Cataracts...Surgery Price?

[Karrie]

I sadly think my dog has a cataract in each eye. I went online and found out that her breed is known to get them (Bichon Frise). She is 5 years-old. While the cataracts are not big at all, they do not affect her vision much, if any that I can tell (we did some jumping, like in agility, and she didn't have any problem at all, even when I did raise the height).

I know I should take her to the vets, but also heard that the surgery was very expensive also. Did more research and found out that if surgery is not done, that she can develop other problems. But how much does surgery normally cost?

I'm kind of sad about it, because in general it just stinks when things like this happens to a dog. And money isn't very flexible now, because my dad has to get some teeth work done, so its hard to tell how money is going to be for awhile.

Some more information just incase:
She is about 13-15 pounds
5 years-old
We do have insurance on her (at least I think so)
Cataracts are tiny. Though one is bigger than the other, because it is older (didn't know they were cataracts at the time)

[calgal]

I don't have a clue what the fee would be, but I do know if you live near a school that offers animal science, they sometimes do surgeries at no cost to you. You could also just call around to each Vet. and ask them for a ball park figure, and then ask if they have a payment plan. Good luck.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

She really needs to go to your vet, only your vet can tell you for sure if this is even the problem and give you an idea of what costs would be involved. Costs vary from area to area as well as depending on exactly how soon the problem was found / how bad the issue is.

Many times that cloudiness is caused by eye infections, entropian and several other things but without your vet no matter what it is, the longer she goes without medical intervention the worse it will become. None of these things get better with time - they just get worse and cost more in the long run.

[Karrie]

THANKS! I just found out it is most likely cataracts not to long ago. We have to go to the vets anyways (want to get a check up to make sure she didn't get infected with worms from another dog).
I'm hoping to go out tomorrow to the vets, just to see what they say *sigh*

[Pearlulm]

It's good to hear that she is going to the vet. The vet thought that our Gretchen had cataracts when she went for her 3 mo. check. At 4 months he checked her really closely and said that it is not a cataract but the cloudiness is most likely a birth defect or could even have been caused by a vaccine (very rare). The cloudiness in your dog could be caused by many things. It's always good to get these things checked. Be sure to update us to let us know how it goes! Good luck!

[Karrie]

Will do! Have/want to take her to get checked up anyways, to make sure she doesn't have worms (eww). Hopefully it isn't cataracts, because I wanted to do agility with Lacy in a couple of months to