Nuclear Sclerosis
One of the places that your pet may be showing signs of age is in the eyes. When you look into your pet’s eye, you may notice cloudiness within the pupil (black center of the eye). The cloudiness is caused by a thickening (sclerosis) of the lens (allows your pet to focus) that occurs with age. To help understand what is happening, think of the lens as an onion with multiple layers. As your pet ages, the space between the layers becomes more compact. As the layers compress with age, light refracts more, giving the lens a cloudy appearance. To an untrained eye, nuclear sclerosis can look similar to a cataract. Your veterinarian can distinguish between an aging change and a cataract using a specialized instrument called an ophthalmoscope. It is important to distinguish between lenticular sclerosis, a normal aging change that does not require therapy, and cataracts, which may require medical and/or surgical intervention. Lenticular sclerosis typically does not significantly affect your pet’s vision unless the condition is more marked.