Does your dog have symptoms of an eye infection?
Varied eye discharge and conjunctivitis account for 90% of all eye issues in dogs, which are easy to treat at home. Your dog can get an eye infection from bacteria and viruses.
Common symptoms of eye infections include redness, itchiness, discharge, and swollen eyes.
In this blog post, we’ll teach you how to treat dog eye infection at home and go through everything you need to know about eye infections in dogs.
Let’s get started.
Can Dogs Get Eye Infections? Common Eye Issues in Dogs
Yes, dogs can get eye infections.
These infections are spread from viruses and bacteria and can be very painful. If not treated in time, eye infections can also cause permanent blindness.
So, how to treat dog eye infection at home?
In this section of the blog post, we would like to go through some of the most common eye infections in dogs. You’ll easily be able to recognize the symptoms once you’re familiar with the disease.
The disease is also known as cloudy eyes and often confused with cataracts.
The center of the lens in the dog’s eye gets oxidized, causing oxidative stress in the body. The biggest symptom of the disease is an opaque circle in the pupil.
Dogs with Lenticular Sclerosis don’t lose their vision like those with cataracts do.
Cherry eye is a condition in which a dog’s third eyelid gets inflamed. It looks somewhat like a bubble forming on the side of your dog’s eye. This condition is fairly easy to treat, even though it looks scary at first.
Does your dog have saggy eyelids?
In that case, he probably has Ectropion, a condition that is a result of the eyelids turning out. The dog’s conjunctiva gets exposed since the bottom eyelid is saggy, causing foreign material and bacteria to collect in the eye.
This causes irritation and redness.
Cataracts are hereditary and extremely common in older dogs. Apart from the genetic factor, eye trauma can also aggravate the condition. Cataracts cloud your dog’s vision, causing it to fail.
If left untreated, the dog will go blind with time.
This is a dangerous and equally painful eye condition. Caused by the eyelid turning, Entropion causes the eyelashes and the outer part of the eyelid to rub on and irritate the cornea.
The disease is genetic in nature and causes a lot of discharge from the eye. In some cases, it can lead to ulcers—the condition in common in short-nosed dog breeds.
Surgery is the only way to correct it permanently.
Conjunctivitis is one of the most common eye issues. Common symptoms include the inflammation of the tissue around the sclera and inner eyelids. Dry eye, irritants, infections in the upper respiratory tract can cause Conjunctivitis.
Some dogs have unpigmented third eyelids that make them look like they have Conjunctivitis when it isn’t the case.
It is easy to treat at home, and we’ll go through several remedies later in the article.
Pannus is a chronic autoimmune disease wherein the blood vessels coming from the sclera grow over the cornea. These hinder vision and can also lead to permanent blindness.
Dry eyes are common in dogs who don’t drink a lot of water. The condition isn’t the most complicated one in the book but causes irritation and redness in the eyes.
Dogs with dry eyes don’t produce enough tears, making it painful to open the eyes. The dog may even try to scratch his eyes, causing more irritation.
The condition is common in small dog breeds. Thanks to dirt, the Lacrimal ducts get blocked, leading to bacteria buildup and increased discharge from the eyes.
It’s one of the reasons for tear stains.
Foreign objects such as dust particles, fur, and rogue hairs find their way inside your dog’s eye and cause irritation, bacteria buildup, swelling, among other complications.
Most of these diseases are easily treatable at home. In the most serious cases, you’ll have to get eye drops prescribed by your vet.
Before we look at the dog eye infection natural remedy, let’s first look at some symptoms of eye infections. The common symptoms of dog eye infection include:
- Blinking and squinting
- Discharge from the eye
- Swelling and inflammation
- Closed eye
- Redness
- Wiping the eyes
This will help you figure out how to treat dog eye infection at home.
You can try out some home remedies to treat your dog’s eye infection naturally.
Let’s take a look at some of those.
Herbal Dog Eye Infection Home Remedy
Many herbs such as holy basil and rosemary have medicinal values. You can boil these in some water to create an antimicrobial solution and apply it to the affected area using a cotton ball.
Marigold is also excellent for your dog’s eyes. It’s an excellent source of the carotenoid, zeaxanthin, that promotes eye health. Eyebright is also good for your dog’s eyes as it soothes the infection and has healing properties.
Herbal remedies are effective but don’t work as fast as allopathic ones do. You’ll be able to see results in 24-36 hours.
Dog Eye Infection Natural Remedy
Now, let’s take a look at some of the most popular dog eye infection home remedies. These remedies are completely safe and have no side effects. Most of them show effect within 24-48 hours.
- Applying a warm compress to the dog’s eye using a warm and damp towel to reduce swelling and redness
- Brewing some Rooibos tea and applying it to the affected area once it cools down. The tea helps relieve itching, swelling, and pain. You can also use peppermint and chamomile tea for similar effects
- A saline eyewash can keep your dog’s eyes moisturized and helps with dry eyes and irritants that find their way into your dog’s eyes
- Applying cold water to the affected area helps a lot with the pain and swelling
Apple cider vinegar is one of the most popular dog eye infections home remedies. However, you should steer clear from it as it can cause many complications. This includes irritation, pain, redness, etc.
All in All: Dog Eye Infection Home Remedy
Did we cover everything you needed to know about dog eye infections home remedies?
In this blog post, we went through the different types of eye issues dogs have and some effective natural solutions for them. If you don’t observe any changes in your dog’s condition, or if things worsen, you should take him to the vet as soon as possible.
Home remedies take time to show effect, so you’ll need to be patient with them.
Dr. Veronica Heller
Born and brought up in Grand Marais, Minnesota, ever since she was a little girl, Dr. Veronica Heller dreamed of becoming a vet thanks to Sruffy, her family pet. She graduated from College of Veterinary Medicine, Minnesota and began her veterinary career in Larpenteur Animal Hospital in St. Paul as an emergency Veterinarian. Since then, she has worked with Minnesota Veterinary Hospital, Small Animal Hospital, and Blue Pearl Pet Hospital. Her interests in the field include preventive medicine, internal medicine, nutrition, and surgery. She’s also a loving pet mother to two cats and a Golden Retriever.
