Dog conjunctivitis - causes, symptoms and treatment
Conjunctivitis is one of the diseases that are most seen in veterinary clinics, and which is rare that a dog does not suffer one or several times throughout his life.
Luckily it is not serious if it is on time, something that is always possible, then The symptoms are quite evident, of those that immediately make us see that it is best to go to our Trust veterinarian.
What is conjunctivitis?
The eye of dogs, like that of a human, has a transparent membrane to protect it from the elements and that surrounds it completely.
Conjunctivitis is nothing more than the inflammation of that telilla for various causes, something that makes the blood vessels that surround it also swell And that's why we see that our pet's eye is red.
It is not uncommon for this problem to begin in one eye and pass the other right away, because it is very contagious as with what humans suffer.
In the case of dogs, the affected eye is usually scrubbed in their bed, lick the leg and scratch, so it does not take long to move on to the other eye if we do not go to the veterinarian as soon as we see the first symptom.
What are the causes and types of dog conjunctivitis?
This disease can have several origins, and hence the importance of going to the veterinarian to find out where it comes from, because if we do not, we can start a treatment that or harm the eye, or at best will delay the recovery of our friend.
Allergies
Like us, dogs also have allergies. It is common that are due to spring plants, cleaning products or even dust if we walk through areas with a lot of land.
Bacterial infections
It is the most usual cause in dogs. Some bacterium can reach the eye when playing with a dog that already had the infection, or even being there waiting for the moment as when the dog has the lowest defenses for a cold.
Virus
It is the most serious conjunctivitis and we see it more in cats, although dogs suffer. The concern must come because this inflammation of the conjunctiva is accompanied by a viral disease such as the muffin.
Not produce tears
Here the culprit is a problem in the animal's eye, which is too dry by not generating the tears it needs to lubricate.
A lot appears in the races with very exposed eyes, such as the Carlinos or the Bulldogs And it should worry us, since the treatment has to be for a lifetime, otherwise the animal will always be with eyes problems.
What are the symptoms of dog conjunctivitis?
The symptoms are very easy to recognize even for the most inexperienced owner, who with nothing more to look at his dog a moment realizes that he is not right.
The most common is the reddened eye, something that is due to the inflammation of the veins of the conjunctiva, as we have seen before, but there are symptoms that are even more evident.
One of those, which can be seen very well, is constant tearing. The eye of our dog is wet and the surrounding hair. Sometimes, we even notice how a kind of round bald around the ocular balloon has left almost suddenly.
That absence of hair can be due to the cake of moisture or to which it has been scratching, another of the signs of conjunctivitis, since the eye itch.
On other occasions it is seen as a secretion of a greenish color that comes out of the tear zone, which tells us that there is an infection that we must treat.
Finally, another sign is that the light bothers him a lot. Our best friend will look for darkness and when he looks at us, he closes his eye so that the light does not enter.
Dog breeds more likely to suffer conjunctivitis
All those animals that have jumps, whether race or mestizos are more likely to have this problem in a recurring way.
We refer to Bulldogs, to the Carlinos or to the Beiiness And to any of his crosses that inherits that type of skull with his eyes very outside.
Then we have breeds that due to inherited causes have more conjunctivitis than others such as The caniche or the cocker, so that you have to be attentive to call the veterinarian at the time the symptoms begin.
Treatment of conjunctivitis
When we notice that conjunctivitis has appeared, we are immediately tempted to take action on our own and take out the arsenal of home remedies that are useless.
What can help, and it will not do any damage to the dog, is to clean the affected eye with physiological serum and with a gauze carefully not touching the healthy eye if it has not been infected.
With this we will take away the legañas, we will leave your eye clean and refresh it a little, something that you will appreciate.
Viral and bacterial
In the case of viral or bacterial conjunctivitis you have to put a medicine in the eye, in the form of a columus or ointment, which will have to prescribe the veterinarian.
It is placed in the eye several times a day and during the period that prescribe us, because if we shorten it we will only be helping the bacteria become resistant and reappear again.
The columas for humans serve, the active ingredients are the same, but you have to adjust the dose And that is something they will do in the clinic, where we can also prescribe a columus for dogs.
Allergic
Passing allergic conjunctivitis, nothing else will have to be cleaned with serum and gauze, but you have to try to find out what the cause not to expose the dog to those agents that inflame the conjunctive.
Dry eye
We are facing the most complicated case, although the veterinarians have it very well studied and the treatment is as simple as to put artificial tears in the form of columia to the animal.
Of course, it is something heavy because it lengthens in time and the drops are set several times a day.
Prevention of eye problems in dogs
On the one hand, the updated vaccination calendar must be carried, which will prevent the problems associated with viral diseases such as the Moquillo from appearing, which are the most dangerous not only because of the way they affect the eye, but by the infections they bring associated.
As for allergy conjunctivitis, prevention is simple and goes through not subjecting the animal to the agent that causes it. Thus, in the case of herbs we will have to walk through clean sites and if it is for any cleaning product, we will use a less aggressive one, such as ecological.
Another of the things we can do in order to prevent, if possible, the appearance of this inflammation of the conjunctiva is to carry out a good eye hygiene several times a week.
Other articles that might interest you:
Share