Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I didn’t know there was such a thing as a veterinary ophthalmologist- Is there a need for such a specialist?
A: There are veterinary specialists similar to most physician counterpart specialty areas, including ophthalmology, dermatology, surgery, internal medicine, radiology, pathology, and more. There are now over 250 veterinary ophthalmologists, certified by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists and Dr. Abrams was certified in 1991 as number 138. Most ACVO diplomates practice in the USA but there are some colleagues who practice in other countries including Canada, Australia, and western Europe. Ophthalmologists work on many different species, including dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, zoo and aquarium animals, cattle, goats, llamas, sheep, and more.

Q: Are you going to make my pet read an eyechart?
A: An eye exam of your pet consists of different techniques to fully evaluate your pet’s eye condition for many diseases. By performing these objective tests such as slit lamp biomicroscopy, applanation tonometry, and indirect ophthalmoscopy, we can diagnose most problems that may be causing eye pain or vision loss. Obviously, we can’t have your pet read the chart but in most cases determining refractive error with the chart is not necessary to diagnose an actual medical problem with your pet’s eyes.

Q: Are you going to fit my pet with eyeglasses?
A: No, BUT we do use contact lenses as bandages for corneal diseases! It is unusual to find refractive errors in our patients; in studies performed on dogs and horses with a technique called retinoscopy (used with young children to determine the need for corrective eyeglasses) veterinary ophthalmologists found very little need in most patients to correct vision.

Q: Will you need to sedate my pet for an eye exam?
A: Virtually all patients have their eye exams performed awake. Some frightened patients may need to have a muzzle placed to facilitate the exam or maybe even a light sedative to take the edge off of the nervous patient. It is extremely unusual to have to even heavily sedate a patient for the non-painful, non-invasive exam. Our extremely skilled technicians will assist the doctor in performing the exam so you as the owner can just relax during the visit.

Q: After surgery, will my pet need to wear one of those dumb collars?
A: If I had a nickel for every time a client immediately asks me this question after discussing the need for surgery of their pet’s eye,….well…you know the rest of that line! In fact, we do use a protective, Elizabethan collar after many of our surgeries; in many cases tiny microscopic sutures hold the eye’s incision together after surgery such as cataract removal and we need to be sure the patient doesn’t rub at the eye and cause poor healing. In most cases, once surgery is complete the postoperative period is not painful, but the incision can be itchy and our patients have a tendency to want to rub at the eye. The E-collar is usually used for a week or two until the incision is healed.

Q: After surgery can my pet be groomed?
A: In many cases, we will suggest that if grooming is due around the time of surgery, that you have the grooming done prior to surgery. Similar to the answer above, we don’t want your pet to have any complications following surgery due to disturbance or irritation around the eye if you have your pet groomed after surgery.

Q: My pet needs cataract surgery- Will you be using laser like in people?
A: Actually, thanks to a magazine article around 1970 the public is under the misconception that a laser is used to remove cataracts. A cataract is a clouding of the lens inside the eye, NOT a film on the surface like many people think. In order to remove the abnormally cloudy lens, the surgeon has to go into the eye to replace the faulty lens with a new, artificial lens. Traditionally, this surgery was performed by making a large incision at the top the the cornea and the lens, which is about the size of a marble, was removed in ‘one big chunk’ and then the large incision was closed with suture. Around 1970 the technique called phacoemulsification was invented by Dr. Charles Kellman and requires only a small (3mm) incision to enter the eye. Phacoemulsification involves the shattering of the lens with a probe, similar to the way a jackhammer vitrates material. As the lens is emulsified, the tiny lens particles are vacuumed from the eye until the lens is completely removed. The artificial plastic lens is then inserted where the old lens once was located and the incision is closed with only a few absorbable stitches. Phacoemulsification has greater than a 95% success rate in dogs and cats and the eye heals much more rapidly.