Eye drops/flush?

[Bailey08]

Maybe this is silly, but here it goes anyway.

We have been spending time at the dog beach on weekends. B has a tendency to get sand everywhere! I flush his ears out with ear wash (from the vet; he has a a tendency to get ear infections), but wonder if I need to do anything for his eyes. They usually get red -- but he also suffers from allergies so I give him Benedryl afterward anyway.

Should I be flushing out his eyes to get rid of any sand? Is there a safe, hopefully natural product that I can use? Or will blinking clear them up?

I wish he could talk and tell me if his eyes were uncomfortable.

 

[RawFedDogs]

I am of the belief that bodies, both dog and human, are amazing self healing machines. The more you let them heal themselves without help, the stronger they are. I don't use anything "just in case" nor do I jump in to "cure" other stuff that isn't serious. 80% of any ailment we get will clear up on its on in 4 or 5 days if we just get out of the way and let it. We use way too many medicines, cures, remedies, and ointments in today's world.

 

[MPP]

Maybe flush them out with saline solution? Other people will have a much better idea about what to use. I'm just voting in favor of the process!

And lucky you, to have an actual dog beach to go to!

 

[Saintgirl]

I use Tear Gel in my Saint Bernards eyes when they seem irritated, especially know that he has facial nerve paralysis. It just coats the eye and helps flush out any grit or foreign objects. It was recommended by my vet and works well. You can buy it at any pharmacy.

 

[MandyPug]

I use plain saline to do flushes on Izzie's eyes, i get it in the little packets like at the doctors/hospital from health supply stores. She has had several small eye injuries on both eyes plus the cat scratch/prolapsed iris amputation emergency surgery on the left eye. She definitely cannot have junk getting on in there.

I am of the belief that bodies, both dog and human, are amazing self healing machines. The more you let them heal themselves without help, the stronger they are. I don't use anything "just in case" nor do I jump in to "cure" other stuff that isn't serious. 80% of any ailment we get will clear up on its on in 4 or 5 days if we just get out of the way and let it. We use way too many medicines, cures, remedies, and ointments in today's world.

Or on the other hand... if you follow this and wait for 4-5 days and your dog ends up having a serious illness you will...

A) potentially be too late to save/cure them
B) end up having it cost you 10x the amount it would've if you had brought them in early.

Don't get me wrong i'm all about self healing, but refusing to give veterinary care to a sick pet is a chargeable offence in a lot of places. If my dog is showing signs of being ill and it lasts more than 24hrs, she goes to the vet or another practitioner i won't mention for the fact you've been a total ass before and have bashed me for the type of beliefs i have.

 

[Beanie]

I have saline drops to flush out my eyes if I've gotten something in it - I've had something scratch my cornea before, and let me tell you, it's seriously unfun to have a scratch on your cornea. The damage is also permanent though thankfully it is no longer as painful as it used to be nor does it water for minutes at a time anymore.

I have a saline wash for Auggie in my med bag, but I've never had to use it. Our eyes water and run to try and clear out something in the eyes (or as a reaction to eye pain which makes the brain think there's something in the eye that needs to be flushed out) so his eyes will clear themselves up on their own. That said, sand definitely can scratch the eye, especially if it gets stuck under the eyelid. If he gets allergies anyway, my guess is that his eyes are red from that rather than the sand in his eyes - but if you look in his eyes and see sand floating around, you definitely could flush with a saline wash.

Alternatively, you could get him some Doggles and see if that prevents the sand getting in his eyes to begin with!

 

[RawFedDogs]

Or on the other hand... if you follow this and wait for 4-5 days and your dog ends up having a serious illness you will...

A) potentially be too late to save/cure them
B) end up having it cost you 10x the amount it would've if you had brought them in early.

Just as self healing is common sense, you have to use common sense when dealing with a sick or injured dog. You've got to take into consideration just how sick or how seriously injured he is before you decide what to do.

For example, my Abby started limping. It didn't get any better in a couple of weeks so I took her to the vet. That was her only visit to the vet other than for heartworm checks in many years. As I said, almost everything will cure itself in 4 or 5 days. You see, this is what keeps homeopaths in business. They work their voodoo magic and the patient gets well in 4 or 5 days. Would have anyway. :smile:

24 hours is often not enough time for the body to cure itself.

 

[xpaeanx]

If Bailey has allergies, I'm going to guess the redness is probably from that and not sand.

