Diabetes and Eye Health

Hello vets! I have a 16yo miniature poodle who seems to be having one problem after another in his old age. He has had a history of arthritis, hypothyroidism, pancreatitis (many times as he got older), perianal Paget’s disease which then turned to cancer and has spread VERY slowly to his lymph nodes in his inner thighs, bladder stones and most recently (about 3 weeks ago) he was diagnosed with diabetes. In the last 3 or so years he has lost his hearing almost completely and over the last year or so we’ve noticed he hasn’t been able to see quite as well as he could previously. I’m wondering at what point I should be concerned about his eyes with his diabetes? The vet looked at his eyes and said it looks like he has “old dog eyes” and didn’t seem concerned, but that was just before he had his diabetes diagnosis. Also, I’m not sure with all of his other issues if there would really be many feasible options for him as far as eye treatment would go if they did start rapidly getting worse. His diabetes seems to be quite well managed so far since starting insulin and last week we got him set up with the freestyle libre so we can get even tighter control. I just want to make sure I am doing everything possible for him to keep him as comfortable and healthy as possible for his remaining time. Are there any eye specific supplements that may help him in the long run to prevent diabetic damage, or just controlling the diabetes is the best thing to do? I’m also a diabetic with retinopathy, so it makes me extra concerned for him. Thank you for your time!

Hello!  Over time, high blood sugars in the eyes can cause cataracts and also affect the retinae.   You have a 15 year old dog with an array of health problems; diabetes has only just been diagnosed and you are working hard to keep the blood glucose levels central.   You sound to me to be taking adequate steps to look after your dogs' vision from a blood glucose point of view.  However, I am in no position to examine your dogs' eyes and state whether I have any current concerns; this is definitely one for your vet.  Early diabetic changes might not be visible to an owner, so I cannot, from here, exclude the possibility of that or some other, more visible, eye complaint.