Eye Problems in Dogs: Discharge, Redness and Cloudiness

Eyes are unforgiving, and this is the one area where the usual instinct to give it a night does not apply. Conditions that would be minor anywhere else on the body progress within hours, and the difference between a treated eye and a lost one is frequently a single day.

So the rule here is simple. Treat eye problems as urgent by default, and let the vet be the one to tell you it was nothing.

What the signs suggest

Discharge

• Clear and watery: irritation, allergy, a foreign body, or a blocked tear duct
• Thick, yellow or green: infection
• Brown staining below the eye: chronic tearing, common in flat-faced and small breeds

Redness

Conjunctivitis, irritation, or something considerably more serious such as glaucoma or inflammation inside the eye. Redness with pain is a different matter from redness without.

Cloudiness

• A bluish haze across the whole surface suggests corneal oedema, often with an ulcer or glaucoma
• Cloudiness deeper in, behind the pupil, suggests cataract or the normal ageing change of the lens

Sudden cloudiness is urgent. Gradual cloudiness in an older dog still deserves examination, partly because cataracts in dogs are strongly associated with diabetes.

Squinting

The sign that most reliably means pain, and the one owners most often overlook. A dog holding one eye partly closed, blinking excessively or shying from light needs seeing that day. It commonly means a corneal ulcer.

Emergencies

• Sudden severe pain, squinting, or an eye held shut
• An eye that looks larger, bulging, or has come out of the socket, which happens in flat-faced breeds after even minor trauma and needs immediate care
• Sudden cloudiness or sudden blindness
• Any direct injury: a scratch, a thorn, a chemical splash
• Bleeding in or around the eye
• A pupil that no longer responds to light, or two pupils of different sizes

What not to do

Do not use leftover eye drops. This is the single most damaging thing owners do to eyes.

Many veterinary eye preparations contain steroids. If there is a corneal ulcer, steroid drops slow healing and can allow the ulcer to deepen and perforate. A drop that helped last time can cost the eye this time, and you cannot tell whether there is an ulcer by looking.

Also avoid: human eye drops of any kind without advice, saline for anything beyond flushing a foreign body, and letting a dog rub at an eye. A collar prevents in five minutes what surgery repairs in an hour.

What you can safely do

• Flush with sterile saline if something splashed in or you can see dust or debris
• Wipe discharge gently with clean damp cotton, outward from the inner corner, a fresh piece per eye
• Stop the rubbing with a collar
• Keep the dog out of dust and wind on the way to the clinic

What a vet does

Usually three things, and each answers a different question. A fluorescein stain shows up corneal ulcers, which are invisible otherwise. A tear production test checks for dry eye, which is common and untreated causes chronic damage. A pressure measurement checks for glaucoma, which is painful and can blind an eye quickly.

Those tests are quick and inexpensive, and they are exactly why guessing with drops at home is a poor bargain.

Breeds worth extra attention

• Flat-faced breeds: prominent eyes with less protection, prone to ulcers, injury and prolapse. Their eyes need checking whenever anything seems off
• Long-coated breeds: hair irritating the cornea
• Breeds prone to dry eye, where tear production fails and the surface is damaged continuously
• Working and outdoor dogs: grass seeds and thorns

Routine care

Look at both eyes weekly in good light: clear, bright, equal pupils, no discharge, no redness. Keep hair trimmed away from the eyes. Wipe tear staining in breeds that get it. Do not let dogs hang out of car windows, which is a common cause of debris injuries.

Eye problems are among the few things where an owner's decision to wait until morning routinely changes the outcome permanently, and where the cheapest wrong move, using drops already in the house, is also the most damaging one.

Consultations, diagnostics and treatment are covered on Skeepy Pet HMO plans at any vet clinic in Nigeria, which makes taking a squinting dog in today the obvious choice rather than an expense to weigh.