Home


Eye: Discharge

Causes:

Canine eye discharge is only a symptom, representing some type of underlying dog eye problem. This symptom can be exhibited in various conditions in dog eyes such as allergies, infections, inflammation, trauma, blockage and for various other reasons. The following is an overview of the various causes of dog eye discharges;


Dog Eye Discharge, as a symptom:

Canine eye discharge is a symptom itself, which may occur as the result of the aforementioned conditions. Simply, canine eye discharge is an indication of a dog eye problem. It occurs as a response to any irritation, infectious condition or any abnormality within the physiology of the dog eyes.

In most cases, eye discharge in dogs not only represents the presence of eye abnormalities, but also the amount of discharge also represents the severity of the problem. This can be related to stress, an inflammatory response and a generalized pathogenesis (disease progression) of a dog eye problem.

Different forms of discharge may also help in forming a clinical diagnosis of a dog eye condition. For example, watery and transparent canine eye discharge can indicate an allergy, irritation or the overflow of tears. Similarly, tears mixed with dense pus, blood or other inflammatory cells represents a more complicated dog eye condition, which may occur in any part of the eye.

Diagnosis:

Being a clinical symptom, eye discharge in dogs can only represent an abnormality, i.e.the underlying cause of dog eye discharge always requires confirmation in order to be treated effectively. Clinical examination and different laboratory approaches such as the culturing/testing of eye discharge, tear tests and isolation of microbes and allergens in eye discharges are some techniques used towards identifying an underlying cause.

Treatment:

To treat canine eye discharge effectively, the underlying cause should be identified and thus treated specifically. Symptomatic treatment of the eye discharge problem can be helpful to provide some limited comfort and relief, but it is never a specific and permanent solution to the problem.

Along with the specific therapy for the underlying condition, eye discharge should be cleaned with clean eye pads, soaked in eye wash solutions/natural remedies such as i-Clenz and a patient should not be allowed to scratch or sustain any self injury to the eye.

Similarly, natural remedies such as Eye Heal and supplements such as Gimborn Vital Nutrition Canine Eye Care, can be used to improve eye health. These should be used in support of any specific therapy recommended by your veterinarian.