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About Jana Connell RVT, CVT
Expertise
PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT do birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

Experience
I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

Organizations
Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

Education/Credentials
Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Pet Birds > Ask the Veterinarian > wound

Ask the Veterinarian - wound

Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 11/3/2009

Question

Lily's affected eye

We have a 9 month old Maltese/Shih tzu dog. We noticed that she had red on her face, in the area that would be tear stained. On further examination, we saw that it was blood. Not drops of blood, just smeared. The eye itself, looks fine, but the lower corner of the rim of the eye looks pink and "slightly" puffy. We cannot figure out what caused this. She mainly stays in the house except for when she goes out the doggy door, and is confined to a 14 foot by 20 foot area. She will not hold still enough for us to get a really good look at the injured area. I would like to put some Triple Antibiotic Ointment on the area, but not sure if it safe to do, being that it is so close to her eye. The only thing we can think of that might of caused the bleeding, is that maybe she scratched it with her toe nails. In the photo you don't see any blood, but we have noticed it two different times. Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you Linda

Answer
I don't see blood, you are right, but her bottom lid looks inflamed just a bit. Her eye looks nice and clear however. Dogs rarely ever scratch themselves with their toenails by the eye. I have not seen that happen in 30 yes. I do see, however, what looks like a flea right by her eye in the hair, and flea dirt next to that.

When flea dirt, or flea poop- since that is what it is, gets wet, it looks just like red blood because it is red blood that was dried. Once it gets wet it will leave a red streak or smear where ever it is when it gets wet.

So the problem here looks like she has a flea problem as well as an eye that she may be rubbing due to irritation from flea bites around it.

Another thing that will cause eye irritation is when a dogs eyelashes rub in the eye from the bottom lid. It is not uncommon but it isn't something you see daily. A vet would have to look at her eye closely with an eyepiece to see if there are lashes rubbing on the surface of the eye.

First you need to treat the flea problem and you will need to do that with something that will disrupt the most heavy infested part of the house, which is the floor with eggs, larvae and cocoons.
Here is a web page that will discuss the flea life cycle and show you why the adults are the least of your problems. As the chart says, adult fleas are 5% of the problem with the immature stages being 95% of it.

http://www.ah.novartis.com/cab/en/dog_fleas_lifecycle.shtml

Once you get that under control she will do much better. But if the eye keeps getting inflamed you need to have a vet look at it closely.

Neosporin won't hurt her eye as long as it is sterile. Triple antibiotic is the same thing- just check what is in it first. Some have the same ingredients as eye ointments.

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