Eye Bother

[XTRAWLD]

Before I start, I'm not a NEWB with a greyhound, so please don't treat me like I know ZERO about greys or dogs. Usually when I post in this section I get picked apart, and I have no idea why. I'm just looking for advice and ideas - not harsh criticism.

 

Kasey usually has "eye booger" that we pick out from time to time from his eyes. This is a usual occurance and we aren't alarmed by it. Usually it's a light grey/black, and that's where the black crusties form on the corners of their eyes. Yesterday morning though, I picked out a bit of green. Later in the day I could tell he was "favouring" the eye, pawing at it with his dew claw and actually squinting with it closed. I put eye drops in, natural tears, which is a staple in our house ever since he needed extra lubrication years ago with his third eyelid. It didn't seem to help very much, and I noticed the white of his eye is red. Before bedtime I put more drops and took a look as best I could. He closed his eye a lot and not letting me have a good look. I just rinsed the eye with a damp cold facecloth sort of like a soothing compress for a couple minutes.

 

This morning there isn't much of a change. He was holding it closed first thing this morning, however I noticed less green pus than the morning before. His third eyelid looks like it's covering more of his eye than it should first thing this morning, so I applied a lubricating gel - again as I did years ago when he had some dryness. He walks around with both eyes fully open, but time to time, that eye is squinting and is visibly smaller, so he is bothered. He likes to close it especially when I want to take a look.

 

My question now that you have the background story - a couple weeks ago hubby had an eye issue, a blocked tear duct we presume and redness/swelling on his eyelid, which went away after lubricating and taking a diff allergy med than his usual Claritin - Benadryl. His eye cleared up and he was good as new. I'm wondering if whatever happened to transferred to Kasey? Was it more than just a blocked tear duct? My right eye seems to be bothering ME a bit now as well and I wonder if I'm just imagining things or if something is getting transferred from human to dog to human? Am I crazy? Is something in the air? It wasn't pink eye, I know what that looks like, but what else can be transferred? How do I protect Ryder?

 

Anyway, I also gave Benadryl to Kasey this morning, wondering if that may help him as well - it worked for hubby! We've given it to him before because of his allergies, which is why I have it kicking around - so don't jump on me for giving this to him - we have before!

 

Also how do I check his eye if maybe there is something foreign bothering him under his eyelid? If something is in there, would it create irritation enough to produce a little pus? Pus if from infection - so..... He will let me handle him, but he's constantly shutting that eye not letting me get a look.

 

If this isn't better by tomorrow I will take him to the vet to see what's going on, but hoping this might clear up on it's own right now.

[Batmom]

You'd check his eye same as you would a person's -- flashlight and pull the eyelid back. But, I usually recommend a medical pro does that. If there is a foreign body, you don't want to risk embedding it further. You can gently hold the eyelid open and flush well with saline if he'll let you.

[kudzu]

Humans can catch pink eye (conjunctivitis) from each other. Have never heard of an eye infection being transferred between dogs & people. Then again there's a lot of things I've never heard of.

 

Either way, for a dog I'd be going to the vet. Eye probs are nothing to play around with. A while back we noticed my cat was winking at us. Took him to the vet to find he had a corneal ulcer. Took about 10 days to clear up but he was clearly feeling much better after just a day or two of drops & ointment. Ulcers, eye infections, etc. can be quite painful.

 

Hope whatever is happening doesn't get to you.

[krissy]

I'd take him to the vet. Most vets will get you in the same day for an eye problem. We don't mess around with those. The last thing you want is to let this go and have it develop into an ulcer. A lot of an ophtho exam can't be done without specific equipment. Unless an ulcer is REALLY bad you can't see it with the naked eye. All the best to Kasey. Hope it's nothing major!

[Guest goofyfoot1]

Hi. Had the same problem with Buster about a month and half ago. cleaned some grey/white booger from his left eye. no problem until two hours later, eye kept closing on him. hours later no more issues. BUT kept pawing at his left eye.

took him to the vet. anyway turned out to be pannus and in both eyes.. caught it early thankfully. it may not be the issue you have . but i would take him in to the vet. just to be safe..

[tbhounds]

Vet visit-- could be an corneal ulcer -- nothing to mess with. I wouldn't instill anything in the eye w/o Dr's orders-- some opth meds can made the ulcer worse.

Sorry you felt picked on in the past-- GT can have some rough waters at times.

Edited August 21, 2011 by tbhounds

[Guest IrskasMom]

Maybe you didn't catch my Post's about my Morty ! And it might not be what Morty had. Morty had Conjuntivitis in just one Eye . The white in his Eye was fiery red .Just sometimes he would swipe with his Paw over the Eye. After $1200 later ( Eye Care Specialist for Animals ) I belief it is an Allergie. We were on Steroids (Pills and Drops) and Antibiotic. It just now cleared up . If you need anymore Information please PM me.

[MaryJane]

Like others on the thread I would suggest a vet appointment. They will be able to put special drops to dilate in and look at the eye more closely and see if it is scratched and if so, you will probably get you antibiotic drops to put in. This happened a few months ago to Larry - he scratched the eye and I couldn't see it but the vet could. With the drops it healed up within 10 days.

