Eye injury, watery eyes in a dog - immediate help from an ophthalmologist to treat eyes in animals. What to do if your dog has an eye injury

Dogs quite often receive eye injuries due to an accidental blow while running, fights with other animals, falling from high altitude or car accident. The consequences of this may be irreversible. IN best case scenario traumatic injuries damage to the organ of vision can lead to irritation and, in the worst case, to blindness and loss of the eye.

Timely assistance will prevent corneal destruction and preserve excellent vision for many years.

When to seek veterinary help?

Eye injury in a dog - serious problem requiring immediate attention to veterinarian. There are various problematic situations in which it is necessary to rush to the veterinarian.

Getting injured due to unpleasant communication with street cat. A fight between an angry cat and a dog can be costly for the animal's health. If in the first hours after the injury your pet rubs its eye vigorously, squints and rushes from side to side in pain, it is necessary to carefully examine it. If, after an injury, clouding of the cornea in the area of injury is clearly visible, a change eyeball, the appearance of blood or pus, you should immediately go to veterinary clinic, where a specialist will prescribe appropriate treatment.
Mechanical damage due to debris, dust, or sand getting into the eye. When a small foreign body penetrates under the third eyelid, a severe irritation on the cornea of the eye. The dog will try to scratch his eye with his paw and squint all the time. He will experience discomfort and painful sensations. If excessive tearing occurs, the dog owner needs to be wary. In this case, it is necessary to remove a speck of dust or speck from the eye in a veterinary clinic. IN otherwise Complications may occur, including blindness.
Traumatic injury due to eye penetration sharp object. When a branch, stick or other object gets into the eye, the cornea is damaged and a wound is formed into which various microbes and bacteria penetrate. If the dog has an urgent need to squint, this may also indicate a minor injury. At strong impact an injured animal may completely close its eyes and experience pronounced pain. If at the same time purulent or bloody issues, the dog does not allow his eyelid to open and behaves aggressively, you should immediately take him to the veterinary clinic. Timely treatment will save the animal's eye.

What to do if your dog has an eye injury?

If any traumatic eye injury is detected in pet First of all, it is necessary to prevent scratching of the sore spot, put on a muzzle and calm the animal. Then take the injured dog to the nearest clinic for examination by veterinarians.

It is strictly forbidden to prescribe treatment and remove foreign objects from the eyes. Any manipulations to remove foreign bodies on your own can threaten damage to the eyeball and cornea. Under no circumstances should you use folk remedies And drug treatment without consulting a veterinarian.

It is important to remember that self-medication can lead to a worsening of the scratched organ of vision.

Providing first aid to a sick animal and appropriate treatment are carried out based on the type and complexity of the injury received in a particular situation. Let's look at the most common real-life situations.

A street cat scratched a dog's eye during a fight.

What should you do in this case? At home, you can prepare an infusion of chamomile or calendula and gently rinse the injured eye with it. To prevent infection of the second healthy eye It is recommended to rinse it with a fresh swab dipped in chamomile infusion.

If a dirty cat's claw slightly scratches the eye, the veterinarian will prescribe an antiseptic lotion to wash and eye drops to relieve irritation and inflammation. The course of treatment is individual, as it depends on various factors. The animal is under the supervision of a veterinarian for 1-2 weeks. In case of suppuration, experts recommend treating with antibiotic therapy.

Getting particles, dust, sand and other small particles from the environment into the eye

Before visiting a veterinarian, it is recommended to rinse the injured eye with saline solution sodium chloride or warm boiled water. In a veterinary clinic, the doctor treats the affected eye and applies a solution of novocaine (2%) to reduce pain. Then manipulations are carried out to remove the speck from the eye.

To do this, take a swab moistened with a special solution. The veterinarian spreads the eyelids and pours the solution out of the swab into the place where the speck is approximately located. If it is clearly visible, then you can remove the particle with a corner cotton swab. After its removal, anti-inflammatory or antimicrobial eye drops are instilled to prevent infection of the damaged organ of vision.

Penetration of a sharp foreign object into the eye

Many dogs injure their eyes from a low hanging tree branch or spicy grass. In case of minor damage, the injured eye is treated weak solution potassium permanganate and antiseptic ointment. A course of treatment with antimicrobial drugs is prescribed.

How to pull it out foreign body, if a large tree branch protrudes from the conjunctival cavity, sharp grass is stuck into the cornea, or small remains of a claw are clearly visible in the cornea? In this case, immediate surgery is performed. Before surgical intervention Mandatory anesthesia is performed taking into account the breed and weight of the animal. After surgery, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics are prescribed.

