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gunsmoke
Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 28, 2011 - 02:25pm PT
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Does anyone worry about taking Bowzer along on snow climbs? It seems that dogs don't suffer from snow blindness. But given the levels of UV light present on snow fields and glaciers, especially when at altitude, is repeated exposure to these conditions going to degrade Bowzer's eyesight, perhaps manifesting itself in needless loss of visual acuity later in life?
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apogee
climber
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Aug 28, 2011 - 02:30pm PT
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Interesting question. You'd think that any cornea that is subjected to strong UV would be affected to some degree. Still, there's plenty of working & playing dogs out there who spend most/all of their lives with regular exposure- I'll be curious to hear the observations/experiences of those with such dogs.
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Friedo
Trad climber
South Lake Tahoe
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Aug 29, 2011 - 05:41pm PT
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I agree with Juan...If concerned, try doggles. I took my dog backcountry skiing on a hot day (about 70 in mid April. I ran out of water and he ate snow but it didn't seem to nourish him. I skied down but he was slow and struggled a bit. I concluded he was probably dehydrated and at least partially snowblind. I had to hike back up to find him after waiting about 45 minutes at the car...
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Aug 29, 2011 - 11:09pm PT
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My dogs have never had any trouble.
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Aya K
Trad climber
New York
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Aug 29, 2011 - 11:28pm PT
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Rokjox, you're confusing cataracts with lenticular/nuclear sclerosis. The former is not so common. The latter is extremely common - and completely normal - starting around age 8. It does not cause any diminishment in vision.
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GrahamJ
climber
In the rain
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Aug 30, 2011 - 03:41am PT
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I just had a flip through my veterinary ophthalmology textbook and couldn't find a reference to it. It stands to reason that it certainly could happen in animals other than humans, as the anatomy/physiology is not that different. That it hasn't happened before doesn't mean that it can't happen. I'll ask a ophthalmologist tommorrow and report back.
I'm also not aware of snow blindness causing long-term loss of vision - once the burned corneal tissue has replaced itself (happens pretty quickly) everything should be back to normal
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GrahamJ
climber
In the rain
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Aug 31, 2011 - 04:33am PT
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So I asked today - Photokeratits (snowblindness)certainly can occur in dogs. She suspected that it's very uncommon because many dogs have more pigmented irises than humans do. I also suspect that she hadn't heard of any cases because of where she lives (Australia and NZ) - Not a lot of snow in the former and not very many places for people to get their dogs in the snow, and low altitude in the latter. There's also not a culture of skiing with dogs in NZ.
I'd try a pair of doggles and see if your dog is more comfortable with them, even if he/she hasn't had any problem before. Changtse (beautiful dog by the way) has pretty tiny pupils even in what looks to be low-light conditions.
Hope that helps
(3 months from being a vet...)
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BillL
Trad climber
NM
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Aug 31, 2011 - 08:09am PT
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Just finished "Ernest Shackleton: The Heart of the Antarctic". Regards the 1907 - 1909 expedition. Shackleton definitely believed their dogs experienced snow blindness. Same for the horses although seemingly to a lesser degree. He offered no opinion about the subject regarding the automobile.
Bill L
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