and not something else that could be more harmful.
| 05.27.16 @ 02:59