Pete the Vet: Sight loss and blindness in pets - how to spot the signs and what to do

Blindness can be disorienting but it doesn't need to be debilitating for animals who rely more heavily on other senses

Vision is important for any living creature: especially for cats and dogs.

Vision is one of the most powerful senses for humans, so we feel sorry for other creatures when they lose their sight. And while vision is, indeed, important to animals, dogs and cats have greater reliance than us on other senses, such as smell, hearing, and touch. Animals can adapt well to the loss of vision, especially when it happens gradually. Nonetheless, blindness is a significant issue in animals, and it’s common, especially in older pets.

If blindness develops gradually (for example, slowly developing cataracts), owners may be unaware of the problem because pets can be so good at covering up. In contrast, when sudden-onset complete blindness happens (like some types of retinal disease), animals can become confused and distressed, and the blindness is far more obvious.