Wednesday Woofs of Wonder: Dog Eye Boogey Treatment

When your pup is greeting you back home from work, looking into their eyes can be quite a heart warming experience. The last couple of days though, I’ve noticed my pup has had quite a bit of eye boogies!

My typical reaction is to just wipe it away with my fingers and think- tuh-dah, all better! Since this doesn’t seem to be quite doing the trick, I decided to investigate. Let the digging begin (excuse the pun).

From what I gathered in my research, there are about four different common types of eye discharge you can encounter.

1. Clear Discharge- this is probably due to wind blowing in the face or slight dust
2. Watery/Mucus like- evidence of a foreign body in the eye like an eyelash, or conditions like corneal ulcers or glaucoma, this can lead to Epiphora (excessive tearing)
3. Yellow-green/bloody/Pus like– infection, such as Conjunctivitis, from such causes as allergies, birth defects, injury, tear duct problems, tumors, distemper or dry eye
   1. Symptoms may also include red eyes, inflammation, intense blinking, squinting, crusty eyes, keeping eyes closed more than usual, pawing at the eyes

4.    Brown Dog Tear Stains- eye discharge mixes with bacteria or toxins on        the skin to make a brown-like stain, common to light colored dogs and smaller breeds

Eye Issues by Physical Makeup

Flat-faced dogs- Pugs, Boxers, Bulldogs, or Pekingese are more likely to have excessive discharge due to their shallower eye sockets, flatter faces and protruding eyes, which makes them more vulnerable to issues of the eye.

Loose facial skin dogs- cocker spaniels, Saint Bernards, bloodhounds, beagles and some terriers are more likely to have eyelids that roll outward, called Ectropion, where a gland in the eyelid falls out of position. Surgery is often needed to correct this breed’s issues.

White and/or light blonde hair- cocker spaniels, poodles, shih tzus, and are more prone to tear stains due to irritation from coarse fur

Always check with a veterinarian if you have a concern, especially because these incidences can escalate to blindness or even the loss of an eye!

Treatment

It’s quite dependent on the cause, but often it can be treated with saline washes, pain medicine, antibiotics, antihistamines, artificial tears, or if there’s a physical issue like a tear duct abnormality, surgery may be needed.

How To Apply Dog Eye Medication

1. Wearing rubber gloves, wipe away the discharge around the dog’s eyes with a cotton ball dampened by warm water.
2. Adjust your dog’s head back slightly and rest the hand holding the drops on the top of the dog’s head to avoid hitting the dog’s eye with the dropper, and squeeze the droplets on the upper region of the eye
3. For Eye Ointment: pull down your dog’s lower eye lid slowly as if to create a little pocket for the treatment and rest your hand as before, and squeeze the recommended amount into the pocket. Afterward close and hold the pocket a few seconds to allow the ointment to spread evenly.

Saline Solution Regiment

1. To clean an infected area and remove dirt and/or dust you can wash your dog’s eyes with a saline formula several times a day.
2. Mix ½ teaspoon of PLAIN table salt (not iodized or containing other compounds), with 8oz of lukewarm water. Pour this solution over the dog’s eyes a few times.

Aloe Vera Gel Application

1. Put a drop of aloe vera gel in your dog’s infected eye several times a day if there are signs of infection. This is an excellent natural topical treatment.

DO NOT: directly touch the surface of your dog’s eyes with your hands or gloves.

Prevention

1. Do your best to prevent long hairs from getting into your dog’s eyes. So especially be sure to keep the hair short around the eye
2. Put the dog inside when mowing the lawn, or outside when dusting and/or using toxic cleaners like ammonia or bleach
3. When bathing your dog be sure to use shampoos, soaps and flea medicines with caution around the eye area
4. Limit your dog’s habit of sticking their head out the car window
5. Lastly, make sure your dog is not performing an excess amount of pawing or rubbing at the eye

For More Information-

Sources:

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/dog-discharge-from-eye

http://www.nationalpetpharmacy.com/landing/DogEyeDischarge.aspx

http://www.medicinenet.com/pets/dog-health/dog_has_discharge_from_eye.htm

http://www.petsadviser.com/pet-health/why-does-dog-have-mucus-eyes/

http://pets.thenest.com/clean-dog-eye-discharge-using-home-remedies-4420.html

http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-clean-your-dogs-eyes/

Fun & Safe 4th of July Activities for You & your Dog!

