What to Expect and Consider when you bring your pet to our Clinic for Eye Problems:
(Of course, other vets may do things differently)
A lot of dog and cat patients come in for various eye problems. Red swollen eyes, tearing, wounds, blindness, pain and itching of the eyes, and so forth. Here's what we'll do to help:
Exam and History: In addition to our normal all over exam and history we will be looking for near by problems in the mouth (sometimes a dental root abscess will first appear as an eye problem), lymph nodes and for signs of allergies in other areas of the body. We will also look carefully at the lids and skin near the eye and possible scrape this area for parasites. But mainly we will be examining the eye.
Here's a list of some of the more common things we find:
Ingrown eyelashes that irritate the eyeball. Common in Poodles and Cockers
Curled in eyelids (entropion) that irritate the eyes. Common in Sharpeis and Chows.
Glandular cysts and small tumors of the eyelid.
Infection or irritation of the tear glands. (Conjunctivitis or pink eye or red eye)
Dry Eye, Tear Abnormalities, and Keratitis Sicca. Also tear duct obstruction.
Prolapse of the gland of the third eyelid. (known as cherry eye...common in Cockers, Pekes, and Beagles)
Corneal ulcers and wounds and scratches
Corneal Pigmentation
Infection of the inside of the eye (Uveitis)
Cataracts and Lens displacement
Swelling of the eye (glaucoma)
Retinal diseases
Popped out eyeballs due to major trauma (especially in dogs like Boston Terriers who's eyes already bulge)
As a general practitioner, I routinely treat the simpler and more common problems listed above and refer the more difficult cases to a specialist.
Treatment and Diagnostic Considerations:
Laboratory:
A. If the surface of the eye is abnormal, we will stain the eyeball with a stain that will show any defects in the corneal surface.
B. If the eye appears dry (keratitis sicca) we will do a tear test
C. If glaucoma is suspected, we will test the pressure of the eyeball
D. Sometimes Thyroid testing is appropriate (associated with dry, crusty eyes or excessive eye matter)
E. Sometimes blood work for diabetes and a CBC (blood count) for infection is appropriate.
In cats, we often see eye inflammation in immune related diseases like leukemia, so sometimes we will test for feline leukemia and aids.
F. Parasites (hook worms and heartworms) can cause eye inflammation so sometimes we will test for these and other parasites if suspected.
G. Bacterial , Fungal, and yeast cultures are sometimes appropriate
H. Herpes testing (not contagious to people). I leave this to specialists
I. But mainly we will be using our ophthalmoscope to visually check out all the structures in the eye. For the back of the eye, we will probably need to dilate the eye with some drops and sometimes sedate the patient. Exams of the back of the eye for retinal and fundic diseases are not my strong point...I will probably refer you to a specialist if these diseases are suspected.
Treatment:
Treatment, of course, depends on the diagnosis and the severity of the problem, but here's what will be typical treatment plans:
For problems of the lids such as ingrown eyelashes, curled in lids, cherry eye, and cysts we usually pre-treat with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory eye ointments and then return in 1-2 days for minor surgical correction.
For many problems of the surface of the eye or for tear gland problems we can usually improve or cure the problem with topical ointments.
Note: some tear gland infections (conjuctivitis) are contagious to humans (especially from rabbits and cats) so wash your hands after treating pets for conjuctivitis before you absent mindedly rub your own eyes with your fingers.
For more serious wounds of the eye we often do a minor surgery where we suture the 3rd lid over the eyeball for a couple of weeks. You might flinch when you imagine such a procedure but not only is it often successful, but it seems to be very soothing to the pet with an eye injury. Other veterinarians prefer to do the slightly more sophisticated conjunctival flap surgery which is similar.
For even more serious wounds or diseases that leave the eye not only blind but causing chronic pain or drainage, we sometimes need to remove the eye. This is a straight forward but major surgery and usually works out fine. There is, however, a fairly rare problem of the other (good) eye going blind when there is damage to the optic nerve of the bad eye. But this can happen when we don't remove the eye too.
If you want a fake eyeball put in (you can choose from some pretty exotic colors), you'll have to go to a specialist.
Caution
Disclaimer: As with all my treatment pages, the information provided here is not intended to allow you to treat your pets yourself...JUST THE OPPOSITE...these pages are provided to help you understand what to expect...to help as a reference after a visit to your vet, and to make you appreciate how complicated getting a correct diagnosis and choosing the appropriate treatment can be.
Trust the experience of your veterinarian.
On Other Pages
Cataract Surgery and Lens Replacement in Dogs and Cats
Retinal Detachment
Problems with Eye Lashes and Lid Diseases
Epiphora
(Watering of the Eyes)
Dysautonomia; a disease involving twitching of the eyes
Corneal Lesions or injuries to the surface of the eyeball
Conjuctivitis...
inflammation of the inner lids and tear glands
Cherry Eye
Entropion
Kerratitis sicca or Dry Eye
Viral Infections of the eye
Bacterial infections of the eye
How metabolic diseases sometimes affect the eye
Cleaning and Medicating the EyeCleaning the Eye:
It's important to clean your pet's eyes of any discharge before instilling medicine into them. You can use regular tap water on your finger, a cotton ball, or on a tissue to clean the eye. Other vets might insist on using a saline solution ... which is ideal and better ... but I don't think necessary.
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Medicating the Eye
To apply eye drops to your pet's eye, lift the muzzle upward with one hand and drip the medication from above with the other. It is helpful to rest the heel of the hand that is holding the bottle on the animal's forehead so that the bottle does not inadvertently touch the animal's eye. You can also use the heel of this hand to hold the upper lid up. Let the medicine drip from a height of at least 1 inch, taking care not to touch the tip of the bottle to the fur.
Remember that only one or two drops are needed at any one treatment. If you are applying both eye drops and ointment; apply the drops first, otherwise they might not penetrate through the ointment.
When applying ointment, be careful to use only a small amount because a long strand can be irritating. Apply it to the inner corner of the eye or to the white part of the eye, known as the sclera, and then gently rub the eyelid over the eye to distribute the medicine. It may be helpful to rest your hand on your pet's forehead to steady yourself as described above for eye drops.
