Red Eye, Drops Not Working?

[Guest HeatherLee]

My 5 yo male hound, Gambler has had a red left eye for about a week and a half now. Just the corner of this eye is red and the other one is fine. It doesn't seem to bother him as he doesn't scratch it and doesn't mind me touching his eye area. There's also no discharge. I thought at first it could be allergies, so I gave him some Claritin (vet recommended last year when I brought him in when both eyes were red and it worked), but that didn't do anything.

 

So I brought him to another vet a few days ago who checked him out, saying he had mild conjunctivitis and gave me some drops with neomycin in it. It's recommended to do 1 drop, twice daily, for 5 days) I'm on day 3 now and it hasn't changed. Has anyone else experienced something similar? How long does it take the drops to work?

 

 

[Scooby172]

Many years ago, my grey/whippet mix, Keeva had red eyes, did not respond to eye drops for suspected conjunctivitis, she wound up having uveitis. She needed special drops, cleared up quickly but, she was in obvious pain while she had it. She was sensitive to light, and her eyes were runny. She had no patience for my grey puppy, Bella, at the time and I knew something was not right. If it does not clear up, check with your vet again or vet eye specialist. I pay attention to eye issues as a rule.

[tbhounds]

Call your vet-the eye may need to be re-evaluated. He may need a drop containing a steroid rather than one with just an antiobiotic.

[XTRAWLD]

For conjunctivitis, ensure you are getting the meds into the POCKET of the corner of his eyeball, it works most effectively there. Pull down on the corner until there is a gap and get the drops in there.

 

Kasey had a couple issues like that in the past, and IMO it's common for them to have red eyes, for mine anyway, it honestly comes and goes. I will about once a week, put eyedrops (only use Natural Tears) just to ensure their eyes are nice and moist and nothing foreign is bothering them. Don't buy any over the counter eyedrop version for allergies, or red eyes, etc - and only do this after this issue is resolved.

 

However, like mentioned above, if it is a misdiagnosis, the wrong drops just won't work on what he might have. Maybe get a re-evaluation on his condition.

Edited February 14, 2015 by XTRAWLD

[Feisty49]

If it's not clearing up, I'd seek the advice of an animal ophthalmologist if possible. A year ago Annie's left eye was blood shot. When it didn't clear up in a couple of days, I took her to the vet. Vet #1 wasn't sure what it was but gave me drops and said if it didn't clear up in a week, to come back. Two days later it was much worse, so I got an appointment that day. Vet #1 consulted with vet #2 at the practice. Vet #2 didn't know what it was; said it had some looks of Pannus. I was referred to an animal ophthalmologist.

 

The ophthalmologist diagnosed Nodular granulomatous episcleritis, an auto-immune disease which, if left untreated, can result in blindness. It's only in Annie's left eye. She's on eye drops and the condition has not worsened. While being examined by the ophthalmologist, she discovered that Annie also has an atrophied optic nerve in her right eye, something she's had since birth.

 

I'm not writing this to alarm you. Just a head's up that sometimes a specialist needs to be seen.

[Guest HeatherLee]

Thanks for all the replies. It's not looking better, but at least it's not getting worse. He's still not bothered by it, but I'm going back to the vet soon. They want to do a stain to check for corneal ulcer (even though the only symptom of that he has is redness). I'll also be going back to a vet I like better (this one was new and for some reason I just got a bad feeling about the place and Gambler was shaking like crazy there, which he's never done at a vet before)