Thanks for posting the link Al I remembered pretty accurately except the part about why the original surgery was delayed. But like you said, it was a year ago, haha.

Thank you everyone, and for taking the time to do all that searching for me! It was really touching to see her pull through. Actually I believe we are going to the exact same location. The Blue Pearl is Southfield is where the surgery takes place, there are a couple different DVMs listed so I'm not sure which one will be doing our surgery.

As of right now we're just on two different drops trying to get any lasting inflammation down so we can set a surgery date. Also, to see if the left eye has progressed as bad as the right. Right now I cannot personally see cloudiness in the left like I can in the right, I'm hoping by some miracle they will say surgery isn't needed in that one after all. I just fear it could be weeks after surgery then that one would need it to, that is why they say it's best to do both if possible. Recovery is what is making me nervous the most. 3-4 weeks of intensive recovery where there will be several different drops needed several times a day. My fiancé and I both work full time and we need to for bills, and especially his surgery. I'm just hoping and praying we can find something to work out with our schedules.

Also still waiting on pre-approval from pet insurance to see if we are covered. I'm a little worried it won't be covered since it's not life threatening, but we'll see. Crossing my fingers on that. Either way we'll give him what he needs.

Up until joining this forum and the H2M2 facebook group, I wasn't aware of what I should be looking for with a breeder. When picking out Klaus I of course visited the property, making sure it wasn't a puppy mill, met the parents I even checked them out head to toe. I'm pretty sure it was just a younger couple who wanted to breed their huskies, it was their one and only liter. Of course, a lot more than that is needed from a breeder, and we should have researched more, but we've definitely learned our lesson now :/ (the hard way) Wouldn't change it for the world, Klaus has been the best addition to our family. But I'm glad I know what I know now, and have been preaching to all my friends and family to make sure they don't ever make the same mistake in breeders.

Haley, hugs to you and your family. Sending you all the positive vibes all will work out for the best. Although Miya hasn't had any severe problems, being a byb dog, I too promote going to quality breeders. My dad asked me why i paid so much for our second dog, I explained why. After that he understood. Yes they are our best friends and we will do whatever it takes to give them the best life possible. Yet, I now understand why going to a quality breeder is so important. There is a saying.....pay for it now (as in a great breeder), or pay for it later (as in medical issues with less than perfect breeders). Good luck to you guys, and please keep us updated. And I hope that our little research above helped you feel more confident in the surgery and where you are going for it.

Haley-I'm just getting to this. Bode was diagnosed with Juvenile Cataracts at about 2 years old. His diagnosis came not because we noticed any issues, but our regular vet noticed small cataracts when she did his yearly exam.

We went to the Animal Ophthalmology Center in Okemos (Williamston) for an evaluation. The Dr. there said he does have small cataracts but they don't seem to be affecting him. He said he would be surprised if they progressed to the point of seriously affecting his vision before he is a senior. It's always something that is in the back of my mind...if there's even a little something "off" about his eyes or if he doesn't catch a treat I always jump to "Are his cataracts progressing?".

I know it's a bit of a hike for you, but if you wanted another opinion, I was really happy with the Dr. we spoke to. Also, you may want to consider MSU if you are willing to make the drive.

Yeah that is quite a bit of a hike for us. MSU is ehh maybe three hours drive? Not as bad. The main reason I haven't really opted for a second opinion is because how quickly we did see it progress. I never noticed anything and now I can see cataract over pretty much his whole pupil on the right eye. More transparent than when you see an old dog, but it happened quick and caused a lot of inflammation. Now if there was no inflammation I probably would be skeptical of surgery but he couldn't even keep his eye open before we got medicine

I am curious to hear what she has to say about the left eye though, and if it has progressed any. If it hasn't progressed I'm not sure what route we'll take. I'd like to leave it alone personally... I can't say I've seen his vision deteriorate at all. But I'd hate to put him through surgery for that one to go bad shortly after or even a year after really, and then also pay for him to go through it again. It's more cost effective to do both (only knocked out once), and he'd only have to recover once. So it may come down to a decision on our part. If the left eye hasn't progressed... that is when I think we may look into a second opinion.

Can you see Bodes?

Here is a picture. You can see on the left (his right eye).
Actually with taking this picture I've noticed he doesn't get red eye from flash anymore because of it. Which in pictures just a couple weeks ago he did. Guess that just goes to show how fast it happened, blows my mind.

I can't actually see cloudiness necessarily in Bode's eyes but in certain lights you can notice the reddish/pink sheen to his right pupil.