[Guest Vers]

This isn't criticism, though I know it happens here, I've met it too.

 

My Stella is mostly blind because of detached retinas, due to infection or hereditary issues. I still don't know when or how it happened, but it might have been while she was still racing. The might honestly kills me. The opthamologists we've seen have said that the only signs would have been irritation and/or a reddening of the white of the eye.

 

I hope your experience is different from mine, but I'd head to the e-vet with the first sign of eye trouble. 24 hours can make a big difference.

[Yamaha_gurl]

Keep us posted ok?

[HopeForHounds]

I always have polysporin eye drops on hand. I'm suspicious when a human and a dog have similar symptoms. Working in pre school I know how quickly and easily conjunctivitis can happen. At the first sign of greenish discharge I treat for 24 hours. If it doesn't clear up off to the vet we go.

 

Could be both of you have allergies, it sure is the season around here. Benedryl is what I give and if it doesn't work then your vet can give something a bit stronger.

 

I've had two of my hounds have corneal ulcers without yellow/green discharge, both had very runny eyes and blinked constantly with that eye.

 

Hope you either figure it out, or it resolves on it's own, eye stuff makes you feel crappy.

Edited August 22, 2011 by foxysmom

[XTRAWLD]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the threads. Never heard about the corneal ulcers. Yuck.

 

His eye is improved today, less redness and no pus. Think I'll call the vet to get an appt later tonight after I get home from work. He's due to have his prednisone today for his allergies (been holding off giving it to him to see if it affects his eye).

[Guest wmlcml6]

My Rosemary got a corneal ulcer on her eye recently. She initially just squinted the eye, and I did what you did - natural lubricant eye drops. They seemed to help, but after a day, she couldn't keep it open at all. I took her to 3 different vets because it just wouldn't heal (it took about 2 months). You have to make sure (if it's a corneal tear) that you don't use steroid drops because that affects the healing. I would suggest you take your baby to the vet so they can administer drops and check the eye with a special light to determine if it's a corneal ulcer. At least then you would know whether to treat for that, or eliminate it as a possibility.

 

The thing that helped Rosemary the most was Rimadyl because it stopped the pain which kept her from rubbing it and making it irritated. We think Rosemary probably ran through the yard and either a bug flew in her eye (the deer flies were awful when this happened) or she whacked her eye with a small tree branch as she ran after a squirrel.

 

Good luck!

[XTRAWLD]

The drops and gel I use have nothing but lubricating meds in them, no steroids, etc. I booked a 5pm appt today to take him, the earliest they had. His eyes are open, but it's certainly a little "tender" so to speak. I do think he's better than he was yesterday and certainly the day before. I also did not give him prednisone this morning in case it would mask symptoms, so we'll see what happens when we take him for his visit.

 

Poor dog, poor wallet. It's always one thing after the other with Kasey. Good thing he's not scared of going to the vet!

[XTRAWLD]

Just like a car you take to the mechanic that is making an incredible clunking noise when you are driving it, performs perfectly when you drop it off...Kasey was the same thing. I arrived home last night to find his eye looking fine, aside from a little redness, but wow, it looked normal. We proceeded to the vet anyway, and brought Ryder along for fun!

 

We met for the first time the vet's Whippet! AWH, it's a mini me of Kasey! Very cute, omg. This particular vet (there are 3 or 4 at the establishment) owns a greyhound, so I really like when she handles the boys. After explaining to her our problem, she performed two tests. One to see if he was producing enough tears, and he was. The second to look for ulcers, he checked out fine there! She did a visual inspection of the lids, etc, and rinsed both with saline solution.

 

She could tell he was irritated, but aside from that, nothing looked out of the ordinary. She sent us home with a light antibiotic with neomycin, polymyxin, etc - which I bet is in the same stuff as the polysporin over the counter stuff? We are to put a LINE of gel on his eyeball 3 times a day for 5 days and see if there is an improvement.

 

She did the first time to show us and his eye was WET the whole rest of the day. I get to try to put some on shortly.

 

Ryder got his gums checked out while we were there since he had both upper molars removed in June. Everything is healing up great. He also lost about 2 pounds, which is great cause he's getting a little roly poly on the back end again. They ironically are the same weight - 68 lbs, but on totally different frames.

 

So that's my update. I'm happy we went to make sure nothing major was going on. I remember seeing my Pom's eyes get cloudy as he got older, and I can't bear something happening to Kasey's eyes, so whatever I can do that is preventative, I will!

 

Should there be no improvement or it gets worse, we can go back and just pick up something stronger, so long that it doesn't get REALLY bad.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. It's appreciated.

[Guest iconsmum]

I'd say you need to have 1 consult with an eye guy- it's cheaper in the long run than using your vet, who won't be sure what the absolute problem is. There's a fantastic eye vet in TO - look up forest Hill animal clinic - it's Dr. Goldstein - he's the man...

also, yes, conjunctivitis is zoonotic - human to dog and back