My dog's deep eye ulcer is red and painful. Does it need more treatment?

Poor girl. In uncomplicated cases of an eye ulcer the pet normally starts to improve significantly after 7 days. I would have her seen again my your vet soon. The eye ulcer this time around may be deeper or perhaps even resistant to the antibiotic. Sometimes pets also require surgical procedures on the eye to get the ulcer to heal. I hope that Taurie’s eye ulcer heals up well soon! Best of luck and take care.

Hello, thank you for your question about Brownie. Based on the symptoms that you are describing I would be very suspicious that Brownie could have an ulcer on his eye. Ulcers require treatment with topical antibiotics and pain medications. I would recommend consulting with your veterinarian so that they can stain the eye and confirm the presence of the ulcer and prescribe the needed medications. Additionally, an important aspect of treatment is preventing Brownie from rubbing/scratching at his eye. If possible please use an e-collar to prevent him from causing further damage. Hope this helps, good luck!

Hello, if Starsky were to have a corneal ulcer, this is a serious condition that requires immediate treatment by a vet. Most ulcers that are treated promptly improve with basic supportive care such as pain meds, eye drops, and potentially serum drops (your vet may take a blood sample from your dog, spin it down to remove red blood cells, and send the remaining serum with you to be putting drops in Starsky's eye). However, if you postpone his vet visit, the ulcer could get larger and deeper, could even perforate the cornea and cause permanent blindness, or require a corneal graft surgery to heal, or even require complete removal of the eye. It is definitely in the best interest of both Starsky and you (from a financial perspective) to get his eye treated ASAP. Hope this helps!

It looks like Dylan may have a melting ulcer or a descemetocoele, which is a serious problem that can result in loss of the eye. I would take him to your veterinarian right away as this would constitute an ocular emergency.

Although a picture would be essential to determine clinical development, if you think there is no improvement at all, I would recommend to have it checked again immediately. Certain type of corneal ulcers can actually start melting and get worse very rapidly. Different type of antibiotics or treatment may be needed. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

You won't know how it is healing just by looking. We used lights, special stain, and small magnifiers to get a really good look at the eye. Blue appearance means that the cornea is swollen. Red in the white part of the eye is inflammation, which is normal. Red in other parts of the eye may not be normal. Definitely keep your appointment on Saturday. Also, if they didn't give you one, I recommend wearing an e-collar, since dogs often will rub their eyes when there is discomfort, and this rubbing can delay healing.

Based on this picture, that looks like a fairly superficial corneal ulceration. Oral antibiotics are not the treatment for this sort of issue, as direct ophthalmic medications will be required. The treatment will be aimed at preventing secondary infection,, reducing inflammation / pain, and mending the corneal surface. Otis will also need to wear a cone to make sure that he doesn't try and scratch at the eye and make matters worse for himself. This issue is not life-threatening, but the ulcer will definitely get worse if it is not treated quickly and properly, particularly if he is the kind of dog that will bother at it. If you've been to the vet already, he may have put a stain in the eye and then looked with a special light to see the actual depth of the ulcer. He will be able to tell you if the ulcer is actually superficial or if goes deeper than it appears in the picture. Hope this all makes sense.