Prescription Glasses for Dogs

Oct. 29, 2004 -- -- Now dogs may face the backyard taunt of being called "four-eyes." Or you may see a blind dog walking down the street wearing stereotypical dark glasses. No, I'm not kidding.

Doggles, a manufacturer of protective eyewear for dogs, is trying out a line of canine corrective lenses for dogs that can't see far beyond the end of their noses.

First of all, dogs don't see as well as you might think. A dog's visual acuity is considerably less than that of a normal human according to Dr. Stanley Coren, author of "How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind."

The overall effect for normal dogs is something like viewing the world through a fine mesh gauze or a piece of cellophane that has been smeared with a light coat of petroleum jelly.

"If dogs drove cars, they'd have about 20/50 vision and their driver's license would say corrective vision required," Coren said.

Well, dogs don't drive cars, but they do need to see cars coming down the road. Or squirrels running around the back yard, a set of stairs or Mom holding a treat in her hand.

For mature mutts that begin to lose their eyesight or for dogs that have lost their vision due to cataracts or unsuccessful cataract surgery, doggie glasses may be just what the doctor ordered.

Historically, there has been nothing to help dogs that were becoming blind as bats. We just let them get by as best as they could with their other senses. But now veterinary-approved canine corrective lenses can give many dogs the gift of sight again.

Dr. Michael Brinkman, a veterinary ophthalmologist in Las Vegas, said the Doggles company has worked with him to produce the corrective eyewear for dogs, which he is currently testing on some of his patients.

In particular, he said, the lenses can be used to correct the farsightedness that occurs in dogs that have had cataract surgery but could not have lens implants. A dog that has undergone cataract surgery without receiving a lens implant will be able to spot a cat across the street but perhaps not see a piece of kibble in front of its food dish. Typically, dogs without lenses are about twice as farsighted as humans without lenses.