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Emma the snowy owl was having problems seeing her food and her intake had decreased noticeably. Her keepers had also noticed that her eyes had started to look cloudy, and she wasn’t as bright and attentive as usual. The vets at Whipsnade Animal Park called in RVC ophthalmologist Elaine Holt to examine Emma with the hope of restoring her sight.
Emma was anaesthetised to allow an eye examination. Elaine diagnosed Emma with a cataract in her right eye that was totally obscuring her vision, and a milder cataract in her left eye. The left eye had some vision, but it would have been similar to looking through a steamed up window.
The lens inside the eye is normally transparent and it makes the images we see sharp and in-focus. Cataracts cause the lens to become slowly cloudy and eventually obscure vision totally. The rate and spread of this progression varies from patient to patient depending on the cause of cataract and there is no medicine that can stop or reverse the changes. The only treatment is the surgical removal of the lens.
With Emma’s quality of life deteriorating, a date for surgery at the QMHA was set. The cataract would have to be broken into tiny pieces and sucked out through a tiny incision in the eye with a phacoemulsification instrument. Elaine would also need to use an expensive operating microscope to magnify her view of the delicate work area.
During surgery Elaine made a tiny incision in the eye to introduce the tip of the instrument directly into the cataract. The incision to the eyeball causes it to collapse as the fluid inside leaks out. To ‘re-inflate’ it, a special gel is used and at the end of the procedure the tiny incision is carefully closed with suture material thinner than a human hair.
Emma has surgery on both of her eyes. With the lens removed she will always have slightly out of focus vision, but this is tolerated more readily than no vision at all and means Emma will have an improved quality of life.
After several days of recuperation and adjustment Emma was much brighter, appeared able to see her food and regained her appetite. She also appeared to be able to watch and follow movements of people in or near her cage. Her quality of life improved and she is expected to remain happy and healthy.
