Congenital Stationary Night Blindness

Puppies with night blindness often appear normal during the day, but will run into walls and other objects at night. As the disease progresses, day vision can also be impacted and lead to complete blindness.

Night vision loss is first reported in puppies (6 weeks of age), but does not become detectable on ophthalmic exam until 2-3 years.

Veterinarians perform a complete ocular exam and notice brown patches over the retina (back of the eye).

Currently, there is no treatment for night blindness.

Talk to your vet about your dog’s congenital stationary night blindness result so you can work together to plan their ongoing care and monitoring.

Help your dog navigate safely at night by leaving lights on or using nightlights in darker areas.

If your dog has trouble seeing during the day, keep furniture in the same place, use verbal cues, and guide them on a leash in new areas.

This mutation was first described in the Swedish Briard.

Penetrance: This mutation is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner; that is, a dog requires two copies of the mutation to show signs of the disease.

Gene

RPE65

Inheritance type

recessive

Clinical category

Ophthalmologic

Citations

1. Aguirre et al 1998

• Briard