The retina turns light into nerve signals, so anything that damages it, lifts it off the back of the eye or inflames it can blind a dog. On the NAVLE, retinal disease usually appears as a blind dog that needs to be localised: a slowly progressive inherited degeneration, a sudden blindness with a normal-looking fundus, or a bullous retinal detachment that turns out to be the first sign of systemic hypertension.
Key facts
Retinal diseases (including hypertension causing blindness) at a glance- Species: dog. System: special senses, eye (retina and choroid).
- Main conditions: progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS), hypertensive retinopathy and choroidopathy, retinal detachment, chorioretinitis.
- PRA: inherited, bilateral, night blindness first, bright tapetum and thin vessels; no treatment; DNA tests for many breeds.
- SARDS: acute blindness, dilated pupils, normal fundus at first, flat ERG; often with polyphagia, PU/PD and weight gain.
- Hypertension: blindness from exudative retinal detachment and haemorrhage; ocular damage reported from SBP 168 mm Hg and much more likely above 180 mm Hg.
- Chorioretinitis is a window on systemic disease (fungi, distemper, tick-borne and other infections).
What's inside
12 sections in the full guide- Key facts
- How the NAVLE tests this
- Cause and pathophysiology
- Clinical signs
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Treatment and management
- Prevention, control and public health
- Prognosis
- Quick review
- Test yourself
- References
The full guide also has 5 tables, 3 figures, 3 self-test questions and 16 references, available to NAVLE members.
Read the full study guide
The full guide is part of every NAVLE plan, with diagnosis and treatment tables, figures, a quick review and self-test questions. Start a free trial to try the question bank, or log in if you are already a member.