eye problems

[molly14]

Hello,
I have tried to search the forums for information on this, but I did not find anything. My Molly seems to have something wrong with her eyes. She has had some discharge in her eyes before, but nothing severe. The vet said it could be a slight allergy, but never pursued it since Molly didn't seemed bother by it. Well, today Tommy noticed a lot of crusty discharge on her left eye after I went to work. I didn't see it when I got her up and took her out. When Tommy got Molly got from Daycare today, they said they had to clean her eyes a few time and that her left eye was blood shot. When they go home Tommy called the vet and they said it is hard to say the problem over the phone, but it could be an allergy, or an irritation, or an infection. They can't see her unless we show up as a walk in on Thursday. My mom thinks it sounds like conjunctivitis.

The discharge is greenish-yellow. There also appears to be some coating her eye. The left eye seems worse then the right. She lays down with her left eye against something. She doesn't have much energy, but that is usual after a day at daycare, plus she had a busy play weekend, so it is hard to say if she feels well. She did eat normally. She still played hard today at daycare.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Any suggestions on how we can make her feel better until we can get her to the vet on Thursday? Is there such a thing as dog conjunctivitis? and if so, can humans or cats get it? Any feedback would be great.

Thank you,
Jess

[chrismunkrn]

I found a link that explains conjunctivitis....
Conjunctivitis (Red Eyes) in Dogs
When humans develop those symptoms we usually prescribe lid scrubs to remove crusting, two or three times a day. Lid scrubs usually consist of nothing more than washing the eye area with warm water and Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo. Please make sure if you are touching Molly, esp. her eyes, you wash your hands in case it is bacterial. Pink eye can be contagious. The vet may want to do a culture of the drainage to find the exact organism or may assess Molly and find it to be an allergy, etc. Good luck at the vet's. Keep us posted! =)
Sorry, I almost forgot...usually, if it is bacterial conjunctivitis, an antibiotic eye ointment is prescribed but even if it is allergies the vet may also prescribe eye drops or ointments!

[gogogiraffes]

I would see if your vet would recommend doing a saline wash until then. I know Gizmo had some discharge (now just allergies to Richmond) and the saline wash does great. I just use a wound wash and pour it into his eye. Softens all the gookies up and clears the eye out.

Gizmo had a dermoid (Dermoids in the Eye of Dogs) (here's a picture; http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3335/...c47940d089.jpg) So Gizmo and I have gotten to be best friends in the eye touching area, as when he had it taken off, a steroid cream had to be placed on 4 times a day. I think washing it with the saline got him used to it.

So def, ask your vet first, but that seemed to help the gookies clear up quite a bit in Gizmo. (the saline)

[Corgis4me]

A couple years ago Cody had conjunctivitis just as you described what Molly is experiencing. We think he picked this up from doggy day care when he spent the night. Anyway. he was given antibiotic eye ointment that I had to put in for several days and that cleared it up.

[johndragon005]

Are dogs not supposed to have any eye mucus? When Duke wakes up in the morning, he usually has some mucus around his eye, and i just wipe it off...thinking its something similar to humans, like when we wake up. Is this not normal? At the Petsmart puppy training, I noticed Duke's eyes were more red than usual, but it went away when I got home... now i'm slightly worried =X

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by molly14

The discharge is greenish-yellow. There also appears to be some coating her eye. The left eye seems worse then the right. She lays down with her left eye against something. She doesn't have much energy, but that is usual after a day at daycare, plus she had a busy play weekend, so it is hard to say if she feels well. She did eat normally. She still played hard today at daycare.

That sounds like an infection of some sort. The usual treatment is a triple antibiotic ointment for the eyes.

Try artifical tears or even Visine and see if either of those will help her till you get to the vet.

Peggy

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by chrismunkrn

When humans develop those symptoms we usually prescribe lid scrubs to remove crusting, two or three times a day. Lid scrubs usually consist of nothing more than washing the eye area with warm water and Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo.

Yes, J&J baby shampoo is gentle but it is not meant to get in the eyes. I would not recommend using it on eye lids. Use a sterile saline solution (can be found in eye care areas of the stores) to wipe the eyelids off.

Peggy

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by johndragon005

Are dogs not supposed to have any eye mucus? When Duke wakes up in the morning, he usually has some mucus around his eye, and i just wipe it off...thinking its something similar to humans, like when we wake up. Is this not normal?

