HOUSTON – Veterinary ophthalmology is a growing field in our area.
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Our pets tend to have the same issues we humans have and there’s help to make sure they can see well into old age.
While there are several vet ophthalmologists in our area, Eye Care for Animals (a Thrive Pet Healthcare facility) has such a demand, they’ve grown beyond the need for just one clinic in Willowbrook and are opening a second location in Pearland.
Veterinary ophthalmologist, Dr. Nick Millichamp, said dogs, cats, and horses are the most common animals to require eye surgery. Although, he also works with a large variety of animals, including at the Houston Zoo.
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The clinic specializes in diagnosing and treating conditions such as:
• Corneal ulcers
• Dry eye
• Pink eye (conjunctivitis)
• Eyelid masses
• Cataracts
• Glaucoma
• Cherry eye (prolapsed third eyelid gland)
• Entropion (eyelids rolling inward)
Heidi Scott brought her dog, Zebedee, for cataract surgery after she noticed at Thanksgiving, that he could no longer see his food or surroundings. His decline in eye health happened quickly after the dog was diagnosed with diabetes.
“One of the complications of diabetes is that they will, not infrequently in dogs at least, they will develop cataracts,” said Dr. Millichamp.
“It was kind of sad to see a dog that spends 75% of his time in high gear, you know, suddenly able to do nothing but low gear and walking into the house and into the walls trying to find where he is,” Scott said.
Scott said she knew she needed to jump on getting the operation when she found out the cataracts could be healed with just one visit.
“I thought maybe you would, you could restore some vision for a while, but with the diabetes still being there, that it could come back…. Dr. Millichamp explained how, you know, this is not something that can come back, it’s a one-time fix,” Scott said.
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Dr. Millichamp said the surgery is often very satisfying for both him and the patients because they arrive blind and leave with their sight restored.
“He could see. He’d had a terrible blue cloudiness on his eyes,” Scott said. “So, all of a sudden, we could see his eyes again and he’s completely normal. He is absolutely, completely back to normal. Zooms around the house chasing the squirrels and just, yeah, back to being a normal, happy dog.”
The cost of the surgery ranges, depending on the complexity.
Dr. Millichamp said for those with pet health insurance, which is not very common to have, some of these common operations (like for glaucoma and cataracts) are covered.
