Doggy Conjunctivitis?

My little tyke has had a few mornings of what looks like sleep in his right eye. A bit of crustiness -- today it's looking inflamed and green discharge.

Today happens to be a Sunday -- which means all vets in my area are on triple $$$.

He isn't pawing at it -- it's not discharging too much but it does look like the eyelid lining is inflammed compared to the other.

If it was a human I'd stick it out until tomorrow when my Dr is available -- is this something I can wait until Monday for the pooch?

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Permalink Reply by Mitch on July 17, 2011 at 3:36pm

Hey Paul,

We just got home from the vet. Our new corgi, Hector, had the exact same problem as yours. We decided to take him because the conjunctivitis was in his light-colored eye (his eyes are two different colors) and because we have another corgi and were concerned to let things linger in case the problem was a virus and thus contagious.

The intake person at the emergency clinic said that we could have waited until tomorrow (Mon), but that the sooner the treatment started, the better. Just FYI: for us, the exam and eye drops cost around $140. Not too bad, and Hector is much more comfortable having had the eye drops.

hope this helps!

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Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on July 17, 2011 at 3:43pm

Unless the eye is becoming very swollen and really cranking out the discharge, it's okay to wait until Monday.

Flush the eye with water in case it's due to a foreign object. If you have lubricating eyedrops, give him some. I have given Waffle allergy eye drops that really reduced the redness and inflammation. Wipe the discharge clear and keep watch on it.

Waffle had conjunctivitis last year and my breeder gave me a herbal eyewash by HALO. It cleared his eye right up in only 2-3 days, but the treatment lasts 2 weeks. I left it at school, unfortunately, and he has gotten 2 minor eye infections from sand at the beach this summer. I treated the sandy-eyes how I described above and within hours the inflammation, redness, and discharge diappeared.

Obviously, use your discretion. If this is something you think needs legitimate medical attention, don't hold back.

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Permalink Reply by Paul, Greg and Jake on July 17, 2011 at 5:34pm

Well since I wrote this I decided to take him to the local 24-hour animal hospital. I'm sure I could have found others/cheaper -- but this will undoubtedly by my "home" emergency location as it is indeed closest.It's only about 1 mile past my regular vet.

Visit $125

Corneal screening $75 (thankfully no scratches)

Eyedrops $55

Cone-Collar (free I guess)

Quite a costly Sunday

>> Total $255

Note -- I subsequently learned the eye drops were Neosporin Opthalmic (for humans) and I could have had a script written and taken to Walgreens for $35---lesson learned I guess.

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Permalink Reply by steve smith on July 17, 2011 at 6:12pm

I know that you think he is worth it and you have somewhat piece of mind. If he could talk he would say thank you. When he gives you kisses that what he means.

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Permalink Reply by Paul, Greg and Jake on July 17, 2011 at 8:10pm

Actually since I have healthcare insurance I honestly have no clue how much fee-for-service human healthcare actually costs --- I can only imagine the overall costs are in-line especially on the outpatient side. On the inpatient side I know human healthcare costs far exceed that of pets.

I agree .. now with his collar he's all docile and sleepy :-)

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Permalink Reply by steve smith on July 19, 2011 at 8:01am

Glad to see that you have taken care of that and he is doing good. Just as an aside...I did notice that in your post you said "in his light colored eye..." I would guess that he is a Cardigan, I wonder if Pems have different colored eyes?