Astonishing Secrets : Animal Eyes First Aid

"You're poking my eye out, Charlie" cries out the Town Crier

You wake up in the morning, roll out of bed, say hallo to your best mate (your pet)  (after you kiss your loved one (your wife/husband/spouse/partner), and find that one or both of their eyes (of your pet, that is)  are glued together with this yellow goo.

Or how about another scenario... your pet has been run over, and if that stress wasn't enough, your pet's eye doesn't look right.


And another scenario... one which someone had emailed me about asking for advice.... they were playing cricket, and the dog got hit in the eye with a tennis ball, and was now keeping it shut.


What do you do?

The Astonishing Secrets series is all about healthy tips to help you and your pet until you can get to see a vet.

General Tips:

'Here's looking at you kid!"

• Make sure your pet's first aid kit is current and ready to go - make it well stocked with eye flush solutions, ice packs, and muzzles (in case eye is painful).
• Warm compresses work well for cases of mild conjuncitivitis
• Always flush eyes out with saline eye drops after a trip to the beach
• All pets with exposed eyes (like pugs, chihuahuas), or that are in high risk groups of dry eye (like shih tzu, cocker spaniels), or those with a lot of hair on the face (such as poodles) should get daily tear drops for extra protection.

Need help to make up a First Aid Kit?  We can help with that too.

First Aid for Eyes

What to do:

• If the eye has been dislocated from the socket (proptosis) or if the lids cannot close over the eyeball, you need to keep the eyeball moist with eye wash solution, saline, or even water if necessary
• If the eye was injured by a chemical or other irritant, flush the eye with eye wash solution, saline, or water for a minimum of 15 minutes
• If the eye has been hit, ice packs or cold cloths applied immediately will help reduce bruising and damage.

What NOT to do:

• Do not attempt to treat the eyes, or remove any foreign objects yourself - you could cause more damage
• Do not try to push a proptosed eye back into its socket, this needs to be done under anesthesia to prevent causing damage to the interior of the eyeball
• Don't put anything into your pets eye that you would not be happy to have in your own eye (such as home made salty water solutions).

We hope this helps.  Don't forget to subscribe, and hope that your pet stays happy and healthy, always.