My dog has recurring conjunctivitis. Is constant medication safe?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Without knowing what the medication that was used and not knowing what the diagnosis was from your previous vet, it is difficult to guide you in the right direction. However, if the eyes were treated with an antibiotic and cleared up but are still accumulating thick material, I would recheck with the veterinarian and have the eyes checked for dry eye to see if this is the primary problem. Life long medication is needed if the eyes are diagnosed with dry eye. I hope this helps! Optixcare is an eye ointment that is over the counter that can help with dry eye so if you are unable to get to your vet, you can start with this ointment to see if it makes a difference. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

If the problem doesn't seem to be resolved, then I would consider continuing the medication and scheduling a follow up examination with your veterinarian. They may want to change the medication, or she just may need more time. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi Jade! Loal is adorable and I'm sorry to hear that she's had so many eye issues lately. Conjunctivitis means that Loal has inflammation of the conjunctiva tissue within the eye, yet this inflammation can be the result of a number of underlying causes, including bacterial, parasitic, foreign material, viral, among others. Loal's eyes should be thoroughly examined with fluorescein staining prior to starting any medication, so I do not recommend attempting to treat her eyes on your own. Additionally, there are no safe or effective over the counter medications to manage conjunctivitis. I can understand that the cost can add up quickly, but this is the safest and most effective way to help Loal. I hope that all goes well!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be due to an eye injury or conditions such as a corneal laceration, corneal ulcer, conjunctivitis, dry eye (also known as KCS), among many other conditions. At this point given she has not improved, I would recommend you consider having her evaluated by a veterinary ophthalmologist who can recommend further. Further therapy would be based on the findings. Good luck and best wishes!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be due to an eye injury or conditions such as a corneal laceration, corneal ulcer, conjunctivitis, dry eye (also known as KCS), among many other conditions. Since Toby has not improved on his medications, I highly recommend that you have Toby reevaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They can attempt a different course of therapy or possibly refer you to an eye specialist. Further therapy would be based on the findings. Good luck and best wishes!

Bleu has such pretty eyes!! I would recommend a recheck with your vet now that some of the swelling and redness has resolved. There may be something additional going on that needs to be addressed, or perhaps she needs to receive a different type of eye drops. Be sure and ask your veterinarian to take a close look at Bleu’s eyelids-sometimes, especially in young growing dogs, the lower (and occasionally upper) eyelid can roll onwards and irritate the surface of the eye-This is called entropion and can require surgery to correct. I hope you are able to get Bleu’s eye redness resolved soon!

Hello. Thank you for using PetCoach. My guess is that Oscar could have keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) which is basically "dry eye". This is not necessarily serious, per se, but needs to have long-term medication to manage/control it. It is easy to test for this - a simple tear test that your vet can do in the office in just a few minutes. I would test for this. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1326 Just take Oscar back to have the test done and then go from there. Hope this helps. Best wishes.