Eye examinations are expensive, even for animals.
UF’s Small Animal Hospital will be offering free eye screening and bring back heart examinations for service animals on May 8.
This is an annual event, but there was not enough available clinical staff to offer the cardiology service last year. The hospital hired another faculty specialist to do so, wrote Sarah Carey, director of public relations for the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, in an email.
The event is tied to a national philanthropic event sponsored by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.
“This event is such a wonderful opportunity for service dogs in our community,” she wrote. “We actually even see dogs from throughout the state.”
Regular screening for ocular and cardiac disease can detect conditions that may threaten an animal’s quality of life, said Caryn Plummer, an associate professor and veterinary ophthalmologist at UF.
The program does not receive any outside funding. Plummer, her team and cardiology specialists volunteer their time one day a year to provide these exams.
Plummer said many ophthalmologists offer their screening services for service dogs regularly, especially those that haven’t finished training.
“The ACVO saw the need to make this an official program and to offer yearly exams, since there are many ophthalmic conditions that change or develop over time,” Plummer said.
She said the service animals must be registered with a formal training program.
“Everyone who has been involved in the program finds it enormously rewarding,” Carey wrote. “The dog owners and groups that provide services to differently abled persons who need services dogs are all grateful, and we generally have a full schedule of appointments.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 3/20/2015 under the headline “UF vet program to hold eye and heart exams for service dogs”]
Dr. Caryn Plummer examines the eye of a service dog during the UF Small Animal Hospital’s service dog eye screening event in May.
