Glaucoma is excessively high pressure inside the eye. Left untreated, it damages the optic nerve and retina within a few hours – an acute glaucoma attack is therefore an emergency in which every hour counts.
When you should see us
- a suddenly red, cloudy or unusual-looking eye
- pupils of different sizes
- your pet squints one eye, is noticeably quiet or eating less
- glaucoma has already been diagnosed in one eye and the second eye needs to be checked
What we examine
We measure the intraocular pressure (tonometry) and use the slit lamp and a special lens to look into the drainage angle (gonioscopy) – the narrow passage through which the fluid inside the eye normally drains. This lets us tell whether a congenital malformation, inflammation or another cause lies behind the raised pressure.
Measurement with the TonoVet: a tiny probe bounces against the cornea to measure the pressure. It doesn’t hurt – it feels like a small hair.
Gonioscopy: with a special lens and the slit lamp we examine the drainage angle through which the fluid inside the eye drains.
Treatment
The aim is always to lower the pressure, preserve as much vision as possible and reliably relieve pain: pressure-lowering eye drops, supplemented in acute cases by tablets or infusion, and regular check-ups to adjust the therapy. For animals at increased risk, we also advise on ways to protect the vision of the second eye.
If an eye is already blind and remains painful despite treatment, we will discuss with you how to give your pet lasting freedom from pain – from medically disabling the structure that produces the eye’s fluid (chemical ciliary body ablation), through removal of the eye (enucleation), to the cosmetically less noticeable intrascleral prosthesis, in which only the inside of the eye is removed and replaced with a silicone sphere. We will discuss in detail which procedure makes sense in each individual case.
More about the causes and course of glaucoma can be found in our detailed knowledge base article Das Glaukom – Grüner Star (in German).