At your pet’s appointment, we perform a thorough exam with specialized tests to help diagnose the cause of their eye problem.
During this exam we use the same instruments and perform the same diagnostic tests that you will have experienced at your own eye health professional's office.
To examine the outside and front of the eye we use a hand-held microscope (slit lamp). This allows magnification of the front parts of the eye that includes the eyelids, conjunctiva, cornea (the clear window into the eye), the iris (coloured part inside your eye), pupil and the lens (where cataracts form).
For the back of the eye, we use a head light with a reflective mirror (indirect ophthalmoscope) that allows us to see a virtual image of the structures back there.
Here we are looking at
the retina, the retinal blood vessels, the reflective layer (tapetum), and the optic nerve.
Diagnostic tests include
checking tear production
, looking for evidence of corneal ulcers
(fluorescein stain)
and
measuring intraocular pressure.
After diagnosing the problem with your pet’s eye, we may need to perform surgery to help improve their eye health and vision.
Surgeries that we regularly perform include:
Eyelids - Correcting rolling in, rolling out, extra eyelashes and removal of growths.
Dry eye - Moving the outlet of a salivary duct to the eye to for replacement “tears”.
Third eyelid – Replacement of prolapsed glands, correction of deformed cartilage.
Cornea – Repairing nonhealing ulcers, placing grafts for complicated ulcers, removal of abnormal tissue, foreign body removal, repairing trauma.
Laser of iris cysts and localized iris melanomas.
Glaucoma – Laser to decrease fluid production, placement of intraocular prosthesis.
Lens - Cataract removal and placement of artificial lenses, removal of luxated lenses.