Yes, that is normal, and yes, they should. Their fluids are much like ours. However, the dog mentioned has a greenish yellow discharge and that is not normal.

At the Petsmart puppy training, I noticed Duke's eyes were more red than usual, but it went away when I got home... now i'm slightly worried =X

They can get red when irritated, get dust in them or things like that. Usually artifical tears or Visine will help that.

Peggy

[molly14]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. Molly's eye seems to be doing better today. There is still a little gunk, but her eye is open all the way now. When I called daycare to check up on her around noon they said she still had some mucus on her eye and some gunk in the corner, but when I got home tonight her eye was clear, just some crusties in the corner. Those were still a greenish yellow. The daycare lady said she doesn't think it was conjunctivitis, otherwise she would not let Molly back this week. She thinks maybe she had a scratch in her eye or she is getting allergies.

I am going to watch her closely and if she still has gunk tomorrow I will bring her to the vet as a walk in. Otherwise, I will probably go to petco and see what they have for eye cleaner.

Some of you suggested saline solution. Would my husbands contact fluid (saline solution) work, or do I need to by something special?

Please make sure if you are touching Molly, esp. her eyes, you wash your hands in case it is bacterial. Pink eye can be contagious.

Thank you for the tip, I have been careful when I clean her eyes and have been more careful about washing my hands if I touch her face.

Thank you again for your feedback,
Jess

[molly14]

Well, we took molly to the vet today. Her eye gunk came back yesterday so we brought her in today. The vet stained her eye to look for a scratch or ulcer but found nothing. The said it is probably an eye infection. They gave us an ointment that is an antibiotic and steroid that we need to put on up to 3 times a day for 3-5 days. If this doesn't work they think it could be hay fever. We will have to see.

[Abby]

Abby had the same thing with her eyes. She is one year old. The eye drops that the Vet gave us really worked and her eyes do not have the discharge as the previous week. He also suggested to give her once a day a 25mg benadryl tablet.

[gogogiraffes]

Instead of starting a new thread, we'll revive this one.

Gizmo, yesterday, his eye started getting really goopy. He also is holding that eye a bit more closed. And rubbing it with his paw. Since it's Sunday, obviously the vet is closed. Should I just do some artificial tears until we get to the vet (probably Wednesday, I work/class 7:45 - 5 everyday, the vet is an hour away)? We have antibiotic eye ointment/steroid cream from when he got his dermoid removed, and the exp. date has not passed.

We'll end up at the vet either way, even if I have to just take him to one way closer to our house in Richmond.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by gogogiraffes

Gizmo, yesterday, his eye started getting really goopy. He also is holding that eye a bit more closed. And rubbing it with his paw. Since it's Sunday, obviously the vet is closed. Should I just do some artificial tears until we get to the vet (probably Wednesday, I work/class 7:45 - 5 everyday, the vet is an hour away)? We have antibiotic eye ointment/steroid cream from when he got his dermoid removed, and the exp. date has not passed.

If you decide to use the ointment make sure it does not have any steriods in it. NEVER use an eye ointment with steriods unless directed to by a vet. It will say somewhere on the packaging if it's got steriods in it.

Peggy

[Corgis4me]

Originally Posted by gogogiraffes

We have antibiotic eye ointment/steroid cream from when he got his dermoid removed, and the exp. date has not passed.

As was mentioned, don't use any drops or ointment that has a steroid in it.
"Dexamethasone" is one of the common steroid ingredients, and if an eye ulcer is present, can make it worse. A vet would usually do a dye test to stain the eye to rule that out before prescribing drops or an ointment which contain a steroid.

Can you call the vet during your lunch hour and ask what you could use to relieve his discomfort before you get to bring him in.

[gogogiraffes]

My boyfriends mom (works for an eye dr) gave me some OTC single use ones. She said it could just be something in his eye to flush it a few times a day.

I'm going to call a vet tomorrow while I'm at work (we're slow right now at work), and see if I can get an appointment Tuesday morning. I haven't been able to find a vet I like in Richmond yet. Will they have to do a full work up even if I have papers that all of his shots are UTD?

We've been doing some warm compresses. Also should I call his daycare? I know when a kid at the daycare I worked at we had to send out a letter stating someone had pink eye. Here's what to look for...