# Eye Discharge???



## shadow mum (Apr 8, 2008)

Hi all,

Shadow has just turned 6 months old. (YAY!). About two weeks ago I noticed his eyes, (both) were having a discharge the color of pea soup. I took him to the vet immediately, who did a dye test for ulcers etc. (it was clear) and gave me an antibiotic cream. He said it was just an infection, and said the cream would clear it up. He also said that GSD's were prone to this.

I have applied the cream twice daily as instructed, and it did seem to clear up for a short while, but now it's back.

Someone told me to get polysporin eye drops and use these. I have been bathing his eyes with warm water to clear them. The inside of his lower lid is quite red.

I am wondering if he may have allergies? Also, this seems to get worse when he goes into our friends' inground swimming pools. I am going to keep him out for a while to see if this helps. 

Does anyone have any suggestions, or have you had this happen?

Thanks,


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## redheadgirl (Mar 7, 2007)

hi,
i'm just curious, was the discharge green or it's whitish as well? i've noticed that my dog has been have really wet eyes these few days..... and the discharge is wet,usually it's dry/crusty. i'm wondering if we have the same problem....how is it now?


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## tracyc (Feb 23, 2005)

I wouldn't use warm water directly in the eyes, but you could use an "artificial tears" product---ordinary saline like one would use for their contact lenses, or a Visine-type product (but not a medicated one, just ordinary tears.) These products are sterile, and are the right salinity for eyes. 

Use this to wash the eyes after swimming, or to wash out pollen or other gunk.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

Do not use polysporin drops in your dog's eyes unless your vet checks them again. Using these drops if your dog has any sort of injury to the eye (a scratch on the cornea, for example) could lead to permanent injury to the eye. 

It does sound like there is something in the pool that is reinfecting the eye. Or, your pup might be super sensitive to the chlorine (or other pool chemicals), and that is inflaming a low-level but chronic infection in the eye. 

Was this a rather sudden onset thing? Like, within the course of a few days, your pup's eyes went from clear to gunky and weepy? Then it's not allergies. Allergies might be involved somehow (grasses and weed pollens are usually high this time of year), but allergies are not your primary concern here. 

There are a lot of things with our dogs that we can self-treat, at least, for a while. But there are some things that I don't ever mess around with. And the eyes are one of those things. A repeat visit to the vet is in order. And I would stay out of the pool indefinitely. Or, at the very least, until this infection is healed, stays healed, and then after that, wait another month. (Actually, I would wait at least two.)

Swimming is fun and good exercise. But eye chronic infections are a serious matter, imo. And in the meantime, as Tracy said, use only saline solutions on your dog's eyes. Plain water is actually rather harsh on the eyes.


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## shadow mum (Apr 8, 2008)

Thank you all for your replies.

Redheadgirl: At the beginning it was the colour of pea soup, but now it is a very light green, almost white color.

Tracy and 3K9Mom: I called my vet again this morning, and he suggested using the saline solution for contact lenses to rinse out Shadow's eyes. He said to try this for a couple of days and if it doesn't clear up by Monday to take him back in.

This was a rather sudden thing, and it was only in hindsight that I realized that it seems to come on after he has gone swimming in an inground pool, be it mine, my aunt's or my neighbors, so he will def. not be swimming for some time until we isolate the cause. BTW, it's been 3 days since his last swim, and this morning, no gunk. 

I'm thinking that he may be sensitive to the chemicals, so back to the kiddie pool he goes, monitor over the weekend, and if Monday it's still happening, of course back to the vet we go. 

Thanks again. I value your opinions.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Food intolerances can cause eye discharge, but it doesn't sound like thats whats going on since the membranes are inflamed (red). I just wanted to mention that. How long were you applying the ointment? Maybe you didn't use it enough to completely wipe out the infection. It could be a sensitivity, but conjunctivitis is very common and you said the ointment did clear it up before. Its also possible that if you didnt use the ointment long enough that the bacteria may be getting resistant. Also, did you ever touch the eye with the tip of the ointment? You can contaminate the tube and prolong an infection that way.


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## shadow mum (Apr 8, 2008)

I applied the ointment 2x daily for 1 week, and used a clean cotton ball for each application. The vet did say something about the medication being available in a drop instead of the ointment, so if we do go back on Monday, I'm probably going to ask for the drops instead. Shadow was not a happy boy when I was applying the ointment and it made it VERY hard to make sure that the ointment got into his eye, instead of on the eyelid. The first time, my thigh ended up black and blue, with long red scratches to match. Hubby didn't want me to wear shorts for a few days, and I made a note to self to make sure I wore jeans from then on.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I love this stuff: http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Ark-Naturals-Eyes-So-Bright/121020.aspx

I have been able to clear many an eye problem with it. I think they sell it at Global Pets. Not sure about the store there but the one in Orangeville carries several good, all natural, eye products.


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## kelso (Jan 22, 2007)

Kelso got a nasty eye discharge last summer after dunking his head in a big bucket of water several times (on his own accord) I thought a big bucket would be a good idea, but after a day I put it away..

His eyes both got really swollen and red the day after and the vet at first put him on some anti-inflammatories, I think they thought he may have gotten a bite (his muzzle was a bit swollen too, or an allergy). The discharge continued and got worse to where it was pea green-white like you described.

Here is a picture, this is after the anti-inflammatories so it was not red or swollen any more, it seemed to be worse in the morning, and was bilateral, but this particular morning the other eye must have gotten wiped off already










We ended up going to an canine opthalmologist as it went on for about a month to r/o more serious things like pannus. After he finally got some antibacterial eye drops it cleared up right away. Have no idea wether it was a secondary infection to an allergy or whatever, but in the end that is what helped. It hasnt happened again?!?!

Hope your dog is better soon!


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## shadow mum (Apr 8, 2008)

That picture could have been of Shadow!!! That is EXACTLY what it looks like. If his eyes are still like this Monday, def. back to the vets. And it looks like his swimming days are over for now at least.

Di


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Rafi had nasty green goop with sand coming out of his eye several times at the cottage. He was dunking his head in the water and playing in the sand every day. I put the eyebright stuff in that I linked above and everything cleared right up. Believe it or not, this stuff really works.


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## Sherush (Jan 12, 2008)

Jesse had that kind of discharge before and our vet said to use polysporin eye drops. It worked, he developed the discharge again last week during our camping trip and I have a feeling from swimming in the river so as soon as we got home I applied polysporin eye drops and it cleared up within 24 hours.


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