19mac

It's definitely something we're keeping at the back of our minds through this whole process - thanks for the advice :)

Unfortunately, we haven't been moving anything around but Alex seems to be getting a little confused around the house + moving interstate to a new environment makes it a bit more complicated. We're just taking it one step at a time right now, and if the ERG & Ultra come back negative next week, then we'll have to go down a different route to settle him into his new place.

Hi Kirty - Thanks so much for this info - while the opth said there may be a variety of reasons for poor PLR, they didn't give any details so this really helps us have a little hope. Best case scenario would be my dog Alex wouldn't have any problems navigating around the house & yard, but he's been getting 'stuck' in various places around the house he's been for years - ie. he'll stand facing a wall wanting to go out thinking it's the door, and combined with the fact that I'll be moving him interstate with me (regardless of how his eyes are), I'm really worried that he'll struggle to settle in. The opth did note that he had minor inflammation, and we've been prescribed some anti inflammatory eye drops for a week before the ERG, and we were given a rough ballpark of 70-75% success (this is a general estimation and it's a much lower rate than normal due to potential post-op complications due to his age and maturity of cataracts). With that said, he's in excellent health otherwise (still bouncy and energetic to the extent no-one knows how old he is unless they see his eyes, and he's always up for a walk/play and loves his food) and the general vets found nothing wrong with him prior to the opth consult, so hopefully that works in his favour. I was always going to to go ahead with the ERG & Ultra - I figure I have to explore all the options at least, and at least I know I did everything I can for him, but I don't want to be set up for false hope if there isn't much chance we'll get a positive reading with the ERG. Regardless, if it turns out there isn't anything that can be done for his eyes, I'll have to make some adjustments and look into resources that make it easier for Alex to get accustomed to a new home and find his way around the new house. Thanks again!

Hi all I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with a dog with mature cataracts and a slow pupillary light response but successful cataract surgery? I've read everything written about cataracts experiences so far in this forum but I haven't found anyone in the same situation as my dog. He's a 12 year old maltese X shih tzu with mature cataracts and we had our first consultation at the ophthalmologist today. They found he had limited pupillary light response but we were told that there can be various reasons for this - so an Electroretinogram (ERG) and an ultrasound were suggested. We've been told that my dog has a 50/50 chance that his retinas are healthy (which we'll find out after the ERG and ultrasound) to determine if he is an eligible candidate for surgery. I would love to hear everyone else's experiences, with the ERG and ultrasound - particularly if they have an older dog with cataracts? Thanks