Dog Swollen Eyes

by Anonymous Reader

Our Rescue Rosette is 8 yrs. old, and recently got up one morning with a red swollen eyelid, making her look like she was in a boxing match. Her eye was just about swollen shut.

I washed out her eye with eye wash, and put a topical antibiotic ointment on it and it cleared up in a couple of days.

2-3 days later the other eye did the same thing, that healed in a day. Now a week has gone by, and the right eye is just about swollen shut and red again, for a 2nd time.

Is this pink aye, or could it be Sumac, because she's always out by the trees? Would this require an oral antibiotic, since it came back?

Thank you so much for your time.

Editor Suggestion Dog Swollen Eyes

Hi,

Dogs don’t usually get the same type of pink eye that people do, but they can get infections that cause similar symptoms.

I’m concerned, however, that your dog might have an underlying condition that is causing these recurrent problems. The first thing that comes to mind is a condition called keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS). Dogs with KCS stop making sufficient amounts of tears and this can cause a red and swollen eye. You may have been improving things by using the eye wash and ointment, but as soon as you stop, the problem comes back.

You mentioned the Sumac in your yard, and something in the environment could certainly be to blame for your dog’s eye irritation as well.

I do think a trip to your veterinarian would be the wisest course of action here so that you could get a definitive diagnosis and avoid permanent damage to your dog’s eyes.

Good luck,

Jennifer Coates, DVM