Dog eye ointments information & recommendations

Eye care in dogs: Often neglected, very important

As dog owners, we of course do everything we can to ensure that our four-legged friends are well. That's why we invest a lot of time and money in the well-being of our pets: whether nutrition, fur care or deworming – the health of the animals is very important to us.

However, we tend to forget some aspects: The Eyes For example, sometimes we unfortunately don't have it on our radar. The Dog eyesight is often laughed at, but should not be underestimated.

Although they can “only” see yellow and blue tones, they have one excellent night visionan amazingly wide field of view and take in particular quick movements excellently true.

Dogs need their eyes too

This means: Although our four-legged friends' strengths undoubtedly lie in smelling and hearing, they also need their eyes, in order to “function” properly. A dog with poor eyesight or even blindness would hardly have a chance in the wild.

As a pet, it is possible to somehow survive with weak eyes, but this is not a real pleasure for the dog: only when he has all of his senses can he be unrestricted and very high quality of life have.

Vision problems are more common than you think

Unfortunately, this is not always the case: eye diseases are quite common in dogs.

For example, a study has shown that German Shepherds, Rottweilers and Miniature Schnauzers in particular often suffer from nearsightedness. Even more often, minor or serious eye problems play a role.

Genetic factors play a big role

The factors that lead to these clinical pictures are often congenital. There are some hereditary diseases that only occur in certain breeds – the Superficial chronic keratitis For example, it occurs almost exclusively in animals with German Shepherd DNA Collie Eye Anomaly is limited to a few dog breeds.

“Everyday eye diseases” like conjunctivitis, however, can be very common in short-headed or brachycephalic dogs be observed. This is because the skulls of these animals have very little space for the visual organ.

What diseases can eye ointments help with?

Fortunately, many eye problems can be alleviated early on or even prevented in advance. However, this assumes that you… “Alarm signals” for such an illness and also regularly invest time in caring for your four-legged friend's vision area.

Eye ointments cannot help with all dog diseases: For many conditions, the vet has to intervene and give prescription medication; occasionally surgery is the only solution.

They promise relief particularly in the following cases.

Inflammation of the cornea

The cornea or Cornea makes up the front area of ​​the eye and is primarily used to transmit light. This is why it is particularly important for dogs; a disorder would mean, among other things, that they would lose their excellent night vision.

However, due to its prominent position, the cornea is particularly important in dogs very vulnerable. This often occurs after minor or major injuries Inflammation, from experts too Keratitis called.

Inflammation of the cornea can be easily relieved with eye ointmentsfor many veterinarians they are the first choice for treatment. Eye drops, on the other hand, are rather unsuitable for this purpose; administering them would cause great pain to many four-legged friends.

Conjunctivitis

Those too Conjunctiva is an important and vulnerable part of the eye. This is a mucous membrane that covers the four-legged friend's visual organ protective film layer provides. If the mucus supply is disturbed, this can sometimes result in nasty irritations.

As with us humans, conjunctivitis is more common than eyelid misalignment as a risk factor red and/or swollen eyes and itching noticeable: Affected four-legged friends will try to get relief with their paws, for example.

Eye ointments are used primarily in animal patients who are chronically prone to conjunctivitis. Preparations with retinol (vitamin A) or antibacterial or antimicrobial active ingredients are particularly promising.

Dry eye

They are also a widespread problem among four-legged friends dry eyes. Veterinarians also call these “Sicca Syndrome” or Keratoconjunctivitis sicca. This means a chronic failure of the lacrimal glandwhich produces far too little or no liquid at all.

This disease is often congenital. In some cases, however, it is also acquired, for example because the four-legged friend has a stubborn eye infection. Affected animals suffer frequently or constantly severe and painful irritation. The Symptoms are very similar to those of conjunctivitis.

The main remedy is an rregular artificial humidification the eye areas. Due to their long duration of action, ointment preparations have proven to be a standard method for severe cases.

Glued & crusty eyes

Adhesions and incrustations of the eyes occur primarily in dogs, who often suffer from irritation. They then produce significantly more tears than usual, which do not always drain completely. Instead, it hardens and often mixes with other environmental influences such as dirt and dust.

The eye itself is actually less of a problem; instead, the problem exists around the visual organ. A vicious circle often arises – the body tries to cleanse itself with more tears, which then become crusted.

Without external help there is hardly any improvement. Eye ointments or gels have proven particularly useful for severe incrustations and adhesions.

Applying eye ointments in 4 easy steps

The eyes of four-legged friends are also extremely sensitive organs that react very sensitively to external influences. That's why it's actually mandatory to have great respect for the task when providing care or treatment.

You need to proceed with concentration and under no circumstances should you cause injuries to your darling. However, some dog owners also have too much respect and even become afraid when it comes to cleaning the animal's visible area.

But that doesn't have to be the case: Basically, it's not that difficult to give your dog eye ointment. In the following section you will find out how 4 simple steps succeeds.