Eyes

The purpose of the OFA Companion Animal Eye Registry (CAER) is to provide breeders with information regarding canine eye diseases so that they may make informed breeding decisions in an effort to produce healthier dogs. CAER certifications will be performed by board certified (ACVO) veterinary ophthalmologists. Regardless of whether owners submit their CAER exam forms to the OFA for “certification,” all CAER exam data is collected for aggregate statistical purposes to provide information on trends in eye disease and breed susceptibility. Clinicians and students of ophthalmology as well as interested breed clubs, individual breeders and owners of specific breeds will find this useful. 

Regardless of the outcome of the dog’s exam, the research copy of the OFA form will be sent to the CAER office where its information will be entered into the database for that specific breed. This data is useful in researching trends in eye disease and breed susceptibility. The information will also be used in generating research reports but the individual dog’s identity will become confidential and will never be released unless the owner of the dog submits their owner’s copy of the CAER form with the appropriate fee. In this case the results will be published on both the CAER registry and OFA’s database. 

The ophthalmology examination is non-invasive, painless, inexpensive and easily performed on the dogs yet the results are vital to the future eye health in all breeds.

Cavaliers, as a breed, do not have a tendency towards many debilitating eye diseases but in order to keep it this way, it is important that Cavaliers have their eyes cleared by an ophthalmologist who is a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO). 

Some of the eye diseases that have been found in Cavaliers who should not be bred:

• Cataracts / Juvenile Cataracts – surgery available
• Retinal Dysplasia / Geographic Retinal Dysplasia
• Cherry Eye – surgery available but care must be taken as to what form of surgery is performed. Taking out the Cherry Eye can cause dry eye later on. Tacking down the Cherry Eye is the surgery of choice but sometimes it is not successful. A regular veterinarian is able to perform this type of surgery although an ophthalmologist can also do the surgery at a higher cost.

Some of the minor eye issues that are breeder’s choice with regard to breeding:

• Retinal Folds
• Corneal Dystrophy
• Y Suture Cataracts
• Cataracts of undetermined source

Links:
Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA): http://www.ofa.org