[smitette]

I guess that it sounds petty...We wanted him because our Cookie is 3 years old and he was advertised as 3. After finding out the this occurs in dogs over 7, we are not sure just how old he is...We were not looking for a baby that old. It was not Duncans fault, we would have kept him if we were not looking for a younger baby.
No, thank God, this condition does not cause blindness and dogs can live a healthy and happy life. We adopted him on the information that was provided on the site that he was 2-3 years old. Finding that he was over 7 years old shocked us, we would not have given him back if he was 4, but 7 is a lot older than the 2-3 that he had been written up as being...I am not plassing blame on the rescue site, they were just going by what their Vet stated to them. After all is said and done, it still hurts us

Originally Posted by megansmomma

I am sorry that you had to return Duncan. I had no idea what the condition that you said that he had was and thought it was something fatal I just got done looking it up on line and was surprised to learn that it was:

Nuclear sclerosis is an age-related change in the density of the crystalline lens nucleus that occurs in all older animals.[1] It is caused by compression of older lens fibers in the nucleus by new fiber formation. The denser construction of the nucleus causes it to scatter light. Although nuclear sclerosis may describe a type of early cataract in human medicine[2], in veterinary medicine the term is also known as lenticular sclerosis and describes a bluish-grey haziness at the nucleus that usually does not affect vision, except for unusually dense cases.[3]

Veterinary medicine

In veterinary practice, nuclear sclerosis is a consistent finding in dogs greater than seven years old.[4] Nuclear sclerosis appears as a bilateral bluish-grey haziness at the nucleus, or center of the lens, caused by an increase in the refractive index of that part of the lens due to its increased density. It is often confused with cataracts. The condition is differentiated from a cataract by its appearance and by shining a penlight into the eye. With nuclear sclerosis, a reflection from the tapetum will be seen, while a cataract will block reflection.[5]

I'm not sure why the rescue did not tell you about his condition but they should have explained the above to you. The way that it is explained it sounds like it does not cause blindness or effect the quality of life of a dog. Too bad that you felt this was something that warranted returning him to the rescue. He sure is beautiful!