Remember that traumatic eye injuries in dogs can lead to irreversible consequences.

Take care of the organ of vision in animals, try to create everything the necessary conditions for their safety. If an injury occurs, do not treat it yourself, but seek immediate veterinary attention.

Eye injuries are not uncommon for hunting dogs. During hunting, baiting or playing, eye injury occurs due to the dog accidentally bumping into a branch or being injured by sharp grass. And sometimes she doesn’t get along well with cats - they will hurt her with their claws... damage to a dog’s eyes can lead to the loss of the eye itself and vision. In most cases, this can be prevented if you correctly provide first aid to your pet - about this we'll talk In this article.

Eye injuries in dogs are often invisible. As a rule, a small dent remains on the cornea of the eye after damage (if damaged by tree branches, grass, etc.). With such injuries, microscopic remains of the material on which the dog injured the eye remain in the eye - remnants of straw or pieces of tree bark. If they are not removed, vision loss occurs due to disruption of the ocular structure.

Common injury in dogs hunting breeds is the entry of a foreign body (most often plant thorns) behind the third eyelid, which leads to a corneal ulcer, which in this moment not treated. Therefore, for ALL eye injuries, the dog must be given emergency first aid.

What should you do first if your pet has an eye injury? Try to get the dog to the veterinary clinic as quickly as possible. veterinary ophthalmologist. But, unfortunately, not all cities still have such specialized specialists, so if there is no specialist in this profile in your area, take your dog to a regular veterinarian. AND NO SELF-MEDICATION!!! You should know that in most cases of eye injury in dogs, in the absence of proper treatment, the animals lose their vision!

But while you have not yet reached the veterinary clinic, it is necessary to prevent the onset of irreversible pathological processes by following these steps:

Prevent your dog from scratching his eye. To prevent scratching of the eyes in case of injuries and damage, there are special collars.
To decrease painful sensations in case of an eye injury, you need to instill a 2% solution of novocaine (which, by the way, is also advisable to have in a hunter’s first aid kit), since in case of severe pain the dog will not allow the doctor to open it. There is no need to try to open the dog's eye yourself, because if it causes severe pain, it will also interfere with any treatment.
If you are with the injured dog far from the city, or today is a day off, i.e. It is not possible to show your pet to the veterinarian today, then put antibiotic drops in the dog’s eye: Normax, Ciprovet, Torbex or Gentamicin. Before using these drops, read the instructions, as the dose of these medications is calculated depending on the dog's weight and size. The use of other drops that differ in composition from those listed above, containing corticosteroids, as well as eye ointments, especially tetracycline, can only be used under the supervision of a veterinarian.

At timely application manages to avoid going to the vet disastrous consequences eye injuries, and self-treatment of eye damage in dogs is equivalent to no treatment!!! Once again, we clarify that the above actions for eye injuries are just first aid to PREVENT dangerous consequences injury, but not treatment! Effective treatment conducted by a veterinarian!

Dogs are extremely inquisitive and love to play. Even extremely calm dogs Sometimes they get scratches and other injuries. This can happen while playing, sneaking through bushes or simply digging holes. Eye injuries in dogs are a fairly common problem.

More often than other injuries, eye injuries require immediate attention to a veterinary ophthalmologist.
As a dog owner, you should be aware of the types of dog eye wounds and what to do in different cases.

Symptoms of Dog Eye Damage

Some symptoms of visual impairment indicate problems with the eyes themselves, but we are not always talking about injuries. There are many eye diseases. Signs of malfunction may appear in one or both eyes. If your dog has vision problems due to injury or another reason, you may observe the following symptoms:

The dog squints or its eyelid twitches
The dog can't open his eyes
The dog rubs its eyes on objects or with its paw
Excessive tearing
The dog blinks quickly
Yellow or green discharge from the eyes
Bloodshot eyes or redness of the white part (conjunctiva) of the eye
Redness of the mucous membrane around the eye
Cloudiness or change in eye color
Photophobia, increased sensitivity to the light
Prolonged dilation, prolonged constriction of the pupil or other abnormal condition
Asymmetrical-looking eyes
Swelling of the eye
Sunken eyes
Bleeding from the eye area

If you notice one or more signs in your pet, we recommend that you consult a veterinary ophthalmologist.

Sometimes eye diseases in dogs can be more severe than they appear at first glance. The disease can develop very quickly, and usually eye injuries are quite painful.

