My little one, Echo K., had some white discharge (more than just the wake-up, sleep goo) in his eyes. I noticed it about 4 days ago, wiped it out and didn’t think too much about it. The second day it was a yellowish-greeny color and covered about half his eye ball. I noticed Vince’s eyes were a little guckier than usual too. Garrett, the husky, is fine. I made a vet appt yesterday thinking some kind of contagious infection that was spreading.

She did three things – looked in his eye and said they were clear but she could see irritated tissue around the eyes, put some green stuff in - turned out the lights and again saw very clear, unscathed corneas (this green dye dripped out his nose) and a pressure test – which she said was fine ruling out eye diseases.

She said it was conjunctivitis. I had a sample of the goo and there was some in his eyes and I asked her if she was going to test it. She said no – she was pretty sure it would clear up in a couple of days with the BNP ointment she was prescribing.

I didn’t feel like I was completely understanding what was going on with him and it was so weird…. Ana K. popped in my head. Now what would Ana ask? So then a barrage of questions came streaming out.

What could possibly have caused this? (this wasn’t my regular vet – she was young and said they don’t tell us the causes in veterinary school)

Could it be anything other than what you think it is? With the other tests I’ve done, I don’t think so. If it doesn’t clear up in five days I’d like to see him again.

Do I need to treat my other dogs? It’s usually isolated but can spread so keep an eye on them.

If this was your dog, what would you do? Actually, my dog often has a heavier discharge than most; with some dogs they have a heavier natural production. I do treat if the discharge becomes discolored but for the most part, just keep them as clean as possible.

Any additional thoughts on this?

As well, he’s getting really difficult when it comes to getting this stuff in… I have to spread about ½ inch on his bottom eye lid. He bucks and turns and tosses his head and I don’t want to poke his eye with the tube nose. Is there any marker training or specific hold that can make this go easier?

Honestly... what doesn't cause Conjunctivitis? If conjunctivitis alone is the problem I wouldn't worry about it. It could be something as stupid as dog hair brushing against the eye causing it.

ETA: However if you see a occurrence quickly of the problem OR new symptoms then I'd check into it a little more in depth.

Edited by Melissa Thom (06/27/2010 12:31 PM)
Edit reason: spelling is awesome!

Really? I've never seen this before. It looks awful. You know I've been using some strong bug spray on myself and when he comes near me, he kind of flinches and chews the air. Do you think that this could somehow be causing it?

Sure, why not? Dust particles in the air, pollen, grass, dirt, fleas, bacteria, disease all can cause it. So why not bug spray? All conjunctivitis is - is irritation of the membranes surrounding the eye. The list of what doesn't cause it is far shorter than the list that does.

Thank you Melissa. That makes me feel a lot better. Now why didn't the vet tell me this?

Any ideas on techniques on how to get this stuff in? He really is having issues with it. Probably all the poking and prodding yesterday... he wants nothing to do with anything going near his face. I don't want him getting hand shy over this.

Because if anything and everything causes it you might ignore it next time when it's a real symptom of something.

I use the floor hold where I put the dog in a down and roll them over on their side. Then I either have a second person restrain or use a leg restraint on their shoulder. I don't do eye stuff til the dog is relaxed. It makes for a much happier dog and a lot less of the ointment being wasted.

Hi CJ, not sure what's going on with your dog in particular, but the few times Oscar has had conjunctivitis (exact cause was undiagnosed, but like Melissa said, it's not terribly important to pinpoint, unless there's an obvious new irritant in the environment that you can control) in addition to the eye goo the vet prescribed, we did gentle warm washcloth cleaning and brief compressions over the eye. Now, if I see any yellowish/greenish eye gunk persist longer than a day, I'll start the washcloth course and it usually clears up immediately. This simple home treatment can work wonders, assuming the problem is indeed just general irritation.

Hope this issue clears quickly for your pup and doesn't spread to your other dogs.

~Natalya

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/images/dog_nails/nails_lat.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/dog_claws.aspx&usg=__RiSIAKStmdGkA4XjLnjPrZF46jM=&h=164&w=250&sz=16&hl=en&start=11&sig2=7OohvvJqu2wEp8PkEqh1uw&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=23AvJnhE2cVU1M:&tbnh=73&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drestrain%2Ba%2Bdog%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=RZEnTKiYF86JnAehwc28Bg The second photo is the hold I like

Wow, excellent Melissa!! I just showed this to hubby (we're both at loss trying to figure this out) and he kind of giggled, saying I was just thinking about man handling him down on the floor - that looks like a great technique. Thank her will you.

So we're off to try it. And thanks so much Natalya, the warm compresses sound like a much better idea than the wet kleenex I've been using.

I think Melissa's MO looks very good, especially for a dog who hasn't been acclimated to face procedures. Many (maybe most) dogs really hate a hand in the face (or to the paws, or head/ears, in fact)..

I have one who needs a little application in one eye every day, many times a day, indefinitely, and I decided I wanted it to be stress-free because of the "indefinitely" part.

So the first time he needed both ointment and drops and I saw what a battle it was, I started doing one tiny eye-thing and then rewarding. I would touch the eyelid, mark and reward, then next time leave my finger on the eyelid for a bit longer, etc. I had the high-value reward right there in easy seeing and sniffing distance (much different from the usual bait bag -- this desensitizing is not the same for me as teaching a command that the dog has no reason to fear or hate) and I gave it instantly when the "procedure" was over. (I wanted a never-fail connection established between the procedure and the wonderful reward.)

I murmured "then a TREAT!... a TREAT!" during the procedure as it got longer.

Same general procedure for ear-stuff.

Well, I don't need to type all the steps, but it ended up that I can get the treat out (special "procedure" treat), plunk it down, get the dog, and they all come to watch.

The "patient" sits quietly, if a tad stiffly, and obviously exercising a goodly amount of self-restraint (VERY HIGH-VALUE TREAT! ), and the others sit and watch the treat so it doesn't escape. Then the patient gets his first, the instant the procedure is done, and everyone else else gets a bit too.

This is my "procedure" protocol for all home treatments like that. It took a while to get it down pat, and I learned that everything should be right there, ready, including all equipment or meds, and the reward needs to be special and visible. No going to the kitchen for it afterwards -- it's right there, hypnotizing the patient with its yummy wonderfulness.

This is what works for me over the long term. Of course, it requires preparation before the treatment is needed.