Dog Eye Injury Research Paper

Words: 1085
Pages: 5

Is your dog pawing at their eyes? Are they acting uncomfortable for seemingly no reason? There may be some foreign object in your dog’s eye or another kind of eye injury. Eye injuries can happen in many different ways; anything from playing in the backyard, to hanging out your car window. Eye injuries are much more common than owners tend to think, but don’t panic; they can easily be fixed by a vet.

If your dog is experiencing any of the following symptoms take them to a vet immediately to reduce risk of further damage to the eye:
• Tearing
• Bloodshot eyes
• Avoiding bright lights
• Pawing at the eye area
• Abnormal appearance of the eyeball
• The eyelid cannot cover the eye
• Discharge from the eye
• Watery eyes
• Bulging eyes
• General
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When you arrive at the vet your vet will be able to diagnosis what caused the injury, what type of injury, and what can be done to treat it. If you have any information on what could of caused the injury then that would greatly help the vet with the diagnosis and treatment of your dog. As well as letting them know if you’re dog has any history of eye disease or injury; or had these symptoms but for a different issue. This information will help your vet and therefor help your dog. Some of the tests your veterinarian may preform include; physical examination, ophthalmic examination, neurologic examination, skull X-rays, ultrasound, and computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A physical examination includes examination for head injuries, swelling and fractures of the skull, nose, and jaw. This is important for dogs that have major ocular trauma to ensure nothing is life threating. As an owner it is important to let your vet know if the injury happened with a blunt or sharp object, as well as if the injuries presented are recent (acute) or chronic; that information ill help your vet with the prognosis. A complete ophthalmic examination includes the examination of all structures of the eye and surrounding tissues under magnification. A neurologic …show more content…
You may also want to rinse the eye with a sterile saline solution (not contact solution), or room temperature water. Be careful when rinsing out the eye, you don’t want to slide the eyelid open, dragging any foreign object across the eye, you need to lift the eyelid away from the eye to prevent any damage by the foreign object. until you can get to a vet. Keep in mind that the faster you get the dog to the vet, and the better you protect the eye can make the difference between a recovered eye and a blind eye, or even one that needs removed. Once you get to the vet they will set up a plan with you on what needs to be done. If the eye needs to be removed there are two methods of doing so; one is a standard enucleation. Standard enucleation means the eye is removed and the eyelids permanently sutured closed. This surgery can be performed by your regular veterinarian, and does not usually require a veterinary ophthalmologist to perform the surgery. The second method to remove the eye is Enucleation and Placement of an Orbital Prosthesis, this mostly a cosmetic surgery if the owner would prefer a cleaner look. In this surgery the eye is removed, and just before the lids are permanently sutured closed, a sterile prosthetic ball is placed in the eye socket, and then the lids are sutured