Dog eye problems can be difficult to notice, especially because your dog cannot tell you that something is wrong. It is very important that dog owners be aware of when their dog is acting strangely and take steps to prevent any eye problems in their dog.
It is also important to be able to recognize some of the common eye problems that dogs have so that you know what to do. When it comes to dog health, eye problems are one of the easiest to spot if you spend any time looking at your dogs eyes.
Common Canine Eye Problems
The most common eye issue among dogs is simple irritation of the eye. Just like people, dogs can come into contact with something that irritates their eyes. This can cause the animals eyes to look red and irritated. They may even swell up a bit.
If you are positive that the only problem your dog is having is a simple eye irritation caused by contact with something, then you may want to flush the eye out yourself. Contact lens solution or a saline solution is the best way to flush your dogs eyes out.
Dog eye problems caused by irritation can easily be solved in this way, and you can either use a dropper to drop the solution right into the dogs eyes, or you can wet a cloth with the solution and carefully wipe your dogs eyes.
When it comes to dog health, eye problems can also be as obvious as having something stuck in the eye. If this is the case, it is important that you take your pet to the vet as soon as possible. The foreign object could scratch your dogs eye.
Also sometimes it may appear that the dog has something stuck in its eye, but there is actually an ulcer on the cornea. The vet will likely have to perform surgery if this is the case.
Another common eye problem is known as cherry eyes. This condition is actually very common in certain breeds.
Cherry eye occurs when the third eye gland actually becomes visible. It looks like the dog has an eyelid, or small red area in the corner of the eye. If it looks like an eye gland is sticking out, then it is possible that the dog has a bacterial or fungal infection in its eye.
Also parasites and even a skin condition known as dermatitis can affect the eye.
Other dog eye problems include cataracts, which are also fairly common, especially in older dogs. Cataracts are pretty easy to detect because it can be pretty obvious if your dog is having trouble seeing.
Prevention
Of course you may not always be able to prevent every eye problem, but there are a few things you can do to reduce your dogs risk of suffering from them.
Regular vet checkups will allow your dog to be checked over thoroughly at least once a year.
Also make sure to use a damp cloth to wipe away the buildup that appears around your dogs eyes, making sure to wipe the hair away from the eye as well.
Sometimes the dogs hair can irritate or scratch the eye, so simply making sure that there are no hairs poking the eye can really help prevent eye problems.
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