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Expert: - 4/28/2011


Question
My pot belly pigs left eye is watering a brownish-reddish fluid and it's excessive.  The other eye doesn't so much.  I took her to our vet and he said because PBPs have "inset" eyes, they tend to do that and he told us to wipe it clean daily and apply an antibiotic ointment around the eye once daily. Any thoughts on this?  Her eye isn't getting better but we did lose the ointment!  I've got to find some someplace closer to us since our vet is 1 hour away.  Please let me know if you think this is normal or give me any advice that you can.  Also, white dogs usually have the same color of fluid coming out of their eyes, but like I said, my pig's is excessive.

Answer
Pot belly's do have eyes that are a lot of trouble, especially with watering. They get hair in them a lot, maggots now and then and all kinds of crud if they are not cared for daily.

You can get some eye wash like you use for contact lenses and rinse out the eyes daily with that. You do need to start her back on the same kind of ointment as it probably has an antibiotic in it as well as a steroid or another drug to help with the tearing.

The color of the fluid from the dog's eye and the pigs is from iron in the bloodstream. In animals it will come out in the body fluids, saliva, eye moisture, urine even, and cause a red stain around the area that leaks.

Some dogs get red hair around the vulva for this reason and white dog's get it around the eyes and vulva (in females) and the males will get it on the end of their sheath.

Bacteria also forms in the wet areas which adds to the stain and is why your vet gave you the antibiotic ointment for her eye.

So call your vet and ask them to mail you a tube or send in a prescription to your local pharmacy to pick up.
:-) Oink!

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

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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 answer questions about 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!

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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.

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

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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!).

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Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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