Vet advises: Dogs should wear sunglasses!

Swindon (England) - Caring dog owners always want the best for their pets. Especially in summer, they want to protect their four-legged friends from the heat and sun. As a joke, many have probably put sunglasses on their pet's nose. But do dogs really need them? A vet from England has now provided the answer .

Active dogs that enjoy running on the beach, cycling or stand-up paddling with their humans could benefit from wearing sunglasses, a vet at Eastcott Veterinary Hospital in Swindon has claimed.

Visors or goggles could therefore help to protect animals from certain eye diseases. The vet therefore advised that dogs should wear sunglasses. She came to this conclusion based on the case of a 14-year-old poodle named Celine.

Celine's owner, Miluse Vojtiskova, said that the poodle had developed iris atrophy with age and was therefore no longer able to filter the light. According to a BBC report, Vojtiskova noticed that there was a problem with her doggie when Celine jumped in front of a car one day. She also noticed that the dog "started to get nervous in the sunshine", she said.

The specialists at Eastcott Veterinary Hospital told the woman that Celine's iris had become weaker with age, which meant that her iris muscle was not strong enough to contract the pupil.

"When it's very bright she struggles and it hurts her," said Ida Gilbert, head of ophthalmology at the veterinary hospital in Swindon.

"That shocked me, I had no idea she was in pain," added Miluse Vojtiskova. Celine now wears sunglasses. These have "given her back a normal quality of life". Because "she can now go outside and do everything again. We are happy." The dog would also no longer hide on sunny days.

Ida Gilbert said that wearing the sunglasses also meant that Celine did not have to have an operation, which was "brilliant". Essentially, it's about filtering out harmful UV light. "Some dogs out there could benefit from this. It could even reduce the amount of medication they would need if they had an eye condition," she said.

As an example, she cited an inflammatory disease called pannus or shepherd dog keratitis, which occurs in German Shepherds and which worsens under the influence of UV light. Eye protection should be considered for affected animals.