Mini-Schnauzer Eye Problem

Question
Just noticed our 4 yr. old mini-schnauzer had a cloudy spot on one of her eyes.  Took her to the vet and she said it was a fatty tissue and there was nothing you could do for it.  She said it can go as quickly as it came.  Now, she is developing another one on the other eye....she is not seeing well, having to carry her upstairs and sometimes down.  She mentioned schnauzers are pre-disposed to this condition.  She is not diabetic.  Its hard to believe our dog is so young and is going blind.  Any advice is appreciated.  
Thank you.

Answer
I'm sorry to hear about your dog.

There are a couple things you might try... first, if she is overweight at ALL, put her on a diet by simply cutting back on her food, eliminating all treats, and increasing her exercise. Schnauzers should *always* be kept slightly on the thin side due to their "natural" hyperlipidemia.

One veterinary ophthalmology website said that putting the dog on a low-fat diet might help to dissolve the fat deposits: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1463-5224.1998.00028.x?journa...  

Another veterinary site said that this can be caused by low thyroid, so I would have that checked by your vet: http://lbah.com/canine/hypot4.htm  (scroll down about 1/3 page).

Finally, I emailed a schnauzer breeder/friend of mine who had this problem in one of her dogs and resolved it through the use of fish oil put in her dogs' food. Quote:

"Right - she told me to put fish oil in her food every day for a month.  I just bought the Wal-Mart generic and started giving it to all my dogs. (Two of them - mother and daughter - had the cloudy eyes)  The capsules come very large - 1,000 mg.  I punctured them and divided one up among all my dogs.  It only took a drop or two for each dog 1x per day."

My friend feeds Solid Gold, which I believe has 8% fat, and it is an excellent food.

So now you have some things you can try. I don't know if they will work, but it certainly won't hurt to try! Please let me know what happens.

Karen