Malformations ofthe Globe
Various chemical or viral teratogens may interfere with embryologic development of the eyeball.
Cyclopia
Veratrum californicum, if consumed on approximately day 14 of pregnancy, can cause cyclopia in kids and lambs (Binns et al.
1972). Deformation of the skull (“monkey face”), absence of the pituitary, and other brain malformations may also occur. This problem can be prevented by not allowing the buck access to the females when grazing on the plant might occur. The author (MCS) has seen cyclopic kids in New York, where V californicum does not grow, and several case reports from India (Raju and Rao 2001) and Egypt (Rashed et al. 2014) also did not identify a cause of the malformation. It is logical that other toxins or tissue insults occurring at the critical stage of embryologic development, when a single optic field is dividing in two, could also result in cyclopia.Microphthalmia and Other Defects
Microphthalmia and other congenital deformities, including lens luxation or aphakia, have been reported in lambs when pregnant ewes have grazed on seleniferous pastures. Anophthalmia has been caused by exposure of a pregnant ewe to apholate, an insect chemosterilant (Younger 1965). The effects on caprine ocular structures of these compounds or of in utero viral infections have not been reported.
Ingestion during pregnancy of Mimosa tenuiflora has caused buphthalmia, iridal cysts, and ocular dermoids in goat kids in Brazil (Pimentel et al. 2007).
Cranial Nerves and Evaluation for Blindness
The optic disc is the optic nerve head. It may be swollen with papilledema or with optic neuritis. Unilateral blindness may be detected by covering one eye and observing the goat's behavior in a strange environment. Young kids often visually follow a bottle of milk when other items fail to attract their interest. The complete visual pathway,