Intraocular Eye Pressure Testing

Glaucoma is the condition where the pressure within your pets eyes increases. It can lead to irreversible blindness if not diagnosed and treated in time. Intra-ocular pressure test is the best veterinary procedure to diagnose glaucoma. This test requires special tools and medication to perform the process safely. Consult out vets in Bolton if you notice glaucoma in your pet’s eyes.

Signs of Glaucoma

It is a painful condition for the pets. Your cat or dog either becomes blind or suffers from blurry vision.

Causes of Glaucoma

Glaucoma can be caused due to various reasons. As per the various causes, glaucoma can be further classified as primary or secondary.

1. Primary Glaucoma – It is an inherited condition affecting the following breeds of dogs:

   Shih Tzu Jack Russell Terrier Arctic Circle breeds – Siberian Husky and Elkhound Basset Hound

   American Cocker Spaniel Shar Pei Chow Chow

    

   Primary glaucoma is commonly found in dogs than cats. It begins with one eye, but in some cases the pet loses its vision when both their eyes get affected with primary glaucoma.
    

2. Secondary Glaucoma – When some other eye disease resists proper fluid drainage from inside of the eye, secondary glaucoma is formed. The causes behind secondary glaucoma are:
   

   Eye cancer Chronic retinal detachment Cataracts

   Inflammation within eyes lens subluxation or luxation Chronic uveitis or soreness causes glaucoma in cats.

Process for Intra-Ocular Eye Pressure Testing

• Your vet will first apply an optical anesthetic onto the infected eye, generally proparacaine eye drops. Vet will start with the next procedure after giving a few minutes to anesthetic to take effect.
• Tonometer or a TonoPen is the specialized diagnostic tool to determining intra-ocular pressure of the affected eye. This small handy tool touches the center of cornea gently within mere fractions of a second. Anesthesia doesn’t let the pet feel the tapping motion. Tonometer effectively turns the eye pressure into electrical signals that are measured by vets. The procedure may be repeated several times to attain a suitable median value.
• Then medication is prescribed as per the eye condition. The vet will teach you how to administer the eye drops.

Intra-ocular eye pressure is crucial to maintain pet’s vision. This test enables the vets to diagnose the glaucoma at initial stage and cure the eye by applying effective strategy. Glaucoma must be stopped at an early stage. So, make sure your pet undergoes intra-ocular pressure test.

We, at Northpoint Veterinary Hospital, employ iCare Tonometry technique to check the eye pressure.