Dog Pink Eye

Canine conjunctivitis can cause a lot of uneasiness and discomfort to your pet. It surely is very painful to see your dear pet whimpering and writhing in pain. Whenever you see a major shift in your dog's behavior, remember to check your pet's eye. Has it turned pink? If yes, it's your responsibility to get your dog treated for pink eye or canine conjunctivitis soon. Before we move on to the treatment, we need to get answers to some questions. What causes pink eye in dogs? Is canine conjunctivitis contagious to humans? Canine conjunctivitis, as the name suggests, is an infection of the conjunctiva which causes a change in the color of white portion of your pet's eyeball. The cause of irritation might be a foreign substance in the eyes. In case, your pet came into direct contact with any food allergens, pollen or perfumes, it could lead to sinus and inflammation of mucous membranes and cause pink eye. Bacterial or viral infections are common causes of canine conjunctivitis.

Canine Conjunctivitis: Symptoms and Diagnosis

As far as the symptoms are concerned, a dog afflicted with pink eye will have bloodshot eyes accompanied with irritated or inflamed eyelids. Conjunctivitis causes the eyelids to become puffy and the surrounding tissue gets inflamed. In case of severe eyelid inflammation, your dog might have problems in blinking or might not be able to open his eyes. There might be thick, pus-filled eye discharge.

In case, the color of your dog's eye has turned pink and it's accompanied by discharge along with irritated and puffy eyes, your dog's conjunctiva might have been infected. It could be caused if a foreign substance has fallen into his eyes. Wash his eyes with water to get rid of the irritant or foreign substance. Are you wondering whether this infection might affect you? Don't worry, canine conjunctivitis is not contagious to humans. If the problem persists and your dog has severe inflammation of the mucous membranes along with other symptoms of pink eye, it would be advisable to take your dog to a vet.

The vet might examine scrapings of the conjunctiva or the discharge to determine if it has been caused by a virus. A culture or sensitivity test would indicate whether the infection is bacterial in nature or not. Schirmer's test might throw some light on the quantity and quality of his tears. After the nature of infection has been determined, the vet might prescribe eye drops or antibiotic ointments to treat the eye infection.

Canine Conjunctivitis: Remedies

If your dog's conjunctiva is inflamed, you could follow these home remedies to give your dog some respite from discomfort. Take a soft cloth and dampen it with warm water and clean your dog's eyes gently, wiping away the discharge. Do this at least 3-4 times to ease your dog's discomfort. Warm compress is another method to provide relief from pink eye. Make sure you don't use hot water for the compress, you might end up hurting your pet even more. So, take a clean cloth and dampen it with lukewarm water. Place the cloth very gently over your dog's eye, you must not apply too much pressure. If both eyes are infected, make sure you use a separate cloth for both eyes. In case, your dog feels no relief and these remedies are not working, make sure you visit a vet soon. Delay in treatment might lead to a scratched cornea. You could also consult the vet and put artificial tears to wash off the dirt from your pet's eyes. Keep your pet's eyes clean and trim your dog's long hair( if any) around his eyes to reduce the chances of hair irritating the eye.

Hope you found this information on canine conjunctivitis useful. If your pet is exhibiting the symptoms of conjunctivitis, consult a vet soon. Medicated eye drops and pills will surely help in alleviating the symptoms and you will soon be able to see your playful pet back in action!