HAPPY 4th of July! Pawnation voted BIONIC Pet Products one of the Fun & Safe 4th of July activities of the year! Click this image to find out why, as well as what other exciting things you can do with your dog today 🙂

Click the image to find out more!

Two Cents Tuesday: Alternatives to Leaving Your Dog in the Car

Click on this picture and learn about the many alternatives you have to leaving your dog in the hot car this summer!

Click the image to learn more!

Thursday Thoughts: Should You be Feeding your Dog Vitamin Supplements?

It’s no secret that many people take daily vitamins or vitamin supplements to keep us healthy and strong, but what about vitamins for dogs? The other day my dad served my dog  a dinosaur egg of a vitamin saying it’s been known to help with teeth, keep ears clean, and even reduce shedding. I wasn’t quite convinced of the benefits, and was curious as to the safety of feeding dogs vitamins, so of course I consulted good old Google.

According to a WebMD article, over one-third of pets are given vitamins, particularly supplements, by their owners. Typical functions of these vitamins have been to combat arthritic joints or supply fatty acids to lessen intense shedding and better a coat’s shine.

How do you know if your dog needs vitamins?

Well all dogs need vitamins to stay healthy, but several doctors state that most dog foods have the necessary vitamins in them to keep your dog healthy. Thus, vitamins should, in most cases, not be needed. Some joint discomfort or hair loss can be attributed to neurological damage or hormonal problems which many vitamins do not help with. Or sometimes, all completing a well balanced diet takes is some extra fruit and/or vegetables (remember NO GRAPES). If your dog’s health ever appears particularly abnormal, you should always consult a veterinarian or nutritionist.

Could vitamins cause my dog any danger?

According to the FDA and various veterinarians, too many vitamins can be harmful to your dog.

Too Much Can…

Two Cents Tuesday Topic: Dogs Eating Grass?

I could not help but notice that when I take my dog Ellie out for her daily walks, she manages to find a patch of grass and take to a good munching. I pause for a moment and watch her each time because I see how much her tail gets to wagging. I then think to myself how grass isn’t a necessarily common ingredient in dog food so I question its effects on my pooch and call her back to continue our walk.

To find out the facts about grass I decided to investigate!

So WHY do dogs LIKE to eat GRASS?

After my crafty google searching, I found dogs have a history of being veggie lovers for tens of thousands of years. Dogs then resort to plants as a supplemental food source because of its abundance. Medicine Net explains that sometimes dogs who resort to eating unconventional foods have a disorder called Pica, as a result of

Six Dangerous Items Dogs Chew!

http://www.petsbest.com/blog/dangerous-items-dogs-chew/

Make sure your dog is eating right and staying healthy 🙂

All BIONIC toys are FDA approved and dog teeth friendly so check our toys out at www.bionicplay.com

Are Plastic Pet Toys Hazardous to Pets?

http://www.petside.com/article/plastic-pet-toys-hazard-animals

Choose a toy that won’t harm your pup and try a Bionic product today! http://www.bionicplay.com

Have you tried Bionic before?

5 Tips to Keep your Dog and Candy Safe this Halloween!

It’s that time of year again. Bikini season has ended, and sweaters and coats are starting to be all the craze again. What does this mean in terms of our daily diet? Cookies, Chocolate & Candy are making their way back into our grocery carts!

Here at Bionic we LOVE when Halloween rolls around because it means our co-worker Gary will be breaking out daily portions of cookies and candy for the whole office. BUT while we’re busy stuffing our faces and getting chocolate on our keyboards, we must not forget to have an eye out for our special pups!

So I’ve set my delicious Snicker Bar down to tell you some tips about keeping your canine safe this holiday season.

  #1 NO CHOCOLATE! ZERO IS YOUR HERO!

-Chocolate and cocoa possess the chemical, theobromide, which is highly toxic to most dogs’ heart, lungs, kidney and central nervous system

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-Pure Baking chocolate is amongst the worst kind that can be consumed, but products made of milk chocolate require a much higher quantity to be consumed to cause harm.

Ex. 20 pound pup could be poisoned after 2 ounces of baking chocolate, but the same dog would need to consume nearly 20 ounces of milk chocolate to be poisoned.

-Signs your dog may have snagged some of your treats and been poisoned include- unorthodox excitement, tremors, seizures, diarrhea, abnormal heart reate/rhythm, vomiting, coma, drunken gait and/or hyperthermia.

Other KEEP AWAY FROM PET ITEMS: