Russian Federation
GRNTI 68.41 Ветеринария
Cataracts are common in young tiger cubs who grew up in captivity due to the lack of mother 's milk and eating of artificial food additives with cataractogenic effects. The onset of maturation of cataracts and decreased vision is noted in 2…3 months. The development of lens opacity in tiger cubs occurs quickly, literally in a few weeks. Mature cataract first leads to complete blindness of the animal, and then the possible death of the eye due to swelling of the lens with the development of terminal phacogenic glaucoma or autoimmune panophthalmitis. Microsurgical removal of cataracts is the only effective way to restore visual functions in young tigers with cataracts. This article describes our comparative experience microsurgery of cataracts of 8 tiger cubs aged 2.5 to 5 months by ultrasound phacoemulsification and soft lens aspiration surgery. The surgeries were carried out without complications. The animals had a significant improvement in visual functions 2…3 days after surgery. They started freely navigate in space, play with toys. Their behavior has changed significantly: inhibition and timidity have completely disappeared.
alimentary cataract, blindness, tiger cub, phacoemulsification, aspiration-irrigation of the soft lens
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