Wy-O's Miniature Schnauzers Hereditary Congenital Cataracts in Miniature Schnauzers Sugar's Story . Please notice the icy blue color in her eyes where you would expect a dark pupil to be - that's the hereditary congenital cataract. . . . I wish this information wasn't needed anymore - but several times since coming on the internet, people have asked about their Schnauzer with cataracts and whether they should consider cataract surgery.
Cataracts can have a number of different causes, including disease or heredity. . . .
Years ago, the Miniature Schnauzer fancy became very involved in trying to eradicate the hereditary congenital cataracts. Because the congenital cataract was found to be a simple autosomal recessive gene and could be identified so early in life, the Miniature Schnauzer people organized a way to identify carriers of the gene through test breedings. This way, the dogs who carried the problem could be removed from any thoughtful breeding program. This involved first having each of our dogs examined by a Board Certified Veterinary Ophthalmologist to make sure our Schnauzers had normal eyes and vision. So we drove 10 hours just to find such a doctor.