Don't risk your dog's eyesight or leave him in pain - contact your veterinarian!

Types of Dog Eye Injuries

Eye injuries occur when an object comes into contact with a dog's eye and injures it. Eye injuries occur after a fight or “quarrel” with another dog. An animal bite, a cat's claw, or a horse's hoof can easily cause eye injury.

Many things in nature can cause eye injury: branches, insect bites, and dirt are just a few causes of eye injury in dogs. Dogs that stick their head out of the window of a moving car may suffer from debris caught in their eyes at speed.

Chemicals sprayed near your dog can also cause eye injuries. Your dog may hit an object or be injured by a sharp object (corner of furniture, fence, fish hook, tools, etc.), damaging his eyes. There are many other hazards that can damage an animal's eyes - fireworks, hot coals, and so on. A dog can injure its eyes by trying to scratch its head with its paws or on other objects.

Eye injuries may be moderate to severe. One or both eyes may be affected. You can't always see how severe an injury is just by looking at your dog's eyes.

Most common eye injuries in dogs

Damage to the cornea of the eye - a cut or scratch on the surface of the eye
Corneal ulcers - from chemicals or debris, or secondary if the dog scratches its eyes
Punctures – often from teeth, fangs or foreign objects
Eyelid rupture - happens when a dog's eye hits some object
Exophthalmos – loss of a dog’s eye from the socket; most common in brachycephalic (flat-faced dogs) such as Pugs and Shih Tzus

Treatment of eye injuries in dogs

If you think your dog has an eye injury, contact your veterinarian as soon as possible.

Do not try to treat your eyes yourself at home unless you have received instructions from your veterinarian.
As first aid for eye injuries Maybe You will need to rinse the eye or apply cold compress. Only do this if your veterinarian advises you to do so!
Since an injured eye is likely to cause pain to your dog, you need to be very careful when doing anything in the eye area. It's better if someone at home helps you
Use sterile brine for washing the eyes. Do not use the solution for contact lenses or any medical/veterinary drug
Go to an area where you have good access to the dog. If the dog is not large, it would be better to place it on the table
Wrap the towel around the dog. One person should hold the dog with one arm around its body and the other around its head. Be careful not to put pressure on the neck area. Hold the dog's eye open with one hand while using the other hand to direct a stream of water into the injured eye. Use a small towel to dry saline solution flowing from the eye
Take your dog to a veterinary ophthalmologist.

The doctor will begin by asking about the circumstances of the injury and searching for possible reasons. Then he will examine the damaged eye and assess the animal’s health.

Several eye tests may be performed, such as assessing the level of tearing, coloring the eyes to look for ulcers or wounds, measuring intraocular pressure. The veterinarian will recommend treatment depending on the diagnosis and eye condition. This can be either a simple solution in the form of special veterinary eye drops or surgery. Some eye injuries are so serious that you may need to surgical removal eyes (enucleation). In some cases, the eye may be saved, but the dog will remain blind.

If your dog is prescribed medication, it is extremely important to strictly follow the doctor's instructions!
If multiple medications are prescribed to be applied to the eyes, wait at least 5 minutes between applications of different medications.
If you are prescribed eye ointment and drops, use the drops first
Do not skip or delay the next dose of the drug

Most dogs with eye injuries will need to wear a medical collar (the infamous cone) while the eyes are recovering.

This is an important part of treatment and should not be ignored! This collar will prevent your dog from injuring himself. The dog must wear a collar at all times, unless the doctor makes an exception.

No matter how much a dog dislikes a collar, it's still better than a lost eye!

How to Prevent Dog Eye Injuries

Accidents happen, but here are some tips to minimize their likelihood:

Avoid fighting with other dogs
If a dog lives with a cat, make an effort to ensure that they coexist peacefully with each other.
Walk your dog on a leash
Don't let your dog stick his head out of the car window
Prevent your dog from accessing chemicals and do not use them around your dog.

At the first sign of injury to your dog's eye, contact your veterinarian. Remember that visually minor injury can actually lead to severe consequences for a dog's vision without proper treatment!

Sapgir Anastasia Grigorievna
ophthalmologist

Traumatic injuries

Traumatic eye injuries are a very serious problem, in the worst case they can lead to blindness or loss of an eye. Therefore, as a rule, a pet with an eye injury requires urgent qualified help.

No one is immune from injury, but there is a risk group.
Brachiocephalic cats walking outside (due to anatomical features) and hunting (due to lifestyle) breeds of dogs.

