What is Retinal Detachment?
Animals suffering from this condition often display vague symptoms such as anorexia and lethargy, if your pet is displaying signs not typical of him it is vital that veterinarian consultation is sought quickly. These generalized signs are often the first symptoms for underlying conditions that may progress rapidly without prompt treatment.
Retinal detachment can be caused by a range of factors such as congenital defects, inflammation, trauma and vascular diseases. This condition is the separation of the retina from the retinal pigment epithelium.
Retinal Detachment Average Cost
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Average Cost
$1,600
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Symptoms of Retinal Detachment in Dogs
The symptoms may vary depending on the cause of the detachment. Symptoms may include:
- Impaired vision or blindness – This is often difficult to for owners to recognize and it may be hard to pinpoint when this symptom first developed
- Dilated pupils
- Visible retinal vessels
- Swelling of the orb
Other symptoms will vary depending on the underlying disease that caused the detachment. In viral and bacterial infections fever, lethargy and anorexia may also be seen, while in causes of trauma other injuries such as facial lacerations may be noted.
Causes of Retinal Detachment in Dogs
There are three main types of retinal detachment in dogs.
Detachments caused by inherited ocular defects such as collie eye anomaly and retinal dysplasia. This highlights the importance of not breeding from animals who suffer from this condition
Acquired non-rhegmatogenous detachments are caused by an accumulation of fluid or cells between the retina and RPE. These are classified as:
- Hemorrhagic – With the build up of blood caused by conditions such as hypertension, trauma, neoplasia and therapies such as blood transfusions
- Exudative – With the build up of neoplastic or inflammatory cells caused by metastatic tumors and infections such as brucellosis and cryptococcosis
- Transudative – With the build up of serous subretinal fluid caused by conditions that affect the circulation such as uremia and hypertension
Rhegmatogenous detachments these detachments are caused by tears in the retina. Causes may include cataract formation or complication following ocular surgery, trauma, and glaucoma.
Diagnosis of Retinal Detachment in Dogs
Your veterinarian will conduct a full clinical examination on your pet. Using an ophthalmoscope, she will carefully examine your pet’s eyes. Your veterinarian will be able to diagnose retinal detachment on visualization, the examination may give further information on the cause. Fluid such as exudate and frank blood may indicate the cause. Other tests used to determine the cause of retinal detachment are:
- Biochemistry, which may show elevated urea and creatinine in uremic disease
- Blood pressure monitoring to determine if hypertension is the cause
- Thoracic and abdominal radiographs (your pet may require sedation for this)
- Hematology which may indicate neoplasia, anemia or other systemic disease
- Cytology which may provide further information of the cause and indicate bacterial or viral cause, allowing a culture and sensitivity test to be performed
Treatment of Retinal Detachment in Dogs
The treatment your dog requires will vary depending on the underlying cause of the detachment.
Surgery
If your dog has suffered from a rhegmatogenous detachment surgery may be indicated. This will be performed under general anesthetic with careful monitoring throughout the procedure. There are a range of surgical methods that may be used including laser retinopexy, titanium tacking, use of expandable gases and vitrectomy. Your veterinarian will discuss the preferred method of treatment with you and the benefits and risks of this method.
Medication
For infections, culture and sensitivity testing of exudate may indicate the causative bacteria and the most appropriate medication for treatment, however this is considered the most difficult form to treat.
Systemic corticosteroids may be used to encourage the reabsorption of fluid in transudative cases. Medication and therapeutic diets should be utilized to control other diseases that cause this condition such as hypertension and uremia.
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Recovery of Retinal Detachment in Dogs
The prognosis for your pet varies on the underlying cause of the retinal detachment. Unfortunately, in many cases, the prognosis may be guarded to poor in regards to return of vision, although many pets go on to live high quality lives following blindness.
If your pet requires surgery it is vital to provide him with a warm, dark environment for recovery. Highly palatable food should be given to encourage nutrition and energy for healing.
As ocular surgery success is often guarded, particularly due to the high rates of self-trauma, adequate pain relief is vital as well as use of an Elizabethan collar to prevent injury.
If this condition was caused by an underlying chronic illness, discuss whether a therapeutic diet will be beneficial for your pet’s on-going health with your veterinarian.
If your pet sustains loss of vision, careful management of the environment is necessary, ensure your canine’s environment stays the same, with no changes to furniture layout. Provide your pet with a safe, quiet area to rest, ensuring there are no hazards that may cause accidental injury. Make changes to your yard if necessary so that your pet is unable to exit your property, due to the risk of traffic accidents.
Retinal Detachment Average Cost
From 248 quotes ranging from $500 - $2,000
Average Cost
$1,600
Top
Retinal Detachment Questions and Advice from Veterinary Professionals
American Akita
Eleven Years
0 found this helpful
0 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
Hyphema
American Akita has VKH...his left eye has a hyphema and was prescribed tobradex by the vet. I’m worried he has retinal detachment of glaucoma
Sept. 25, 2020
Answered by Dr. Michele K. DVM
0 Recommendations
Thank you for your question. I apologize for the delay, this venue is not set up for urgent emails.
I hope that your pet is okay. Glaucoma is a possibility with hyphema, and if you are concerned, It would be best to have your pet seen by a veterinarian, as they can examine them, see what might be going on, and get any testing or treatment taken care of that might be needed.
Oct. 20, 2020
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Labrador Retriever
Seven Years
7 found this helpful
7 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
Blindness
She cannot see..Opthamalogist said she has retinal detachments can u tell me what it is n is it treatable n all?
