My aging dog is skittish and hitting head. Is it vision problems?

Sadly, many of the ailments of human senior citizens can also occur in our canine companions. Impaired vision or blindness can occur in dogs and can be due to things like cataracts, glaucoma, etc. The good news is that these diseases, if caught early enough, can be treated and sometimes even reversed or cured! My best advice is to take Baby to your local veterinarian as soon as possible to have a complete ophthalmic examination performed. Some of the tests you should ask for are as follows: a menace test, intraocular tonopen test, schirmer tear test, and fundic exam. I hope this helps. Have a great day.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It is possible that her vision is becoming more affected as she ages and maybe she is unable to see as well as she previously was. Shadows may scare her or things she cannot quite make out may scare her. However, due to her age, I would recommend having her examined by a veterinarian and have her blood tested to ensure that there are no other concerns. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

There are some tests a veterinarian can perform to assess hearing and vision, however these are based on observation. You can make a noise behind Brandi to see if she reacts. You can drop something small and soft, like a cotton ball, in front of her to see if she responds. With age lenticular sclerosis, or a cloudiness of the lens is common in dogs, however we always want to make sure cloudiness isn't due to the formation of a cataract which can be associated with diabetes. I recommend having your veterinarian take a look to make sure appears to be age related change and not something more serious. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It sounds like your dog may have cataracts, which can occur as dog’s age or with diseases like Diabetes. If this change has occurred suddenly I would recommend having Coco checked out as soon as possible. If it has been a gradual change it is probably less concerning. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It could be vestibular disease, among other neurological conditions. Regardless, this warrants an evaluation by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They can diagnose this issue so that therapy can be started. Best of luck!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Seeing that Harry is 9 years of age, what you are seeing could certainly be due to age. He may be suffering from canine cognitive dysfunction. I would recommend that Harry be examined by a veterinarian and having his blood tested to rule out any other possible causes. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi there and thank you for your question on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. While staggering and walking into things may be a sign of toxicity, it may also be contributed to other causes: neurological dysfunction, cardiopulmonary issues, dementia, or vision impairment. It is very hard to tell sight unseen without examining Mugsy to say for sure what is causing his symptoms, however I would strongly encourage you to visit your veterinarian as soon as possible for a full work up.