# Chronic eye infections?



## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Does anyone have any experience with chronic conjuctivitis?
For the past few months, Annie has had an eye infection in her right eye every 2 to 3 weeks. I took her to the vet, got drops, and the vet said it was likely bacterial conjuctivitis. Killed the first infection with drops, vet checked her sand said she was healed, then a few weeks later, it came back, killed it again with another week of drops. It came back again, infected Trixie, I got different drops, killed it in both dogs, then back again in Annie. 

She is 2 weeks past having it, and her eye is already getting more discharge. She is due to be spayed next week ( I am so lucky, a week ago says were non essential and being cancelled), so I will probably ask the vet (my parents vet, not my regular vet) to look at it then. 

Any ideas what could be causing this?


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Have you thought about food allergies ? I haven’t had that problem with my dogs but food would definitely be something I would look into.

Or maybe it could be an allergic reaction to fabric, grass, or other objects she is in contact with ?


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

Yes I dealt with it in a dog I fostered and with Misha. The first dog went to an eye specialist and they said it was follicular conjunctivitis and very common in young dogs and they typically grow out if it. Said to keep her on dexamethasone and then after some months I could try slowly weaning her off it. Misha has the same issue. I don't think it's food or shampoo allergies. I think it is environmental. It is better now than it was a few months ago. Now I only use dexamethasone every other day. Hoping it goes away completely.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

I dont think its allergies... it's always the right eye, never the left. I would expect, but am not sure, that both eyes would be affected if it was allergies? It think it is an infection- her normal eye discharge turns from clear to milky then yellow/green and goopy, and sticks her eyelashes together.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Raindrops- that reminds me that from 3 to 5 months or so, Annie had awful goopy eyes that cleared up eventually. Never green/yellow though!


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## Raindrops (Mar 24, 2019)

For Want of Poodle said:


> Raindrops- that reminds me that from 3 to 5 months or so, Annie had awful goopy eyes that cleared up eventually. Never green/yellow though!


In both cases I have seen it is much worse in one eye than the other. And I get yellow goop. I don't worry if it's clear. But the official diagnosis was still follicular conjunctivitis due to allergies. The steroid alone is enough to stop it, so I'm inclined to think it really is allergy.


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## FloofyPoodle (May 12, 2020)

It could be that the infection hasn’t fully left before the treatment has been stopped, and then it cycled back around, although if the vet gave the all clear, that may not be the case. Hope she feels better!


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Peggy's had alternating eye goop since early autumn. It'll go away for a while, return in one eye for a week, switch to the other for a week, and then go away. It's wet and green and sometimes crusts her eye shut in the mornings. 😭

Our vet believes it's allergies and we have seen a link between her grooming appointments and flare-ups. So we got our groomer a different shampoo to use and that helped. But even now, with no grooming appointments, it's flared up again.

I'm hoping she outgrows it.

If not, I'll try eliminating chicken (her favourite) just in case it's a food allergy. But she has zero gastro issues. (Knock on wood!!!!)


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## Michigan Gal (Jun 4, 2019)

Try giving her Vitamin C. Wild animals get C in the meat they eat, but kibble and canned don't have any. I use Thompsons buffered Vitamin C with some of my foster dogs, as well as for arthritis. They seem to like the taste. My vet suggested 1/8 teaspoon for a Boston terrier. I suppose you could try 1/8 tsp twice a day.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Michigan Gal said:


> Try giving her Vitamin C. Wild animals get C in the meat they eat, but kibble and canned don't have any. I use Thompsons buffered Vitamin C with some of my foster dogs, as well as for arthritis. They seem to like the taste. My vet suggested 1/8 teaspoon for a Boston terrier. I suppose you could try 1/8 tsp twice a day.


I'd never considered this! Thank you!

This great article points out that young dogs might especially need a boost of vitamin C, which could explain why they're more prone to these sorts of infections. Maybe?









Benefits of Vitamin C to Your Dog - Whole Dog Journal


vitamin c for dogs




www.whole-dog-journal.com


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## bluegirl1997 (Aug 10, 2019)

Our dogs love eating "salad" outside in the spring like now. Especially dandelions but grass too. Maybe they love the vitamin c! 