That being said, you can pick up saline solutions pretty cheaply and it does a great job of flushing eyes out. I have used it on both myself and my dogs in the past. And if I thought my dogs did get sand in their eyes, I would def flush!

 

[MandyPug]

Just as self healing is common sense, you have to use common sense when dealing with a sick or injured dog. You've got to take into consideration just how sick or how seriously injured he is before you decide what to do.

For example, my Abby started limping. It didn't get any better in a couple of weeks so I took her to the vet. That was her only visit to the vet other than for heartworm checks in many years. As I said, almost everything will cure itself in 4 or 5 days. You see, this is what keeps homeopaths in business. They work their voodoo magic and the patient gets well in 4 or 5 days. Would have anyway. :smile:

24 hours is often not enough time for the body to cure itself.

I hope you don't have cats because 4-5 days with a sick non-eating cat and you've got a corpse on your hands.

Limping is one thing. Eye issues, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, lethargy, convulsions, unconsciousness, ear infections, discharge from nose, coughing, heavy breathing and exhaustion. All those things after 24 hours or less should be checked out.

No i'm not being a "mommy" and babying my dogs. It's a CRIME to withhold veterinary care for a sick pet! Not a limping pet, but a SICK pet.

I'm certainly not letting a dog with bloody diarrhea and vomiting go more than 24 hours. Also i am CERTAINLY not going to believe i should've let Izzie go 4-5 days with a prolapsed iris believing magically the body is going to fix that itself, the fact she got to the e-vet within 6 hours (2 hour drive, 3 hours in the snow storm) was the reason she was able to keep her eye and save some vision in it (combined with homeopathic remedies increasing the reabsorbtion of the blood in the eye and promoting healing to give her 50% more vision than the ophthalmologist expected).

 

[RawFedDogs]

I hope you don't have cats because 4-5 days with a sick non-eating cat and you've got a corpse on your hands.

See, this is the reason we always have our "discussions" and you always end up with your feelngs hurt. Either you didn't read my first sentence in my last post or you don't understand what common sense is. Yes, I have cats. I have two of them and they have been "sick" for 4 or 5 days and recovered on their own without having to go to the vet.

I have one cat now who is healing from some kind of skin thingie. He hair fell out on his back in front of he tail and on his thighs and some on his belly. This started about 6 weeks ago and his hair has been returning for the last couple of weeks. You can't hardly tell he had a problem now. Of course some owners with a cat with the same symptoms would have taken him to a homeopath and would have sworn that the voodoo that the homeopath did on him is what cured him. :smile:

I had a cat one time years ago that I took to the vet because he hadn't eaten in 4 or 5 days. Vet couldn't find a problem with him and got me to let him stay there for a few days. Vet called me 3 days later and told me to come get the cat. When I asked what had been wrong with him the answer was, "I don't know. We didn't do anything. He finally just got up, started walking around and was normal. I have no idea what it was." :smile:

Limping is one thing. Eye issues, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, lethargy, convulsions, unconsciousness, ear infections, discharge from nose, coughing, heavy breathing and exhaustion. All those things after 24 hours or less should be checked out.

Maybe I'll go along with convulsions and unconciousness but not the rest of it. I would give the rest at least 4 or 5 days, maybe more depending on the severity.

No i'm not being a "mommy" and babying my dogs. It's a CRIME to withhold veterinary care for a sick pet! Not a limping pet, but a SICK pet.

Again, it depends on how sick. If you just leave them alone, you would be amazed at how well they cure themselves. My mother never believed in rushing children to the doctor either. If our fever was less than 103 and we weren't bleeding or have broken bones, we didn't go to the doctor. I feel like that myself.

I'm certainly not letting a dog with bloody diarrhea and vomiting go more than 24 hours.

Depending on sererity, I probably would.

I'm certainly not letting a dog with bloody diarrhea and vomiting go more than 24 hours. Also i am CERTAINLY not going to believe i should've let Izzie go 4-5 days with a prolapsed iris believing magically the body is going to fix that itself, ...

That would come under the same category as a broken bone now, wouldn't it? Remember common sense?

... the fact she got to the e-vet within 6 hours (2 hour drive, 3 hours in the snow storm) was the reason she was able to keep her eye and save some vision in it (combined with homeopathic remedies increasing the reabsorbtion of the blood in the eye and promoting healing to give her 50% more vision than the ophthalmologist expected).

