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Eyes
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Cataracts
A cataract is any opacity (cloudiness) of the lens. If the opacity involves a significant portion of the lens, your dog may exhibit visual difficulty or blindness. Heredity, metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, birth defects, trauma or other eye diseases may be responsible for cataract formation. Most inherited cataracts discovered in Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs progress fairly slowly so that the dog may have reasonable sight well into old age. For those few that progress more rapidly towards blindness and are not adjusting well to losing their vision, consideration can be given to having a veterinary ophthalmologist surgically remove the cataract.
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Distichiasis
This is an inherited condition where extra eyelashes (distichia) grow in an abnormal position so close to the eye that they contact the eye surface, causing discomfort, and potentially, corneal damage. The severity of the problem and the need for treatment can vary from dog to dog. Many Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs have only a few, soft distichia which generally do not cause any issue and require no treatment. However, some individuals have stiff, abnormal eyelashes, which can cause significant irritation and damage to the eye. Symptoms of this can be redness of the eye, squinting, ocular discharge, and excessive tearing. Your dog may rub or paw at his eye or blink excessively. Treatment, depending upon the number and placement of the problem eyelashes, will require removal through cryosurgery, cryoepilation or electroepilation.
Entropion
This is a condition where the eyelid rolls inward, causing the eyelashes to rub against the cornea (surface of the eyeball). This condition can affect the upper eyelid, lower eyelid or both. With mild entropion, there may only be minor discomfort and excessive tearing. However when the irritation is severe, there can be chronic pain and serious injury can develop. Entropion usually requires surgery to fix. However, in puppies entropion may improve with growth or can be managed with temporary eyelid “tacking” sutures until maturity.
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