Sore Eye

[Sarah86]

I was wondering if anyone has any tips about how to prevent Pennys eye from becoming sore. Last year her eye was quite sore looking and weeping a bit she got some drops and didn't have any further problems for about 8 months. In december there her eye (the same one) started to look sore, under the lid was very red, it was running but it was more like water than anything sticky, I am sure it looked a tiny bit swollen and she was constantly rubbing it. We took her to the vet and to be honest I can't remember exactly what he said but it was caused by her having rather prominent eyes and the fact she enjoys mooching around so much in long grass etc.. and that I think Follicular conjuntivitis had formed.. some form of it anyway!

She got prescribed maxidex (I think) and it healed up nicely. The vet suggested this may be an ongoing problem and just to keep it and use again, this was at the beginning of December. About a week ago it started looking sore again, I don't know if it is a coincidence but it seemed to be after she had been playing on the beach. I have been using the drops again and it is starting to look better. What I am really wondering is there anything I can do to prevent it reaching the stage of it looking sore and red? I read online someone bathes their dogs eye with a salt water solution after they have been in long grass or at the beach. It is a shame if this is going to keep returning as it is obviously annoying her as she rubs it on the couch, our legs etc... Thanks!

 

[Pamw]

when bandit had a bad eye we were on holiday so did not know of any local vets we were told a used tea bag ...i thought it would not work but evidently its an old remedy and it worked wonders..no more problems now///

 

[robandkay]

when bandit had a bad eye we were on holiday so did not know of any local vets we were told a used tea bag ...i thought it would not work but evidently its an old remedy and it worked wonders..no more problems now///

We were also told of the tea bag treatment, by a greyhound vet. Just hold it over your dogs eye for as long as she will let you. Obviously let it cool down, - the vet we saw said 'luke warm', but I would err on the cool side. (It works for humans too). Perhaps she got a grain or two of sand in her eye on the beach.

Hope she is soon feeling better. :luck:

 

[Sarah86]

Thanks for that, someone had mentioned tea bags before but I hadn't tried it. Tried a cool tea bag on her eye last night and she seemed to love it lol she tilted her head into it and let me hold it there for a good while. Hopefully this will help as I don't want to be using the medicine all the time if there is another way. Will try her with the tea bag treatment for a few days and see how she gets on, her eye was starting to look better again anyway. Thanks again :thumbsup: oh and I am guessing it is just a normal original teabag...?

 

[Janimal]

Tea bags are good to use Sarah on eyes, I also wash my horses eyes with tea bags, keeps them clean and free from infections. :thumbsup:

 

[Pamw]

just wondering how penny is doing with her eye....

sometimes the old remedies are best...we have used the tea bag one on our horses and cats....its really good when the dogs have got grains of sand in their eyes as it clears it so quickly...

hope penny continues to improve....

 

[Sarah86]

It had been looking good and not so red, I didn't put any tea bags on her eyes yesterday. Today when she got in I noticed it looked like it had been watering again but the lid wasn't a vibrant red like it had been. Maybe need to try the tea bags for a few more days yet!

 

[lorna anne]

The tea bag should do the trick if it is a mild conjunctivitus. But I don't know if it will work if it is an allergy.

I have a whippet (also with more prominent eyes than my others) and every year during spring she develops what appears to be an allergy of sorts in both eyes - excessive tearing (clear), eyes slightly red and swollen. Fine in the morning when she wakes. I have noticed her rubbing her eyes on her front leg, but not excessively.

The vet checked her for blocked tear ducts and for corneal abscesses.

What eventually solved the problem was cortico-steroid eye drops (for the allergy) and because of the rubbing on her front leg she had developed secondary conjunctivitus which I successfully treated with tea bags. She is now right as rain and a sprightly 12 year old.

If it only happens when you take Penny to the beach, you could consider getting her doggy sunglasses to protect her eyes from whatever is causing the allergy. A friend of mine has a whippet, Basil, with light pigment around one eye. Whenever she takes him to the beach, on go the "shades" to prevent him from getting skin cancer. He runs around quite happily on the beach wearing his shades 8) Here in South Africa we really have to be careful with our whippets in the sun. Many of them are sun worshippers and with their fine coats they are high risk candidates for skin cancer.

Hope you solve Penny's eye problem soon.

Lorna

 

[Sarah86]

Thanks for that, what your whippet has does sound very similar to Penny. It had just started up again after we have been to the beach but it seems to be whenever she has stuck her head into things, grass etc.. It flared up again and I tried the tea bags for 2-3 days which didn't help so I used the drops from the vet again which do have some kind of steroid in them and that cleared it up, treated her with this for about a week then stopped. Yesterday I had her out in the local woods and when we got back to the house she had the excessive tearing and the corner of her eye near her tear duct looked quite red and she was rubbing it again last night.

The strange thing is it is only ever the one eye. It seems that if I use the drops for a week it clears up but then starts again a week later. When she does have the teary eye it is normally only once/twice a day and if she has ben out. I think if we are going to continue with this cycle I will get in touch with the vet as I am not sure the drops I have are suitable for such frequent use as there is a warning on the label but it is aimed at humans.

 

[lorna anne]

It sounds like an allergy, but then one would think both eyes would be affected. Puzzling indeed. We are fortunate not to have the problems some breeds have with eyes. Perhaps a trip to the vet with Penny would be advisable - one doesn't like to mess around with eyes.

Good luck and please let us know what the outcome is.

 

[eve]

Maxidex is not a good long term treatment if it can be avoided as it is a steroid.

You could try Hypromellose eyedrops which you can buy from the pharmacist. These are also called artifical tears. These moisten the eye.

If the tear duct is weeping it may be because the eye is dry.

If this does not work, the vet could try olopatadine hydrochloride eye drops. These are antihistamine. I use them from March - October.

They are fantastic with my eye allergy. They must not be used where there is 'dry eye' so try the Hypromellose first.

Olopatadine hydrochloride eye drops are prescription only.

As it is only one eye, I strongly suspect that it is not an allergy.

Much more likely to be a malfunctioning tear duct / dry eye which ocurrs quite commonly in older humans & dogs.

Hope Penny improves soon. XX

 

[lorna anne]

Hi there,

I have been speaking to human opthalmologist about the issue of not wanting to use cortic-steroid eyedrops for a long period of time. His advice is to treat the affected eye(s) with a barrier gel like "TEAR GEL" which contains artificial tears as well as a slightly oily lubricant which PREVENTS whatever (pollen, grass seeds, dust, household detergents, etc etc) from contact with the eye itself. This can be used before going on a walk where there is something which seems to be causing the allergy.

Also, according to him it is possible that one eye can be slightly more susceptible to an allergy than the other - rather complicated anotomical explanation.

Maybe this will be of some help to poor Penny with the sore eye problem.

All the best