Sent from my VOG-L04 using Tapatalk


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

I will look into Vitamin c, thank you! She does get some raw (2x a week) but not much


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

*-Follicular conjunctivitis,* also known as mucoid conjunctivitis, results when small mucous glands (follicles) react to an infection or eye irritant and form a rough, cobblestone surface that irritates the eye. The resulting discharge resembles mucus, and if the problem persists, the rough surface can be a chronic irritant. Puppies and young dogs are typical follicular conjunctivitis patients, and the illness usually subsides with age. 
Causes of Canine Conjunctivitis


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## susan Davis (Jan 28, 2020)

I would ask the vet to do a bacterial swab and send it out to a lab for diagnosis. I had an Irish Setter that got this in one eye, and it turned out to be bacterial. A specific antibiotic cured it.


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Is your dog eating anything that is not 100% organic? Then look at all of it. Kibble? Medication? Treats? 

I had to switch my dog to 100% raw, 100% 0rganic. I have now been able to switch back off to human grade raw meat, except organs, which still have to be 100% raw from grassfed and pasture raised beef, pork, and chicken.

There is a huge difference between Kibble which is over processed and cooked at horrific temperatures, Human Grade Meat, and Organic pasture and grass fed meat. My dog will no longer even touch non-organic organs. Interesting....


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Also, even on both human grade raw meat, and pasture fed organs, my spoo had an brief eye infection. I gave him eye drops for 3 days of Sovereign Silver, bio-active silver hydrosol, and it disappeared. 

I also add approximately 1/2 teaspoon per day to his drinking water, and mine.


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## Kimbo (Aug 6, 2014)

For Want of Poodle said:


> Does anyone have any experience with chronic conjuctivitis?
> For the past few months, Annie has had an eye infection in her right eye every 2 to 3 weeks. I took her to the vet, got drops, and the vet said it was likely bacterial conjuctivitis. Killed the first infection with drops, vet checked her sand said she was healed, then a few weeks later, it came back, killed it again with another week of drops. It came back again, infected Trixie, I got different drops, killed it in both dogs, then back again in Annie.
> 
> She is 2 weeks past having it, and her eye is already getting more discharge. She is due to be spayed next week ( I am so lucky, a week ago says were non essential and being cancelled), so I will probably ask the vet (my parents vet, not my regular vet) to look at it then.
> ...


How old is Annie? You may want to ask the vet to run some blood work


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Annie is 1.5. I had her spayed almost 4 weeks ago, with a different vet. The vet suggested poodles are prone to getting dirt in their tear ducts, and recommended they flush that duct during the spay. So far, fingers crossed, she hasnt had another infection, and she had been right on the edge before it was flushed. $50 well spent if it fixes it!


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

That sounds promising!

Peggy recently had her first grooming appointment ever without horrible goopy eyes after. I sent fragrance-free, soap-free shampoo for our groomer to use, and asked her to use nothing on Peggy's face. Just water. The groomer thinks it was little hairs getting in Peggy's eyes that caused the reaction, because she only uses hypoallergenic shampoo, but even _I_ used to react to the smell of the groomer's shampoo. 

Now to convince her to keep up this protocol without seeming like an over-protective owner.


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

I always take my own shampoo and tell them no conditioners.etc. My spoo has reacted by continuing to get things over and over for almost every medication that had any antibacterials in it.

This may sound strange, but now when he gets any thing bothersome, even in his eyes I use Sovereign Silver, Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol immune support drops. One or two drops a couple of times a day for two or three days usually does it. Their site doesn't say anything about this, but check out other info, even in Amazon reviews.

I am allergic to Neosporin myself, so I use it too. I originally bought a small 2 oz dropper bottle. I then bought a large bottle to refill it with. Sometimes you can buy a combo package. Occassionally I put it in our water also, for example when he got a scratch on his nose. or if I get a canker sore in my mouth.