How do our patients most often get injured?
Playing with relatives, in a fight, on a walk (sharp mown grass, plant seeds caught in the conjunctiva, thickets and branches), playing with children.

What symptoms should alert you?
After interacting with other animals, after a walk, or just unexpectedly, the pet suddenly squinted or closed its eye (blepharospasm), profuse lacrimation began from the eye or purulent discharge, an unevenness has appeared on the shiny surface of the cornea.

As a rule, one eye is injured; if both are affected, first of all, you will need to look for the infectious/viral nature of the disease.

What to do?
Try to show your pet to an ophthalmologist as soon as possible, since there is real danger lose an eye. Small breeds dogs may show signs of general depression, most often associated with pain accompanying injury.

Before the doctor you can: if there is discharge, rinse the eye and conjunctiva; for this you can use ordinary boiled water, a solution of furatsilin (1 tablet per glass of boiled water). You can also use drops with an antibiotic, for example Tsipromed, Tobrex, Normax, Bars, Gentamicin eye drops, depending on the size of the animal, from 1 to 3 drops in the eye 4-6 times a day.
Drops should contain only an antibiotic or antiseptic component.
The use of Albucid is undesirable, because these drops cause very strong burning sensation and irritation.

Application eye drops containing corticosteroid hormones (prednisolone, dexamethasone), without a doctor’s prescription is strictly prohibited!

During the examination, the doctor must diagnose the injury visually and using a special solution (fluorescein), which stains the damage.
Depending on the nature of the injury, its size, the condition of the cornea and other eye structures, and the time that has passed since the injury, the doctor prescribes conservative (drops) or surgical treatment.

Redness of the eye

If the whites of the eyeball are usually white, become red, this may indicate an increase in both intraocular and general pressure, the presence inflammatory process. Perhaps the injury went unnoticed, and we see a hematoma. Any of the options requires diagnosis, and if it turns out that redness of the eye structures was a sign allergic reaction, then consider yourself to have gotten off easy. All other violations require emergency therapeutic measures, because if it is an increase in intraocular pressure, then there is a risk of losing the eye, and if it is a hematoma, then the task is to prevent the development of blindness. It is necessary to exclude hematomas (hemorrhages) in the fundus, check the safety of all intraocular structures, and assess the neurological status of the animal as a whole.

Application nonspecific treatment V in this case doesn't make sense.

Purulent discharge

Sudden purulent discharge from the eyes and/or itching may be a sign of an acute inflammatory reaction, an undetected injury, the presence of a foreign body in the conjunctiva, or systemic disease. You can rinse the eye as described above, use antibiotic drops, but to find out the cause, you should immediately see an ophthalmologist, since there is a significant difference between the treatment of a mechanical problem (trauma, foreign body) and therapy viral infection leading to inflammatory symptoms.

Enlargement of one eye

A sudden enlargement of one eye (sometimes two) is also a reason to contact a doctor as soon as possible, as it may indicate an increase in intraocular pressure, which in turn develops due to various reasons, ranging from the inflammatory process inside the eye and lens dislocation, ending with chronic renal failure(CRF). In addition, it is possible that the other eye is reduced and hurts. It is necessary to measure intraocular pressure, examine the fundus of the eye, and possibly conduct a blood test if the doctor at the appointment finds signs of a systemic problem, which is reflected in the increase in intraocular pressure. Before contacting a doctor, you do not need to use any medications or drops, again due to the variety of reasons that provoked the problem.

Eyeball prolapse

Eyeball prolapse common reason owners’ treatment of brachiocephalic dogs, the anatomical features of which are a flattened muzzle, a very wide palpebral fissure, and bulging eyes.
What to do?
First of all, don't panic.
Secondly, constantly moisturize the dropped eye, this can be done with water, preferably boiled, but if that is not available, then use any. Place a gauze bandage over the eye and keep it moist; do not allow the bandage to dry out. Also, to moisturize and retain moisture, you can thickly apply eye ointments with an antibiotic to it - for example, tetracycline, colbiocin, floxal.
After you have taken care of this, you need to contact the clinic URGENTLY. In this case, you do not need to wait for an ophthalmologist if he is out of the access zone; an experienced surgeon is enough who can set the eye in place under general anesthesia.

A red swelling appeared in the inner corner of the eye.

