# Experience of strabismus surgery?



## Vida (Dec 26, 2011)

Hi, has anyone had a v with a lazy eye? If so, what tests did the dog receive,and was there any treatment or even surgery,offered??
Luckily it's a young dog (not one of mine).


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Has the young dog had this problem from birth or did its start later?
It takes a lot of testing to find out if its a eye problem, or a neurological problem.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I have no experience with it, but understand that it is surgically correctable.


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## flynnandlunasmom (May 28, 2012)

Wow, I have never heard of strabismus in a dog, poor thing. But, it makes sense i guess if it happens to us it can happen to them. 

My husband is an Ophthalmologist and actually does strabisbmus surgery on humans (mostly infants & toddlers) but unfortunately, not dogs. 

You'll need a Veterinary Ophthalmologist so they can find out what's causing it. Like TexasRed said, it could be the muscle(s) is the eye causing it or it could be neurological, and they'll probably want to rule out any kind of tumor.


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## flynnandlunasmom (May 28, 2012)

PS - I emailed my husband about your "doggie strabismus" post and he said as long as they rule out any kind of mass or tumor or serious problem, there's really no need for surgery. He said "humans get strabismus surgery because they're self conscious about how they look (or their parents are) but dogs don't know what it's like to be self-conscious ." He said none of us (dogs or humans) really NEED stereo vision.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

I'm not a vet, but I do work in an opthalmology research lab, and one focus of our lab is strabismus treatments for human patients (though I do not personally research this). I also utilized my vet friend for a little more info. 

From what I understand, strabismus surgery in human patients in not always successful. Over time strabismus can return, likely because there are different causes of strabismus, and only some might be responsive to surgery.

There will likely be blood tests and imaging, such as x-rays, to determine if something external is causing the strabismus. If it's neurological in origin, surgery will likely not correct it. If it's caused by weak eye muscles, they could perform surgery to correct it, but my vet friend said strabismus surgery isn't done for dogs. They don't really need it. If it's caused by something else, like inflammation or a tumor, they can treat the underlying condition and it should resolve. My vet friend also said some cases resolve on their own as a pup gets older (6 or 7 months).

If it was congenital or developed when he was very young, it can cause amblyopia. Basically, the brain doesn't like getting two different images, and since the brain is very plastic when young, it can "ignore" the image coming from the deviated eye. This can result in poor or no vision from that eye, which can effect things like depth perception. It will not decrease any quality of life, since he'll be used to only seeing with one eye, and the biggest reason to try and "fix" it would be for cosmetic reasons.


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## Vida (Dec 26, 2011)

Thank you guys.
The bitch has had a lazy eye since birth.
Her medical history is being sent over to my vet tonight,hopefully they will consider offering corrective surgery?
I'll let you know...


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## Vida (Dec 26, 2011)

Redrover, we posted at the same time...
Your comments are exactly as I thought. After researching it online I realize it's got to be investigated in depth first..


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

The success rates for human patients can vary. I've seen it as low as 30%. Those numbers depend on how "success" is defined--restoration or normal vision, or restoration of normal cosmetics. 

If the eyes cannot work together for binocular vision, the strabismic eye may drifts back to its original position, though sometimes not as far. Some patients require multiple surgeries to perfectly correct their cosmetics and/or their vision. I know for human patients surgery may be supplemented with vision therapy, to make the eyes "practice" working together. I actually had a very mild case of intermittent strabismus that went unnoticed until I was a teenager, and had to do what my doctor called "eye exercises" for a while. They were boring! But I did get to go see my optometrist once a month, which was great, because he was my favorite doctor.


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