Is your dog suddenly blinking a whole lot more than usual or experiencing discharge from her eyes? She may have conjunctivitis—more commonly known as pink eye. Conjunctivitis in dogs can affect one or both eyes. If your dog is struggling with symptoms of pink eye or an eye infection, the team at Shiloh Veterinary Hospital is just a phone call away.
What Causes Conjunctivitis in Dogs?
Conjunctivitis simply means that your dog’s conjunctiva—the film of tissue that protects your pup’s eyelids and eyes—is inflamed. And there’s a whole host of reasons why dogs get pink eye. They include:
- Bacterial or viral infections
- Allergies
- Smoke
- Foreign bodies like dust or dirt
- Eyeworm disease
- Eyelid or eyelash defects
- Eye or eyelid tumors
- Dry eye
- Trauma to the eye
- High eye pressure (glaucoma) or low eye pressure (uveitis)
A dog with an eye infection or pink eye can feel miserable. Many of the conditions that cause conjunctivitis can be serious. That’s why it’s important to reach out to us as soon as you notice symptoms of pink eye such as inflammation, eye redness, discharge, and excessive blinking.
Diagnosing Canine Conjunctivitis
When we arrive at your doorstep to treat your pet, we’ll bring our suite of diagnostic tools with us to figure out what’s causing your pup’s pink eye. Depending on what we find during a physical examination of your dog’s eye, we might:
- Test your pup’s tear production
- Measure your dog’s eye pressure
- Do a stain test to check for damage to the cornea
- Flush your pup’s eyes
- Take a bacterial culture
- Test for allergies
- Study the eye tissues with cytology
- Conduct a biopsy
Once we know what’s driving your dog’s eye discomfort, we can put together a custom treatment plan.
Treating a Dog with Pink Eye
Your dog’s pink eye treatment will depend on what’s causing the inflammation. For many cases, we prescribe special eye drops to target the underlying cause. The eye drops might contain antibiotics, steroids, or antivirals. If your dog has chronic dry eye, they’ll need to take eye drops that stimulate tear production.
With our in-house and online pharmacy, we can provide whatever medication your pup needs. If the pink eye is caused by a defect in your dog’s eye or the surrounding structures, corrective surgery may be needed.
Call us today at (818) 614-9929 to schedule a visit or talk to us about your dog’s eye symptoms.