Kelpie Puppy With One Inflamed Eye and Morning Discharge

Reader Question

My five month puppy has one eye that appears inflamed. I was given an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory ointment (Amacin). The more I look it seems he’s simply missing(?) the darker tissue at the inner corner of his left eye, while his right eye looks fine. I guess this missing tissue(?) exposes more of the white, and so it’s noticeable depending on where he’s looking. The vet did a simple eye drop test to confirm his tear ducts were working, and they were. For what it’s worth the ointment did bring down inflammation, but I feel the vet has missed the actual problem entirely, and any incidental inflammation evident is just symptomatic of the actual problem.

He has always had quite a bit of white discharge evident in the mornings, from both eyes but more on his left, and looking at earlier puppy photos many show a bit of the white evident on his left I guess it’s just become more noticeable as he’s grown larger - he’s currently about 19kg and may reach 30kg plus.

His breed is Australian kelpie- a hardy working (herding) breed built for extreme conditions of heat and dust. Beside heat and dust they routinely travel open air on pickups, motorbikes exposed to dry winds and aren’t known for any eye problems. Images show eyes in the morning, with discharge and later in the day.

Answer from Our Team