My dog has a bloody, bruised eye. Should I go to the vet or use OTC?

Place an e-collar (cone) on him to prevent rubbing or pawing. A cool compress may decrease swelling. Ideally, he should be examined by your veterinarian to diagnose and treat any trauma to the eye to prevent permanent damage or loss of vision. Legally, we can't recommend any medications without examining him physically. Discuss payment plans or alternative financing, such as CareCredit (www.carecredit.com), with your veterinarian.

Although a picture of the injury would help to give you a specific answer, I would strongly recommend to have the eye checked by your local vet as soon as possible to confirm diagnosis and have the best treatment options. Antibiotic and anti-inflammatory eye drops may be needed.

I would recommend taking Princess in for a veterinary exam. Eyes tend to heal quickly or get bad quickly. The one picture looks similar to a scleral hematoma, but the other picture looks like something is going on in the cornea. The cornea can be an emergency situation if there is an ulcer present. The veterinarian will do some diagnostics like an eye stain and prescribe appropriate medications for her. Eye injuries are painful, so she might need pain meds. There are not safe and effective over the counter pain medications for dogs. Thanks for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Poor Blacky. If at all possible, Blacky needs to go to an emergency clinic right now. This could be as minor as a skin scrap, or as severe as a ruptured eyeball. If you are unable to get to an emergency clinic, use a warm wash cloth to clean off his face and get to a vet as soon as possible if he's squinting or his eye looks odd in any way. Eye issues are almost always very painful and can result in blindness if not treated very quickly. Good luck! I hope Blacky is feeling better soon. Please let me know if this was helpful information and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

This does look red and inflamed but may be associated with a cherry eye. Cold compresses, flushing with cooled boiled water and gentle massage of the corner of the eye can help to reduce mild cases but surgical repair is required in persistent cases.

I would recommend seeing a veterinarian to make sure she hasn't developed a secondary corneal ulcer which is common and may have caused the bleeding. If she does have an ulcer it could get worse quickly and if not treated could lead to permanent damage or even rupture of the eye so I'd recommend seeing your vet as soon as you can. I also wouldn't recommend using any drops other than the pressure drops until you can see the vet - steroids could make a corneal ulcer worse. If you have an e-collar for her you may want to put it on so she doesn't accidentally damage her eye further by rubbing it or bumping into something else. Unfortunately I don't think there is any medication that can help corneal dystrophy itself - some veterinarians will use hypertonic saline drops but they usually don't make much difference. You could consider seeing a veterinary ophthalmologist if you aren't already and they might have some other ideas for Dixie.

Hello. If there is no squinting or discharge, then he is probably OK to just observe the eye tonight. You do not want to put anything in the eye. If the redness is worse in the morning, or there is any change to the cornea, then please see your vet in the morning. Of course, if Maps seems at all uncomfortable with the eye, or anything else concerns you tonight, please do not wait & have Maps looked at tonight. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.