July 28, 2020
Answered by Dr. Michele K. DVM
7 Recommendations
Thank you for your question.
Retinal detachments are sometimes treatable if caught very early, but tend to be permanent if too much time has passed. There are different causes for this condition, and it would be best to discuss what treatments she may need with your veterinarian.
Dogs do tend to do okay without vision as long as they are kept indoors and safe, as they have many other senses that become heightened.
I hope that she does well.
July 28, 2020
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Pug
Eas Los
4 Days
3 found this helpful
3 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
Blurr
I have a 4 year old Pug who recently has Bilateral Rentinal Detachment. He always shakes his body like he's wet since he was a pup. He does it if you put a collar on him or in general. They Eye specialist stated that this could be a reason why they both Detached. I was just wondering even if he gets corrected surgery, will they detatch again due to him always shaking his body.
July 13, 2018
3 Recommendations
Whilst corrective surgery is more ‘secure’, the repetitive shaking behaviour may have a long term effect; however to be honest I’m not sure of the likelihood of recurrence in a case like this since there is a repetitive shaking behaviour and i’m not sure of the intensity of the shaking, the Ophthalmologist would be able to tell you more. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM
July 14, 2018
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mini schnauzer
Daizy
8 Years
0 found this helpful
0 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
Blood Red Appearance Of The Eye...
My vets have advised me to do nothing active with my little mini schnauzer who had a cataract, then an injury, running into a chair which resulted in a retinal detachment. She is being treated with Pred Acetate 4 times a day as well as atropine salve BID...soon to be discontinued. I have opted out of eye removal. She is 8 and has multiple health issues since rescuing her. They refuse to clean her teeth due to seizures now and again (She also has pancreatitis, has had surgery on her bladder and has had incidents of liver enzymes going "off")...I am not about to anethetise her for eye surgery.
My only question is that that has been going on for over a month now. I carry her up and down stairs...she does no running and playing. She eats prescription diet for her other ailments (Royal Canin GI lo fat, and ID lo fat) due to her stocky nature. She is supposed to wiegh about 14 or 15 pounds but weighs 17 + instead. I believe it is from stopping our daily walks. Is it okay to start walking her a bit again? Noone seems able to answer that question.
My second question is, <will the blood reabsord eventually...or is her eye always going to look blood red?>
Thank you kindly.
June 9, 2018
0 Recommendations
Generally gentle walks on a lead would not be an issue, however if your Veterinarian hasn’t answered your question or doesn’t want Daizy to be walking I would follow their advice or ask for follow up. Any blood in circulation should breakdown over time and be resorbed by the body, however redness may be caused by inflammation which would need to be medically managed. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM
June 10, 2018
Hello, I took my dog to a amimal eye specialist today. My dog is blind and has been like this for about 7 months. I knew surgery would cost alot, and that is why I waited. The doctor said My dog has been diagnosed with Progressive retinal atrophy. she said she couldnt perform surgery and medication can't fix it either. This place does surgery but she said she couldn't perform the surgery, any reason why?? My pitbull is about 8 years old. I am in northern California. Thanks in advance.
June 20, 2018
Lewy F.
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Shih Tzu
Myko
7 Years
7 found this helpful
7 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
Diagnosed Retina Detachment,
My 7 year old shih tzu is scheduled for it tomorrow morning in one eye (in California).
Are there any negative side effects of having this surgery? Or any negative side effects of NOT having this surgery?
How soon after surgery will we know if my dog can see out of that eye?
May 2, 2018
Answered by Dr. Michele K. DVM
7 Recommendations
The risks and benefits of surgery for retinal detachment depend on the level of detachment, location, and health status of Myko generally. Since I do not know any of these things, those are very excellent questions to ask your surgeon before the procedure tomorrow - it is okay to expect a very thorough explanation of what to expect in recovery, and what may go wrong so that you are prepared. I hope that all goes well tomorrow!
May 2, 2018
I ended up only having the laser retacking done on his good eye last week. I got cold feet on the bigger reattachment surgery. It is scheduled for this wednesday but I'm still not sure what to do. Dr says it's been about 2 months since detachment & not sure what caused it. He shakes his head allot with his toys. He's healthy, happy & playful otherwise besides allergies. I do not know location of detachment but Dr says it's a 50/50% chance for regaining vision success and a 50/50% chance of complications. I was also told he could get glaucoma from having the surgery and from not having the surgery (bigger risk)...this is confusing. I can't seem to find much info on side effects of not having the surgery done & leaving his eye as is- with no vision. He can see out of his other eye though. Any advise?
May 8, 2018
Myko's Owner
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Bichon Frise
Happy
9 Years
0 found this helpful
0 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
Vision Loss
My dog has had a retina reattachment surgery, but the result was not satisfactory. She was prescribed with Prednefern Forte. At first, there seemed to be some progress, but from the ninth day on, issues appeared. Her eye got red after applying the eye drop. The redness was in the area between the cornea and iris, which I guess might be bleeding. However, the redness subsided in about an hour. This almost recurred after the eye drop was applied. I asked the vet ophthalmologist, who I believed misunderstood my question. On seeing him again (about 4 weeks later), I was told that my dog’s retina might have been partially detached again, and the eye pressure was just 3, which really shocked me. Yet my question has still not been answered, i.e., causes of the redness in the eye. That is really frustrating! If someone could offer some clues, i5 would be much appreciated
Retinal Detachment Average Cost
From 248 quotes ranging from $500 - $2,000
Average Cost
$1,600
Get a free pet insurance quote in less than 60 seconds!
Easily compare quotes from the most trusted pet insurance companies in the United States.
