| Copyright (c) 2008 The Naturally Healthy The retina is | | | | illness, as a dog or cat cannot let us know that some |
| a layer of special light-sensitive cells that lines the back | | | | of their vision is impaired. Retinal detachments tend to |
| of the eye, and functions like the film in a camera. The | | | | be picked up only when there is significant, often |
| image lands on the retina, having been focussed by | | | | bilateral, visual loss. |
| the lens. Impulses are then sent from cones and rods | | | | Once the layer of cells is no longer attached to the |
| (special retinal cells), down the optic nerve to the area | | | | back of the eye, its blood supply can no longer bring |
| of the brain that processes images. | | | | nutrients and oxygen to it. This is why the retinal |
| A retinal detachment occurs if the layer of | | | | detachment tends to progress, and will worsen if not |
| light-sensitive cells is pulled away from the back of the | | | | treated. |
| eye. In animals, this problem tends to present late in the | | | | |