Eye exam?

M

Mom2Melli

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Question -- the Fresno show this weekend has an eye clinic with a very very good vet. I had him do 2/3 of my Aussies in the past when I was part of an Aussie club that put on shows (one clearly had superior eyesight and was a nonissue, one was average, one had very bad eyes).

Do shelties have particular eye issues? Melli does not appear to have the best eyesight, nor does she walk into walls, she will walk into small things like dangling cords and not notice things out windows like Shay does. She does, however, get pink eye-whites when she gets stressed. Multiple vets called these allergies but it is more a stress response so I nod, smile, and move on with their comments.

Is it worth having the eye specialist give a look for the heck of it? It's cheap and I need to head into town during the time of the clinic anyway. The eye clinic coordinator okayed bringing her by even though we are not competing. Worth doing for the heck of it even though she is not a breeding dog?
 
It sounds like it would be worth it to you for your own peace of mind. If that is the case then go for it.
 
I was reasoning that when we do more and more in classes, whether agility, treibball, or obedience, we are doing more directed activities (go to rug, directed low jumps, herding ball to a specific location, recalls off leash from across the training facility) and I want to be sure she can do them or can compensate if she has limited vision. However, I was wondering if shelties have much in the way of eye problems congenitally.

It certainly is cheap enough and I am allowed to bring her on site to check so it is an opportunity I most likely will take even though it is not cert for breeding purposes.
 
Looks like my fat little sheltie will be visiting the dog show in lovely Fresno on Sunday! It will be good to see what's going on in that head of hers.

It will be good to know if she is relaxed or stressed in the energy of the show setting. She is brilliant around the training ring, other dogs & energy there, and described by the teacher as nonexcitable and nonexciting so we can be paired with the more high strung classmates. Shows have a different vibe and if she seems to be nonplused maybe we will train in earnest for rally. We are working on the rally cards now in prep. for going back to class after a hiatus but I need a hobby so hey.
 
Is it a CERF exam? I've had a dog checked at a show before. There was a wait, but I was glad I'd done it.
 
We took our dogs to our friend in SC who is a vet opthamologist. It was very interesting. You can have them check specifically for CEA or even distichia which is somewhat common in shelties.

I found it really interesting because we found out that Bentley has juvenile cataracts (not likely to get worse or affect his eyesight)--and they are shaped like hearts! :smile2:

Lexi has distichia, which we already knew, but it was good to have it confirmed.
 
I definitely will be taking Mel down to the eye clinic. I appreciate all the comments. It' good to deal with specialists and we don't have a lot in this area.
 
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