My puppy has swollen eyelids and a red snout. What should I do?

Hello. I am sorry for your concerns about Lilly. There are possibly 2 reasons for recurrent skin irritation, allergies, or the presence of a skin mite. I would recommend seeing your veterinarian who will do a simple skin scrape of the skin & look for the presence of the mite under a microscope. Depending on what is, or is not found, your veterinarian may try a steroid medication, either as an injection or a pill, & possibly use a flea & tick medication called Bravecto, that also has activity against the skin mites. Hopefully, this will take care of the redness & swelling you are seeing. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It looks like an infection around the eyelid. This can happen if the eye has been excessively moist lately. The other common cause of this hair loss around the eye is a mite known as Demodex. This is normally seen in puppies. Sport looks like he's a senior, so it's less likely, but still possible. The cause of the swelling can usually be identified by a veterinarian. They can look for the mite and treat for infection. The vet will also be able to give medication that will take down the swelling, which is much needed now. For now, it's best if you can flush the area with saline. You can find this at the local pharmacy or supermarket in the eye care section. Flush for 15 seconds twice a day. This will give some relief and help to treat/prevent infection. I recommend taking Sport to the vet within the next few days to keep this from getting worse.

It is very hard to say what is going on as the eyelids are closed and very swollen. The skin scabs could be self-inflicted wounds from scratching. I suspect Zelda may have bad eye infection, corneal ulcer or allergic reaction to the eyes that got worse because she was scratching the eye. It could be a skin parasite called Demodex - it often shows up in puppies as sores around the eyes. Your vet may want to examine skin scrapes under microscope to check for Demodex tomorrow. For this evening you should clean the eyes with wet cotton buds and make sure Zelda is not trying to scratch the eyes.

Freckles could have a couple things going on. First she could have something simple called blepharitis which is inflammation of the eyelids. She could have a scratch on her eyes but she could also have something called Puppy Strangles. This is also known as juvenile cellulitis. This causes inflammation around the eyelids. The cause of this is unknown but can occur anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months of age. Treatment for this is a long course of steroids, sometimes topical medications and oral antibiotics. I hope Freckles feels better soon and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Given the appearance of this lesion, the fact that they're on both eyes, and Honey's young age, my main suspicion is that these may be infected glands within the eyelids. Other possible causes include various congenital issues or infectious diseases. As long as Honey isn't squinting, rubbing at her eyes, or showing eye redness or discharge, it should be fine to wait until tomorrow to have these lesions evaluated. However, if she's rubbing her eyes or squinting, I think it would be prudent to have her examined right away since eye issues can dramatically change very quickly. Until you have her examined by her vet, you can try applying gentle warm water washcloth compresses to her eyes several times per day if she'll tolerate it. I hope that everything goes well!

I would keep a close eye on it, but she doesn't need to be rushed to an emergency clinic unless she's lethargic, refusing to eat, or the swelling is getting noticeably worse. This could be something as mild as a bug bite or previously unnoticed injury (particularly if she happens to live with a cat, but she could have scrapped herself on something a few days ago without it being obvious). It could also be the start of something more serious called Puppy Strangles. Because of the possibility of Puppy Strangles, I would recommend a check up at the vet tomorrow (or an emergency clinic tonight if you notice the changes mentioned above). Here is some additional information about Puppy Strangles: https://www.caninejournal.com/puppy-strangles-treatment-cost/

The pictures are kind of blurry but I can tell there is some redness. The swelling is difficult to appreciate. It does seem like an allergic reaction to something, but what.....I cannot say. Since she is acting otherwise normally you can try to give her some over the counter antihistamine medication - you can use diphenhydramine (Benadryl). I would give her 1/2 of a 25mg caplet by mouth every 12 hours. If this has not resolved by Monday then she should see your vet. https://www.benadryl.ca/products/benadryl-caplets