Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Open Vet J. 2020 Apr;10(1):22-30. doi: 10.4314/ovj.v10i1.5. Epub 2020 Feb 11.
Working dogs, such as police dogs and guide dogs, have important roles in the contemporary society by performing specific and demanding jobs. Ocular health and the maintenance of good visual acuity are imperative to strong work performance and thus human safety.
The aim of this study was to assess ophthalmic abnormalities and refractive errors in police and guide dogs in Brazil.
A total of 71 dogs (141 eyes) were evaluated. Ten were guide dogs and 61 were police dogs. The work performance was assessed by a questionnaire to each dog's handler/owner. All the dogs underwent a complete ocular examination, and abnormalities were classified by condition, if they were active or inactive and if they were located within the visual axis. In addition, 62 dogs were evaluated by streak retinoscopy for refractive errors.
Ophthalmic abnormalities were detected in 38 (54%) dogs, of which 23 were considered inherited, 25 were considered active, and 10 were located within the visual axis. Incipient cataracts were the most prevalent abnormality. No guide dog had an abnormality within the visual axis. The most common refractive error was myopia with the median and interquartile range of -0.75 ± 0.75 diopters; among these, police dogs had -1.0 ± 0.5 diopters, whereas guide dogs +0.38 ± 0.75 diopters. Police dogs tended to be slightly myopic and guide dogs were emmetropic.
Despite finding a considerable number of ophthalmic abnormalities and refractive error, work performance was good with no signs of visual impairment in any dog. Regular ophthalmic examinations are advised for working dogs, and an exclusion of severely affected dogs from breeding programs is recommended.
工作犬，如警犬和导盲犬，在当代社会中通过执行特定且要求苛刻的工作，扮演着重要的角色。眼部健康和良好的视力维持对于出色的工作表现和人类安全至关重要。
本研究旨在评估巴西警犬和导盲犬的眼部异常和屈光不正情况。
共评估了 71 只狗（141 只眼睛）。其中 10 只为导盲犬，61 只为警犬。通过向每只狗的 handler/owner 发放问卷来评估工作表现。所有狗都接受了全面的眼部检查，并根据病变情况、病变是否活跃以及是否位于视轴内对异常情况进行分类。此外，对 62 只狗进行了条纹视网膜镜检查以评估屈光不正。
在 38 只（54%）狗中发现了眼部异常，其中 23 只为遗传性，25 只为活动性，10 只为位于视轴内。初发白内障是最常见的异常。没有导盲犬的视轴内有异常。最常见的屈光不正为近视，中位数和四分位间距为-0.75 ± 0.75 屈光度；其中，警犬为-1.0 ± 0.5 屈光度，而导盲犬为+0.38 ± 0.75 屈光度。警犬略近视，导盲犬则视力正常。
尽管发现了相当数量的眼部异常和屈光不正，但没有任何狗出现视力损害的迹象，工作表现良好。建议对工作犬进行定期的眼部检查，并建议从繁殖计划中排除严重受影响的犬只。
