• Use of a bell in your pocket will help your pet know where you are
  
• Talk to your pet more
  
• Avoid moving furniture and objects around the home or garden
  
• Avoid leaving stray objects along your pet’s usual route of travel
  
• Avoid any sharp/protuberant objects at eye level for your pet
  
• Use of stress reducing products such as pheromones (Feliway, DAP) and Zylkene can be useful in the early stages of adaptation
  

• Start using more voice commands; you can teach them command like ‘step up’, ‘step down’, stop etc to help them deal with new environments
  
• Use of ‘Doggles’ can be helpful to avoid ocular trauma if your dog is inclined to stick his/her head in bushes 
  
• Try to maintain a routine, and encourage your pet to go on his/her usual walks
  
• Use of a harness may give better control to avoid your dog traumatizing his/her face
  

Feline:

• Your cat is safest as a house-cat, unless your garden can be kept secure
  
• Allow your cat to develop a ‘safe space’
  
• Try to maintain a routine, and avoid disruptions

Even if blindness appears to be of sudden onset, sometimes reduced vision has been developing over a period of time. The cause of the blindness can originate in the eye itself, or be due to changes in the brain which affect the transmission and evaluation of chemical messages travelling to/from the eye. If your pet becomes blind it is important that they have a full ophthalmic assessment urgently, as in some cases blindness can be reversible, depending on the cause. In some cases, Electroretinogram (ERG) is required to identify the source of the problem, as well as advanced imaging in the form of CAT or MRI scans.

Dogs can experience blindness due to retinal degenerations (hereditary conditions such as Progressive Retinal Atrophy, Retinal Pigment Epithelial Dystrophy; and Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome) as well as immune mediated retinitis, optic neuritis and brain lesions such as tumours. Cataracts can cause blindness, and in some cases, this can link to PRA. 

Glaucoma and retinal detachments can cause a loss of vision, in many cases quite abruptly. Severe uveitis (panuveitis) can also result in a blind patient. Changes in the cornea can impact on vision, resulting in an effectively blind dog.

In cats, onset of blindness is most commonly as a result of hypertension and subsequent retinal detachment. Several primary causes for this hypertension exist, such as kidney disease and hyperthyroidism, and it is essential your cat is examined by their vet.

Cats can also suffer from glaucoma, uveitis and retinal degeneration in the same way as a dog, although with the exception of uveitis these are much less common in cats.

If your pet appears to have lost his/her vision, you should contact your vet immediately, and consider referral for full ophthalmic evaluation.