My dog's eye is red, gunky, and showing its third eyelid. What to do?

It's hard to tell if what you are seeing is normal or not. Some people mistake the appearance of the 3rd eyelid as a problem, when really it is normal. Suede also may have conjunctivitis, or inflammation/infection of the tissue surrounding his eyes. He could have allergies that cause the redness and prominence of his 3rd eyelid, the pink tissue present in the 2nd picture. Without doing an exam and looking at those tissues and in and around his eye, it is impossible to tell. If he starts squinting, that is a sign of pain, so I would definitely take him in asap. I would recommend you take him in to your vet for an exam to see if he needs any topical treatment for his eyes or if what you are seeing is his normal anatomy.

I am sorry to hear this! His eye does look very irritated- and the area around his eye that has a 'cobblestone' appearance suggests that he has some chronic irritation. I would want to rule out a few things that cause these signs including stray eyelashes that are 'ingrown', eyelid abnormalities, allergies and mites. The good news is that most of these things can be treated successfully! I would bring him in and have a few eye tests done and have them closely examined with magnification (sometimes an ophthalmologist is recommended) and see what kind of treatment plan is needed. Until you can bring him in, over the counter lubricating eye drops may bring some short term relief. I hope this helps!

What you are seeing on Jax is his third eyelid (known as the nicitating membrane) sticking out over the rest of his eyeball. I can not say for sure why it has prolapsed. This can happen due to an injury or an infectious process. The nicitating membrane has several important responsibilities, so making sure that it is still fully functional is important. While it is not an emergency, if the membrane does not return to its normal location by tomorrow I would consider bringing Jax in for an appointment. In the mean time, I would recommend obtaining some artificial tears from the drug store and keeping the eye nice and lubricated. Do this every 4 to 6 hours in case there is a lack of tear production.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The pictures of Ziggy's eyes are hard to say for sure, but it appears what you are seeing is his third eyelid. It can become visible for a number of reasons, the most common of which in a dog his age include lymphoid hyperplasia (a condition that is self-limiting and rarely requires intervention), ocular foreign body which is usually irritating and makes them rub at it and squint, and a local allergic reaction to something in his environment. Keep watch on this, and if it does start bothering him, gets larger, or fails to subside within a week or two, please have him examined by a veterinarian. Hope this helps!

It can be normal for the third eyelid to be slightly visible in some dogs, due to the shape of their faces and skull bones. In the photo, Ziggy's eyes look normal to me. If this is how he has always looked, and he does not have any other signs of an eye problem such as redness, squinting, or discharge, I would say that this is probably normal for him and not a reason for concern :)

Without doing an exam and looking at the eye, it is hard to say what is going on with Spots' eye. If he starts squinting, that is a sign of pain. It's possible there is a wound near the eye that is causing blood to accumulate in the eye. He also could have an ulcer, foreign material in the eye, or even inflammation of the 3rd eyelid. I would recommend you take Spots in to see your vet to see if he needs medication for his eye.

The white and yellow goo is just normal secretions from the glands surrounding the eyelid and are not overly concerning to me. I agree that the eye doesn't seem very swollen or red. Overall, this condition is mild and indicates that there is inflammation of the eye and/or conjunctiva (the pink/red tissue surrounding the eye). I usually see these cases of mild inflammation when something has scratched the surface of the eye or something like dirt or grass gets inside the eyelid. Given this, I think the saline flush and warm compress are both good things to do right now. Flush the eye with saline for one minute and try to flush inside the eyelid. Dogs (especially Malinois) usually hate this, so you're going to need some help. I recommend having one person get a good hold of Koda's body, while the other person holds the head and flushes the eye. Repeat the flush twice a day as needed. The flush time can be reduced to 20 seconds if the eye is showing signs of improvement. You can continue the warm compress three times a day. This should heal within a week. If it gets worse or does not get better after a week, then she should go to the vet, because there may be an infection.