Well, where this is wind or a good breeze, there are dogs out there, sticking their head right into it.
As animal lovers, we have all seen those fantastic photos of dog's lips wobbling in the breeze as their head sticks out the side window of car as it drives down the freeway. Or those dogs with huge ears, put up as if they are in a hold up, and their eyes popping out of their head!
In the past few weeks, I have seen many dogs, with the owners bring them in with their diagnosis of "conjunctivitis".
Some owners have said "Me dog has conjunctivitis, and needs some drops", others have said "I have been cleaning my dogs eyes for two weeks, and it is no better, I think it needs to see you.".
But, all owners have been clever enough to bring their pet in to have their pet's eyes checked, so that part is all good.
What many people think though is that conjunctivitis is contagious in dogs. Most times it isn't.
What many owners also think is that cleaning the eyes of their dog's is enough. Most times, it's not.
Fortunately, no one has come in asking for drops or ointments for their pet's conjunctivits without a consultation. That is so refreshing, and a very intelligent move. Why? Because as "oils ain't oils", (those of you who are my age, know which oils ad I am talking about), causes of conjunctivitis are not equal, and thus, the different causes need different therapies.
The eyes are not imaginative in how they show that they are pissed off with the world. They weep, produce mucoid sometimes green discharge, it closes a bit, and becomes overall unhappy. And the cause of this can be scratch, foreign body, infection (viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic), allergy, neurological, etc etc etc.
Are all of these causes treated the same way? Heck, no! You don't need a vet degree to know that you don't put eye drops into a eye with a foreign body - you remove the foreign body. You don't use antibiotics for allergies - you'll get nowhere! The best chance of a successful treatment is to treat the right condition.
In the past few weeks the causes of conjunctivitis I have seen include
- irritant (going to the beach, or due to the winds a few weeks ago)
- allergic (it is spring after all)
- Mites (demodectic mange causing eyelid infection, the dog was rubbing its eyes because it was itchy, and caused the conjunctivitis that way)
- a cat scratch - cat's are busy at the moment causing grief, including "scratching eyes out".
- normal - no conjunctivitis but the dog was so excited everytime it went for a walk (and it is spring so this was daily), it's eyes went red with excitement (way to go "sympathetic stimulation").
All are treated differently, and all need follow up check ups to make sure that things are improving.
And cats are not small dogs, and dogs are not small people. Treatment of conjunctivitis is different for dogs and cats.
But it is late at night, your pet's eyes are red...what do you do. Do no harm!
There are alot of do nots.... so won't go into that list. If you want more specific information, you can read my newsletter from a few months ago. Visit www.animalclinic.com.au and then visit the Enews archive. But please, do no harm.
Use a compress of cool boiled water to clean discharge. Apply for 1 minute, and then gently wipe away any discharges And get your pet to the vet as soon as you can.
Pet's have only two eyes - look after them!
As animal lovers, we have all seen those fantastic photos of dog's lips wobbling in the breeze as their head sticks out the side window of car as it drives down the freeway. Or those dogs with huge ears, put up as if they are in a hold up, and their eyes popping out of their head!
In the past few weeks, I have seen many dogs, with the owners bring them in with their diagnosis of "conjunctivitis".
Some owners have said "Me dog has conjunctivitis, and needs some drops", others have said "I have been cleaning my dogs eyes for two weeks, and it is no better, I think it needs to see you.".
But, all owners have been clever enough to bring their pet in to have their pet's eyes checked, so that part is all good.
What many people think though is that conjunctivitis is contagious in dogs. Most times it isn't.
What many owners also think is that cleaning the eyes of their dog's is enough. Most times, it's not.
Fortunately, no one has come in asking for drops or ointments for their pet's conjunctivits without a consultation. That is so refreshing, and a very intelligent move. Why? Because as "oils ain't oils", (those of you who are my age, know which oils ad I am talking about), causes of conjunctivitis are not equal, and thus, the different causes need different therapies.
The eyes are not imaginative in how they show that they are pissed off with the world. They weep, produce mucoid sometimes green discharge, it closes a bit, and becomes overall unhappy. And the cause of this can be scratch, foreign body, infection (viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic), allergy, neurological, etc etc etc.
Are all of these causes treated the same way? Heck, no! You don't need a vet degree to know that you don't put eye drops into a eye with a foreign body - you remove the foreign body. You don't use antibiotics for allergies - you'll get nowhere! The best chance of a successful treatment is to treat the right condition.
In the past few weeks the causes of conjunctivitis I have seen include
- irritant (going to the beach, or due to the winds a few weeks ago)
- allergic (it is spring after all)
- Mites (demodectic mange causing eyelid infection, the dog was rubbing its eyes because it was itchy, and caused the conjunctivitis that way)
- a cat scratch - cat's are busy at the moment causing grief, including "scratching eyes out".
- normal - no conjunctivitis but the dog was so excited everytime it went for a walk (and it is spring so this was daily), it's eyes went red with excitement (way to go "sympathetic stimulation").
All are treated differently, and all need follow up check ups to make sure that things are improving.
And cats are not small dogs, and dogs are not small people. Treatment of conjunctivitis is different for dogs and cats.
But it is late at night, your pet's eyes are red...what do you do. Do no harm!
There are alot of do nots.... so won't go into that list. If you want more specific information, you can read my newsletter from a few months ago. Visit www.animalclinic.com.au and then visit the Enews archive. But please, do no harm.
Use a compress of cool boiled water to clean discharge. Apply for 1 minute, and then gently wipe away any discharges And get your pet to the vet as soon as you can.
Pet's have only two eyes - look after them!
