What To Do If The Dog Has Bad Eyes?
When a dog has sore eyes, the causes can be many, although they all have something in common: they must necessarily be analyzed and treated by a veterinarian.
We are talking about one of the most delicate areas of the animal organism and each treatment could cause unwanted problems. If you want to know how to behave in case your dog has bad eyes , in this article you will find all the information to respond to the emergency without making mistakes.
How to know if the dog has bad eyes?
Normally, when the dog has bad eyes, this discomfort manifests itself in several ways: noticeable redness, increased tearing and clarity.
The animal will have a tendency to scratch its eyes with its paws or rub it against objects. A very dangerous manifestation of pain, which could lead to injuries and ulcers. Therefore it will be necessary to stop these behaviors and request the intervention of the specialist.
Keratitis in dogs
If your dog has eye pain, he may have keratitis. It is a primary inflammatory lesion in the cornea that is common in cats and dogs and has multiple causes.
It is usually triggered by infections, trauma, changes in lacrimation, inflammatory pathologies or processes, and systemic diseases. That is, it appears as a consequence of problems affecting other organs. A significant number of keratitis are idiopathic.
Within the keratitis we must talk about cases in which the loss of corneal epithelium occurs, that is the corneal ulcer or peripheral ulcerative keratitis. We are talking about very dangerous eye ulcers, which can affect your pet’s vision and which are the most frequent causes of eye pain in dogs.
It could be uveitis
Uveitis is inflammation of the uvea, a part of the eyeball located between the sclera and the retina. Many blood vessels are concentrated here, including the iris, ciliary body and choroid. It is a rare disease, but very serious for vision health and difficult to resolve. Uveitis can be total or partial, and has many infectious causes such as distemper and leishmaniasis, as well as immune-mediated diseases and cancers.
In the presence of uveitis, the dog has sore eyes and has several signs that must be diagnosed by an ophthalmologist veterinarian. He will also present pain and photophobia, tearing and red eyes, lowering of intraocular pressure (due to the lower production of aqueous humor) and diffuse and inconstant edema, at the level of the cornea.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma in dogs is a disease that occurs following the prolongation of excessive intraocular pressure beyond normal levels. The most important and early effect is that it affects the optic nerve, causing deterioration of visual function, until the animal falls into blindness.
Acute glaucoma can become chronic and progressive, but pain or edema should be less noticeable. It is mainly characterized by the coloring of the eye by corneal pigmentation and neovascularization.
Why does the dog have bad eyes?
Although there are many diseases that can occur when your dog has bad eyes, veterinary diagnosis is crucial in identifying the possible causes. The doctor should examine the eye and perform some complementary tests for a more correct diagnosis.
An example is the Schirmer test. It is important to know the humidity of the eye, because keratitis is often caused by the alteration of the tear. This test allows to measure the humidity of the eyes by affixing, under the eye, a special strip of paper with fluorescein.
All of these diseases can be treated, but a diagnosis made by the vet will be necessary first. If your dog has sore eyes, or they appear watery and constantly red, don’t hesitate to take them to the doctor for a moment.