Little update on our cataract situation. We had a follow up today and the opthalmologist feels it's time to schedule surgery for the right eye. However, the left eye hasn't progressed. As of right now she doesn't exactly want to operate on it and put it at risk. But at the same time she says she is pretty sure based on where the cataract is forming that it will get as bad as the right eventually. Meaning days, months, years, we don't know. So the question is to operate on both or not. Extremely frustrating because I'm not sure what to call on it.

Thankfully some good news though. Our pet insurance pre-approved the surgery!

The insurance news is great Haley. I wish I could help you on your decision, I will continue to send positive vibes, and hope for only the best for y'all. Please continue with the updates.

I know with human cataracts, they do not want to operate before it is time. Remember, no matter how safe a surgery is, there still is always some risk so the decision to undergo a procedure is a risk/benefit equation.

Well we had the surgery yesterday! Ended up only doing the right eye so hopefully the left holds off for some time. Dr feels the surgery was a sucess, they were able to put the artificial lens in. Still not out of the woods just yet, recovery is a couple weeks, lots of meds, and hope inflammation stays down! But so far so good.

I laughed when we picked him up, they told us he was such a well behaved husky. I was like are you sure you have the right one? Guess he just likes pushing mom and dad's buttons lol

We have a follow up in one week, hopefully stitches will come out then. Cone of shame for at least two weeks though, he's not happy about that!



This was right after we got home last night. The pupil was dilated from a drop they gave him.



This was this morning. This time tonight though his pupil is just about back to normal size.

I thought about you guys today, I really really hope everything turns out ok, sounds very promising but yeah, a long road ahead still. Just take it easy, hard with a husky I know and please keep us updated, I really did think of you guys today.

Aww thanks for thinking of us. It was a rough night (didn't like the anesthesia wearing off) but he is starting to get back to himself today. I'm happy where we're at right now, just hope we stay on this good path to recovery

Haley, good news, thank you for updating Klaus's surgery. I am so relieved everything worked out. Continue to keep updating. Take care of eachother!!

that's wonderful news that he is doing well. good luck with taking easy with him, its defiantly a challenge with a husky. cute cone of shame pictures.

Hello all, I am new to the forum but i came here searching for this exact topic. My wife and I rescued Ahsoka earlier this year, she is about 11 months old right now. She was just diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes. Her left eye is completely blind and her right eye is about 40 to 50 percent blind. We are more than likely going to get her the surgery as soon as we can afford it. but i wanted to see if any of the dog sin this post that have gotten it done had any update son how they are doing about a year after it was done. Thank you for any responses in advance!

Hello;

I do not know the success rate for the juvenile cataract surgery but I can say that my husky's went very well. My first husky was Inky and she was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes just shy of one year. We had both done and recovery went well. She had no problems after a year. In fact she had no issues until 12 years old when her right was experiencing high internal pressure. She lost sight in that eye and had a glass insert implanted. Her left eye was fine until she passed at 15 years old. She had no issues running and playing but she had to be on a harness when walked, not by the collar as pressure can be put on the eyes from this when she pulled.

This was her at 14 years of age




Note that your husky will have to see her opthamologist at least yearly for the remainder of her life for eye health check ups.

I'm sorry I wasn't on here sooner to give you our experience for your pup Ahsoka. You're wondering how things are a year or so after cataract surgery, and for Klaus things have been well. He had cataracts in both eyes, however only one eye had inflammation from it, while the other remained visual and comfortable.

We chose to do the surgery on the one eye, and watch the other for changes. I'm very pleased with how things went, he is now visual out of the eye that had almost a full cataract, and the other eye has not progressed (knock on wood) so far. If your pup is visual and comfortable, my advice is to monitor it and have yearly check ups with an ophthalmologist. If he has increased pressures, I'd say the surgery is well worth it.

Also, after surgery you will most likely have to give him drops for his lifetime, but for us he would need them with or without surgery anyway.

HI there! Fellow husky owners helped me find this thread. My 1.4 year old husky was diagnosed with juevnile cataracts today. I am heart broken to say the least. I work for a human ophthalmologist so I know all about cataracts- just never thought my young dog would develop them so early. He went completely blind in his left eye within a few weeks of noticing the cloudy eye. The ER vet too thought it was UVeitus but we saw the dog ophthalmologist today and it’s confirmed Juvenile cataracts. His left eye much worse than his right although she can see the cataract forming in the right. Torn between rather or not to do the surgery. MAy I ask how Haley is doing now since it’s been another year? I feel terrible my baby is losing his vision so young- it’s not fair. But yes he will be on eye drops for the rest of his life regardless... sigh.

Just a note - mssuchy hasn't been on here for about 2 years. You might try a private message in the hopes that she has the same email.

thank you !