Hi everyone, my min pin Zoe and I live in San Diego, CA very close to where the wildfires just were...lately with all the ash in the air and on the grass her eyes have been getting kinda yucky and super watery :( I've been washing her face and cleaning her eyes, is there anything else I can do? I'm on a really tight budget and don't really have the $$$ to take her to the vet right now...please help!
mojo52
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Poor thing. Probably from all the smoke and debris floating around. You're doing well to keep washing her face and eyes. The only other thing I could suggest is to find some Terramycin ophthalmic ointment to ward off infection. I have to buy if for my cats at a farm supply store but you may be able to find it in pet stores there. She's close to the ground so she's probably getting a good dose of it every time she's outside. Good luck with her.
Loz
Don't put any drops or ointments in her eyes! We have bushfires round these parts most summers, so I know what you mean. If you really can't go to a vet right now, just gently bathe the discharge away with warm water as you've been doing and keep her inside as much as possible. Smoke and ash aren't great for the respiratory tract either as you're probably working out for yourself!
Regardless of your budget, you NEED to seek veterinary advice (even if you have to go out of your way to find a low-cost shelter clinic) if the following things arise:
* Large amounts of yellow or green tinged discharge
* If the sclera (white part of the eye) becomes very red and inflamed looking. A little redness is probably just irritation from the smoke, but a lot means infection and/or an ulcer.
* If the eye starts looking cloudy
* If there is a lot of swelling or redness around the conjunctiva and her eye is starting to close
All of these are indicative of things like corneal ulceration and infection and really do need veterinary treatment.
enventor
Keep her indoors at all times and see if it gets any better. Try to make the air fresher, perhaps use an air cleaner. The fire is terrible for a human's or animal's lungs.
Daniel k
Try to avoid taking her out as much as possible until the fire dies down. Other then that I think your doing all that you can with cleaning her eyes. Good thing this week were going to have cooler and cloudier temprature, this fire has been brutal.
Anonymous
You can get eye drops for dogs for about 8 bucks at the pet store...a vet is always necessary..but keep washing and keep her inside