What Does a Veterinary Ophthalmologist Do?
Veterinary ophthalmology focuses on offering specialized treatment and preventative approaches for eye-related illnesses in animals. Eye disorders can impact animals across all ages and breeds, underscoring the need for prompt attention to these issues. Conditions like infections, injuries, and changes due to aging can greatly affect an animal’s health.
So who is the superhero who can help your pet? Yes, you’re right – a veterinary ophthalmologist.
What a Veterinary Ophthalmologist Does
A veterinary ophthalmologist is a specialist who cares for the eyes of animals. He knows the anatomy and physiology of the eyes, the pathologies and how to treat them.
Let’s dive deeper and take a look at what the vet ophthalmologists do.
Finds Out What’s Troubling
The doctor will ask you to describe what happened in detail. You will be asked when and how the symptoms appeared and how they developed. Be sure to let them know if your pet suffers from other medical conditions. For example, diabetes mellitus leads to retinal disease.
Conducts An Examination
The ophthalmologist evaluates changes in the mucous membranes, the third eyelid, determines their mobility, finds out if there is any discharge, what they are, and checks the reaction to visual stimuli.
Appoints Additional Examinations
Sometimes it happens that even after a detailed examination it is not 100% clear what is wrong with the pet. In such cases, the veterinarian will do an ultrasound, examine all the internal structures of the eye, and find out the exact cause of the disease. An initial appointment with a veterinarian ophthalmologist lasts 20-30 minutes, depending on the problem.
Prescribes Treatment
Based on the anamnesis, the doctor may prescribe medication or injections, and in some cases surgery will be required.
Common Eye Diseases
Eye diseases in animals occupy one of the leading places among the number of general diseases. This is primarily due to the fact that various processes in the eye are invisible to the owners, and help is not provided in a timely manner.
It is important for the owner to pay attention to changes in the eyes of his pet in time and contact a specialist – an ophthalmologist for advice or help.
Let’s take a look at the signs when you need to seek help from a specialist:
- Eyelid condition (red eyelids, drooping eyelids, narrowing of the eye slit or no eye opening at all);
- Conjunctival condition (hyperemia, redness);
- The animal’s reaction to light (hides in dark places);
- Cloudy eye;
- There is a brown opaque spot on the eye;
- Any neoplasms (pigmented, non-pigmented; on the eyelids, in the eye)
- Cilia appear, which can grow inside the eye (thereby irritating the cornea
What To Do If Your Pet Has Eye Disease
As I mentioned previously, you should go to the vet specialist. But here is the answer – where to find the best one? Well, there are some good ways.
First, you can go to Google and type “veterinary ophthalmology near me”. Yes, this is the easiest way, but sometimes it’s a bit difficult to find the best one for you there, because there are a lot of different choices, promoted results etc.
Therefore, the second way is using business reviews services. There are some good review sites on the Internet, but I prefer nicelocal.com. Their website is more convenient for me, I just choose the service I need and read the reviews. There’s nothing superfluous.
Here you can find the contacts of the veterinary center you need and call to clarify the order of your visit.
Remember, if you notice changes in your pet’s eyes, you have to see a doctor immediately, because any disease without the necessary treatment can lead to complications of this pathology.