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My dog has a red, itchy, goopy eye. Can I use Polysporin on it?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Australian Shepherd - miniature | Male | neutered | 9 months and 23 days old | 15 lbs

Do I need to take my dog to the vet? Or can I use polysporin drops for his eye? It is red and itchy and lots of goop coming from it.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Mara Howard, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 14th, 2017

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I’m sorry to hear Eddie is having eye issues. Red eyes with discharge in dogs can be due to a variety of reasons, including allergies, an eye infection, a scratched cornea, dry eye, or another underlying issue. While antibiotic drops may help with some of these, they may not fix it depending on what the cause is. I would recommend Eddie be evaluated by his regular veterinarian to determine the underlying cause for his eye issue, have any necessary testing done (eye stain, pressure check, tear production check) and what medications (if any) he may need. Good luck!

5Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on January 20th, 2018
Hello. Thank you for using PetCoach. So sorry that Dagan is having this issue.

You can use Polytrim as it won't hurt anything but I don't think it will help. It is difficult to tell from the photo but from what I think I can see, it looks like he might have "dry eye" in which case he would need different medication. First though, a diagnosis needs to be made. It is easy and inexpensive to test for dry eye so I suggest you get him to your vet for an exam. Of course, he could have something completely different going on - I really cannot diagnose an eye problem over the internet as I'm sure you know. Here is an article about dry eye in dogs:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1326

Hope this helps. Best wishes.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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