Message Number: YG2449 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-04-10 21:05:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Cataracts?

--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "FurTulsa" <FURTulsa@H...> wrote:
> Okay... got a question. How do you look for cataracts in an albino?
Do the red eyes get a fog the same as dark ones?
> Susan

Dear Susan:

Cataracts appear as a whitish hazy area inside the pupil. What you
are actually looking at is the lens, which sits behind the pupil -
all light must pass through it before it hits the retina - no matter
how large the pupil it gets, the lens covers the entire back side of
the pupil.

The "red eye" that you are seeing is the retina (as opposed to most
ferrets which has a greenish reflection to the retina due to the
increased amount of pigment. In albinos, the reddish sheen to the
back of the eye is due to the exaggeration of the vessels.
(Actually, there are no more vessels in the retina than in sables,
but with the diminished pigment, they stand out much more.)

With kindest regards,

Bruce Williams, DVM