Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 8/28/2011

Question
I have a 9 year old female golden retriever. She has had a problem in her eye since after her surgery. I did not see her hit it on anything and it doesn't look like there is anything in it. She has been to the vet twice and once she was given an double antibiotic ointment and the second time she was given a triple antibiotic ointment. Neither has worked. They did a tear test on her and the eye is producing a normal amount of tears. They dyed her eye to check for ulcers and there was nothing there. Her eye is a bluish color and she has poor vision out of it. They other eye is fine. When you look closer you can see the blood vessels coming across the eye. I was wondering if there is anything common in the breed that is rare that they may be missing? She doesn't bother with it much. At first the eye had a sunken in apperance after the first treatment with the double antibiotic that seemed to go away but they eye since then hasn't gotten better. There is no discharge just it waters a lot.

Answer
There are many things that can cause a "blue eye."  This results from blood vessels putting fluid and cells between the organized fibers of collagen in the normally clear cornea. THat changes the way light reflects off the cornea rather than going straight through.  We will often use a potent steroid drop in the eye or cyclosporine to help clear the fluid out.  If there is a continuing uveitis, that can be serious and you may need to take the dog to a veterinary ophthalmologist for a good eye examination.