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## gertie929 (May 15, 2020)

For Want of Poodle said:


> Does anyone have any experience with chronic conjuctivitis?
> For the past few months, Annie has had an eye infection in her right eye every 2 to 3 weeks. I took her to the vet, got drops, and the vet said it was likely bacterial conjuctivitis. Killed the first infection with drops, vet checked her sand said she was healed, then a few weeks later, it came back, killed it again with another week of drops. It came back again, infected Trixie, I got different drops, killed it in both dogs, then back again in Annie.
> 
> She is 2 weeks past having it, and her eye is already getting more discharge. She is due to be spayed next week ( I am so lucky, a week ago says were non essential and being cancelled), so I will probably ask the vet (my parents vet, not my regular vet) to look at it then.
> ...


I have the same thing with my 8 1/2 month old standard poodle....he has chronic yellow tinged discharge, very sticky frm both eyes....we have used antibiotics twice and thats cleared it...but then he gets it again.....i am not sure what food he might be allergic to.....we feel him health extensions, primal and orijen....but the health extensions is chicken...maybe i should eliminate that for a while...any suggestions....


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

I wish I could tell you the solution! 

When my dog was spayed, the vet flushed her eyes with saline, which stopped it for about 6 months. The last few weeks she has had it again, same eye. I have no idea what's causing it at this point. Daily cleaning with tea as recommended by our vet does keep it under control, but she ends up with discharge in the one eye each morning. I plan to do a better job of cleaning the fur from around her eyes in the next couple of days.


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

I read last week that the most common allergies are actually environmental rather than food. So cleaners, mold, dust from ????, chemicals in rugs, detergents, fabric softeners, etc.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

kontiki said:


> I read last week that the most common allergies are actually environmental rather than food. So cleaners, mold, dust from ????, chemicals in rugs, detergents, fabric softeners, etc.


I would believe that! I am allergic or sensitive to most of those things myself, so keep a very low allergen household.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Yes to environmental triggers! I went nuts trying to find the culprit behind Peggy’s eye infections, but just eliminating our groomer’s shampoo made a world of difference. The only recent flare-up I can recall was due to another groomer using some sort of fragrance on her.

I know there are other triggers out there, because she’s had episodes unrelated to grooming. But at least it’s not happening regularly.

Our old groomer also suspected tiny hairs were getting in her eyes at appointments, but that would affect both eyes. For Peggy it always starts in one, then eventually moves to the other before it spontaneously resolves.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

I don't think it's environmental? Nothing has changed. I would believe little hairs based on how flushing her tear ducts/eyes at the vet helped the last infection which was chronic off and on despite a few rounds of antibiotic drops. I have started flushing with tea by syringe instead of just wiping her eyes with it these last 2 days (remembered that the vet recommended using a syringe). I THINK her eye wasn't as bad this morning, but too soon to know. I find tea weird to use but it's sterile (boiled), the vet recommended it, and more importantly, she actually seems to enjoy having it done.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

For Want of Poodle said:


> she actually seems to enjoy having it done.


That is so cute


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

For Want of Poodle said:


> $50 well spent if it fixes it!


Tonka had a never-ending eye infection, I spent hundreds on too many occasions at the vet. They finally caught on and would give me a double dose of meds. Even that didn't work. 
We got used to it and quit going to the vet. I would clean his eyes every other day.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

This is the third day of using the tea wash by syringe, and today there was barely any gunk at all and some of it might be old gunk I wasn't able to remove before. Annie just ASKED for her daily eye cleaning so that's good too. 

A syringe full of black tea daily or every other day (which I drink anyways) is a way easier and cheaper solution than going to the vet constantly for drops! 

I think I will also syringe out her eyes immediately after grooming to see if that prevents it. I imagine those tiny hairs from grooming may be getting stuck.


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

It is the tannic acid in the black tea which is soothing and healing. I had horrible allergies growing up in Minnesota and Mom used tea in my eyes...it felt so good and eased the itch and redness. Poppy went through a few months of reoccurring conjunctivitis. Vet questioned me and we decided maybe it was dust from the bark and dirt at the dog park. All those dozens and dozens of dogs who had peed in that park. No more dog park and saline flushes followed by an antibiotic ointment from the vet. Finally worked. I shall have to remember the tea.....for future use. Vet also said I could have used a teeny tiny dab of Manuka honey in each eye, once a day. It is a great antibiotic!


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