Here is a young adult Labrador Retriever with short limbs and angular limb deformities. She is blind and both eyes exhibit similar lesions. What is the cloudy area behind the lens? What condition would connect the ocular and skeletal abnormalities?
This eye exhibits an incipient cataract. The cloudy veil behind the lens is the completely detached retina.
Labrador Retrievers (and also Samoyeds) which are homozygous for retinal dysplasia develop a form of short-limbed dwarfism or chondrodysplasia concurrently with severe manifestations of hereditary ocular disease, including cataracts, retinal dysplasia, and retinal detachment. This is called oculoskeletal dysplasia. Heterozygotes often have retinal folds, which have little or no clinical effect on vision. However, breeding even mildly affected dogs is strongly discouraged.