And now you understand homeopathy and how it works. :smile:

 

[Renee750il]

Vomiting, diarrhea (especially if there is blood in the stool), uncharacteristic lethargy accompanied by ANY other symptoms, i.e. coughing, labored breathing, exhaustion with no explainable cause -- those are signs that there may indeed be something very serious going on. Our dogs -- and cats -- can't tell us what's wrong; we have to be proactive, and letting things like this go for four or five days can be the difference between life and death.

Parvo comes to mind, just as one common example.

Telling people to let things like this go unchecked is callous, dangerous and wrong -- and, for the record, I do tend to believe less is more as far as medical intervention, but an intelligent diagnosis can allow a pet owner to make an intelligent decision about how much and what kind of treatment is best for their animal.

Oh, and as far as washing the eyes out with a sterile eye solution, it can't hurt and if there is sand in there -- which is completely possible after a day at the beach -- it's bound to feel better and help avoid corneal scratches or just plain irritation.

 

[elegy]

yup, just saline is fine.

waiting 4-5 days on an eye problem could potentially leave your pet minus an eye. eyes can get really bad really quickly. i'd be quicker to seek care for an eye issue than for a vomiting issue.

 

[Bailey08]

Thanks so much to everyone who responded. B will just have to suffer the after-beach indignities (followed by lots of treats (and preceded, of course, by beach fun!)).

 

[azpoochluvr]

I recently moved to Arizona, but before that I lived in Rhode Island. I was in a very wooded area and as you might know, Rhode Island has lots of deer ticks, and they spread Lyme Disease.

As a victim myself, I know it's a terrible thing to get. Anyway, getting back on track. One afternoon I took Charlie for a walk.

The very next day, I noticed he was pawing at his left eye quite a bit. Now, Pugs have very large areas of their eyes exposed, so I'm constantly worried about his eyes. He had been stung by a bee in his right eye just two weeks before, and I was told then by a vet that the only thing I could do is give him some comfort by putting a cool, damp cloth over his eye-if he would keep it here. Which he did. Well, it healed naturally and the swelling went away totally in 5 or 6 days.

As I got in to take a closer look, I saw that he had a deer tick lodged in the corner of his left eye. I got real nervous. I knew I had to get it out quickly. I also knew if I didn't get it out fully it could get severley infected.

To make a long story short, I had to use tweezers. I got it out successfully and flushed the areas with some saline solution. I also called the vet and got him a prescription for some antibiotics-just in case. I know there is only a small chance he would actually get sick from it, but that's a chance I didn't want to take.

Anyway, those are my eye stories with my Pug!

 

[Bailey08]

I recently moved to Arizona, but before that I lived in Rhode Island. I was in a very wooded area and as you might know, Rhode Island has lots of deer ticks, and they spread Lyme Disease.

As a victim myself, I know it's a terrible thing to get. Anyway, getting back on track. One afternoon I took Charlie for a walk.

The very next day, I noticed he was pawing at his left eye quite a bit. Now, Pugs have very large areas of their eyes exposed, so I'm constantly worried about his eyes. He had been stung by a bee in his right eye just two weeks before, and I was told then by a vet that the only thing I could do is give him some comfort by putting a cool, damp cloth over his eye-if he would keep it here. Which he did. Well, it healed naturally and the swelling went away totally in 5 or 6 days.

As I got in to take a closer look, I saw that he had a deer tick lodged in the corner of his left eye. I got real nervous. I knew I had to get it out quickly. I also knew if I didn't get it out fully it could get severley infected.

To make a long story short, I had to use tweezers. I got it out successfully and flushed the areas with some saline solution. I also called the vet and got him a prescription for some antibiotics-just in case. I know there is only a small chance he would actually get sick from it, but that's a chance I didn't want to take.

Anyway, those are my eye stories with my Pug!

Oh my gosh! That must have been so scary!

 

[azpoochluvr]

Oh my gosh! That must have been so scary!

It really was. You know, it seems like I'm constantly dealing with eye problems. and that's common with Pugs according to my vet.

The bees was bad enough, but the deer tick was a double whammy because not only was I worried about his eye, I was concerned with thim coming down with Lyme Disease.

From what I understand, only 10% of all dogs who get Lyme Disease actually get sick from it, but still, I feel it's my responsibility as his owner to keep him healthy and looking good.

Living in Arizona, the thing that has me petrified now is scorpions. I've been stung a few times, but on the foot. If he was ever to get stung in his eye...

I don't even want to think about it!