Annual BVA eye testing

BVA eye-testing is a requirement for Labradors.

BVA eye-testing needs to be done annually, to pick up any genetic diseases which may take a while to develop and which might not be visible in a young dog.  

Always check the date on a BVA eye-test and make sure the test has been carried out within the last year.  That is what is meant by a 'current' eye test. 

The result of the BVA eye exam will be either Clear, or Affected.  

Eye conditions will lead to blindness for many dogs, so it is not justified to breed from an Affected dog - unless the BVA vet states that abnormalities detected are due to trauma and not to a congenital condition.

Using Mate Select, you can see all the eye-tests a dog has received and the dates of those tests.

How are eyes tested?

The dog must see an appointed BVA panellist for official eye-testing.  This is not a test which an owner's regular vet can carry out by examining the eyes.

Some drops are put into the dog's eyes to dilate the pupils (as with some human eye-tests).  The eyes are then examined in a darkened room for clinical signs of abnormalities.  The dog is not sedated.

The BVA panellist provides the results on the day.

How do congenital eye conditions affect dogs?

Put simply, dogs lose their sight, to varying degrees - often at young ages.  They may also have pain and discomfort in their eyes.  

They will pass onto their puppies these eye-diseases, so their puppies will suffer sight loss, also.

In short, what eye-results do I look for?

Unaffected or Clear.  And make sure it was a BVA test, carried out within the last year.

Would you want your 12wk old puppy to need to undergo this surgery?  In a team effort, Dr. Michael Snyder, a cataract specialist at the Cincinnati Eye Institute (CEI), and veterinarians Dr. Sheri Kyle and Dr. Nina Owens performed a surgery at Kyle Veterinary Hospital in Sycamore Township on Thursday to restore the sight of two 12-week old yellow Labrador Retrievers, Mason and Lilly, born with opaque congenital cataracts, an uncommon condition causing functional blindness.