Patient Care

The Eye Examination

When you arrive at the clinic we will have you fill out a new client/patient information form and a form detailing the course of the eye problem and any treatment your pet may have received from your veterinarian. We advise that you arrive 15 minutes before you first appointment to allow enough time to complete this information.

Alternatively you can also download these forms from our website and either bring them with you to the appointment or FAX them before your appointment.

We also encourage referring veterinarians to send us details about the case when the appointment is made.

We will discuss with you the pet’s eye problem, any other medical conditions you are aware of and previous treatments you may have tried.

We may measure tear production, and use special stains to look for signs of corneal abrasions or ulcerations. We examine the front portion of the eye with a slit lamp biomicroscope.

After applying a local anesthetic agent to the eyes we measure the intraocular pressure and in many cases dilate the pupil to allow us to see the back part of the eye with an ophthalmoscope. It requires about 30 minutes to dilate the pupil and the pupil returns to its normal size in 3-4 hours.

Depending on the problem we may recommend other tests. The electroretinogram allows us to measure retinal function (in a similar way an electrocardiogram monitors heart function) Ultrasound allows us to examine the back part of the eye (particularly the retina) when it is obscured by opaque areas in the front of the eye (for instance a cataract).