Contrary to popular belief, this is, as a rule, not a tumor, not an adenoma of the 3rd century, which is quite rare, but a prolapse of the Harder gland, which is necessary for the eye to produce tears (the Gardner gland accounts for, according to different sources, up to 40% of tears produced).
It needs to be reduced, and not removed, because if there is a lack of tears, “dry eye syndrome” develops over time, which will then have to be treated for the rest of your life. If everything is left as it is, it is likely that a corneal ulcer will develop at the site of contact with the gland and/or conjunctivitis, keratitis. Before seeing a doctor, you can use antibiotic drops. But the faster the gland is set, the more likely successful drug treatment is, since prolapse often occurs due to acute inflammation conjunctiva. If conservative treatment did not bring the desired result, surgical fixation of the gland is performed.

Health to you and your pets!

Many animal lovers don't limit themselves to just one pet in the house. Well-bred animals get along well with each other. But sometimes misunderstandings happen even between best friends. So, let’s answer the question, what to do if a cat scratches a dog’s eye? Please note that the provocateur of a fight is often a cat. It is she who most often becomes the culprit of the damage caused.

Firstly, the danger posed by a cat's claw should not be underestimated. The consequences of a cat scratching a dog's eye are the saddest. Up to loss of vision, and in case of particularly severe damage, even the eye itself. It is very important to know how to provide first aid to an animal because a lot depends on it.

Symptoms

Please note that you will not always witness exactly how the incident occurred. At the same time, the scratch may be small and invisible, which will not allow you to immediately examine it. The fact of corneal damage can be detected by focusing on the behavior of the animal. If a cat hits a dog in the eye, the latter will be:

Whine
Shake your head frequently
Rub the area around the eyes with your paw

Of course, it is much better to take the dog to the veterinarian immediately, ideal immediately see an ophthalmologist. However, given that not every city has a veterinarian, let alone highly specialized specialists, it is important to know how to provide first aid to an animal yourself.

First aid

The first steps to prevent the occurrence of irreparable processes in the cornea are the following:

Under no circumstances should you allow your dog to scratch an injured eye. It is necessary to monitor the animal, and if possible, put a special medical Elizabethan collar on it.
If the animal experiences severe pain you can alleviate his suffering by instilling 2% novocaine solution into his eye
If you are unable to visit the veterinarian in the near future, we recommend that you administer antibiotic drops to the affected eye. Normax, Torbex, Ciprovet and Gentamicin are optimal. Please note that the dosage of the drug should be accurately calculated according to the weight of the dog.

Please note that you should never use other drops that differ in composition, especially if they contain corticosteroids, without the appropriate instructions from a doctor. The same applies to tetracycline ointment, which is used only under strict medical supervision.

The use of other drugs that differ in composition from those indicated and contain corticosteroids, as well as eye ointments, including tetracycline, can only be used on the recommendation of a veterinarian. Otherwise, not only will they not help the animal, but, on the contrary, they can irritate the cornea of the eye and cause even greater irritation.

When providing first aid to an animal, do not forget that if a dirty cat’s claw gets into the eye, under no circumstances should you go without a visit to the veterinarian. Presence in cat claws large quantity pathogenic bacteria, increases the risk of vision loss. So is the organ as a whole.

All of the above recommendations should be considered as first aid only. In order to completely eliminate the risk of complications from the injury and ensure the most effective ophthalmic treatment eyes . Without contacting a specialist, the animal may remain disabled for life. Professional, highly qualified treatment is especially important if a young animal is injured.

The need to contact a veterinarian

If a cat scratches a puppy's eye, you should also not self-medicate. Even if at first glance you don't notice visible damage, it is possible that within a day the eye will begin to become cloudy. And if at first the clouding is noticeable only in bright daylight, then it will become more and more significant without any effect. veterinary care may become irreversible. The consequences of such delays can be seen in the video.

Keratitis is also not curable on its own or with telephone consultations with a veterinarian. If the dog begins to actively and frequently rub its eyes, and even more so if tears, mucous discharge or pus begin to come out of the damaged eye, a visit to the veterinarian should be made immediately, without wasting a single extra hour of time. Delay can be dangerous complete blindness Your dog. Moreover, today there are often cases when during a fight or excessive active games The cat injures both eyes of the dog at once.

There are some differences in advice depending on where exactly the dog was injured and what kind of cat the injury was caused. The fact is that if a dog is injured by a stray animal, in addition to purely surgical consequences injury and the risk of additional complications is added. It's about about infection with tetanus or rabies. You cannot decide on your own how to treat an animal; you need to immediately go to a veterinary clinic and save pet. A delay of just one day can become irreversible.