# Do animals get presbyopia?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-get-presbyopia/707018>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 12, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-get-presbyopia/707018 "2014-12-12T11:16:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-get-presbyopia/707018/1 "2014-12-12T11:16:58Z")

</div>

As humans get older, the closest distance our eyes can focus on increases, so eventually most of us need reading glasses.

But what about animals? If presbyopia is caused by changes in the material that the eye lens is made of, I’d assume many animals would suffer from the same problem. Obviously this only applies to animals that live long enough, although perhaps the condition progresses at different rates in different species.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-get-presbyopia/707018/2 "2014-12-12T11:58:24Z")

</div>

[Yes](http://animaleyecare.net/diseases/cataract/).

> [@](#):
>
> Nuclear sclerosis also occurs in humans, and the hardening of the lens with age results in reduced near-vision in people; this is why people in their 40’s and older need reading glasses—because their lenses no longer are soft enough to easily change shape to allow for near vision. Another name for this is presbyopia, which means “old eye”. Dogs do not have good near-vision to begin with (compared to people), so nuclear sclerosis does not significantly interfere with their near-vision.

Well, dogs do at any rate. I have fostered several blind dogs for [this organization](http://www.blinddogrescue.com/availabledogs.html), and dogs adapt very well to being sight-impaired.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-get-presbyopia/707018/3 "2014-12-12T20:22:06Z")

</div>

I’d guess presbyopia isn’t that much of a problem for animals because they don’t do close-up work and they don’t read, actually pretty much like humans in the pre-industrialized world.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\
**Post date:** [December 12, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-get-presbyopia/707018/4 "2014-12-12T20:50:48Z")

</div>

> [@Donnerwetter](#):
>
> I’d guess presbyopia isn’t that much of a problem for animals because they don’t do close-up work and they don’t read, actually pretty much like humans in the pre-industrialized world.

Which would explain why we never see elderly dogs and cats with reading glasses.😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-get-presbyopia/707018/5 "2014-12-13T18:01:48Z")

</div>

> [@TreacherousCretin](#):
>
> Which would explain why we never see elderly dogs and cats with reading glasses.😃

Well, actually, there are [prescription glasses for dogs](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AmazingAnimals/prescription-glasses-dogs/story?id=205640).  
Also [Doggles](http://www.baxterboo.com/l.cfm/_/doggles?gclid=CIOjmdrMw8ICFUsR7Aod-mkAmA).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-animals-get-presbyopia/707018/6 "2014-12-13T18:30:01Z")

</div>

> [@chiroptera](#):
>
> Well, actually, there are [prescription glasses for dogs](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AmazingAnimals/prescription-glasses-dogs/story?id=205640).  
> Also [Doggles](http://www.baxterboo.com/l.cfm/_/doggles?gclid=CIOjmdrMw8ICFUsR7Aod-mkAmA).

I’m assuming that cat-eye-shaped frames aren’t considered cool by the average dog? 😉