Dog Eye Care

Canine eye care is a very important aspect, if you want your dog to remain healthy, happy and active.



The eyes are a sensitive part of the body. Dog eye health problems could result from bacterial or fungus infection, accidents or even old age. Proper dog eye care should form a necessary part of the general health of your dog.

Caring for Dog Eye

• Keep the hair around the eyes short, so that it does not get into the eyes and irritate it.
  
  
  
  Sometimes, bacteria breeds on these hairs which are always moist with tears. Keeping them short will prevent bacteria from entering the eye.
• Keep your dog’s eyes clean by washing regularly with an eye-washing solution. This will prevent the formation of mucus, which is a breeding ground for bacteria or fungus and subsequent infection.
• When you bathe your dog, the shampoo may enter the eyes causing redness and inflammation.
  
  
  
  Sometimes, when you are applying insecticides on your dog’s coat, some of it gets into the eyes causing irritation. In such cases, apply some protective eye ointment before-hand.
• Try and lessen the situations where your pet may get eye trauma. This often happens when they get into fights with other animals, and sometimes even when they stick their heads out of a car window during traveling.
• Treat any minor inflammations immediately with prescription eye-ointments, and don’t hesitate to visit the doctor if the problem doesn’t clear up.

Dog Eye Problems

What are some common eye problems that your dog can suffer from?

• Certain breeds of dogs may have brownish stains below their eyes. This is caused by tears which overflow on to the cheeks. Overflow may be caused because the tear ducts are blocked, or because some breeds produce too much of tears. Sometimes excessive production may be the result of an infection or due to external irritation such as dust or a hair growing towards the eye.
• Your dog may also suffer from conjunctivitis or ‘red eye’ which is usually caused by inflammation.
• ‘Cherry eye’ is another eye affliction suffered by dogs, and is caused by a prolapse of a gland in the eyelid. Sometimes the eyelids may also become inflamed because of sun damage, trauma or some immune system problem.
• Corneal ulcers in a dog are another affliction. Dog eye ulcers may be caused by bacterial infection, or because of some constant irritation to the delicate cornea either by a dust particle or a hair, or also due to infection.
• A more serious problem is bleeding. Dog eye bleeding has been known to happen when the dog has hit its head and particularly its eye against some hard object, say a tree. In some cases, the trauma could have affected a nerve, leading to bleeding.