Something is wrong with Bandit's eyes

Hey everyone. I took Bandit to the vet yesterday because his eyes were red and he was having trouble keeping them open and the third eyelid was partially closing. I had noticed he was having trouble keeping them open early in the morning, but they weren't red. At that time, I thought he was just tired. The redness increased throughout the day. The other thing that startled me and prompted me to go ahead and take him to the vet was how he was acting lethargic. When he'd decide to get fired up, he would have no trouble running and playing, and his appetite was normal, but he'd literally fall asleep standing up and be so wobbly, he was like a drunk. It was like he was "too tired to stand". The vet was puzzled about that, yet he witnessed it, too. We did a complete blood count and it is normal, no sign of a poisoning or anything, and today, he has none of those "tired" signs, but his eyes are no better. They stained his eyes to check for any scratches, foreign body or injury, but found none. His eye pressure was normal. The vet speculated that he might be having allergies. He doesn't itch or rub his eyes at all, but he does squint them and blink like they hurt to keep open. They have no discharge at all, not even watery, but they are red and irritated. I took photos and put them here so you can see. In every way he acts normal, but his eyes definitely are NOT normal. Anyone else have anything like this?

The only thing I can think of is an infection of the tear duct, which the vet would have easily picked up on. My cat had this once, and we treated it with antibiotic eye drops. He didn't have any of Bandit's other symptoms, though... that is quite puzzling. I hope it's nothing serious! :xfngr: You guys are in my prayers tonight.

Melissa

Poor little boy.....he's definitely got something going on. Can you take him to an eye specialist? That's what I would do since your regular vet can't find anything wrong. He's definitely got something irritating his eyes.

Dazzle had something similar about 4 wks ago with squinting eyes, too miserable to move about and reddened sclera and conjunctiva. She didn't have a temp. Ended up at the Vets and received steroid injection and 2 days of oral steroid at home and oral Benedryl at the Vets. She slept very well from the Benedryl and the next morning her eyes were almost back to normal and by 72 hrs there was no sign of irritation. I figured she got into some vegetation that I had uncovered by raking and now with all the snow and miserable low temps there hasn't been a reoccurrence :xfngr: Course last week they massacred a bunny so I ended up trotting to the Vets for flea app :bang: -really prefer not visiting there too often .

Thanks for the replies everyone. I forgot to mention what the vet prescribed in my original post. He gave me an antibiotic ointment that has a steroid in it and told me to give 12.5 mg. of benedryl every 6-8 hours.
So...I have been doing that. Maybe I just need to give it a little more time. If they don't look significantly better by morning, I will take him back in.

I'd be thinking cherry eye or tear duct problems perhaps? Dry eye?

I'd also go to an eye specialist if this doesn't improve fairly rapidly. Hope he feels better fast! :xfngr:

Poor Bandit, it does look sore. I hope he's feeling better soon. Give him a gentle :hug: from us.

Don't worry too much. Dylan gets this if he's near oak trees or if I vacuum with him in the room. You'll soon work out what triggers it. It clears up really quick with eye drops.

Edit: Oh I didn't read all you said. Another thing that triggers it is a few late nights. Maybe he is just warn out with the Christmas and New year celebrations.

Dry eye is common in cavaliers too. Ilsa has it and it's easy to treat, just an eye gel twice a day, and drops twice a day (for life unfortunately). I found it because her right eye was red for weeks, it's a very simple test. Her eyes feel much better now.

Hope he feels better.

Jen and Ilsa

Hi everyone, hopefully we have "fixed" it. I decided to bathe him last night in case it was something in his coat, and we continued the vet's treatment of steriod/antibiotic cream and benedryl. His eyes looked great this morning. I will continue to doctor them, though. Hopefully it doesn't wind up being something he comes in contact with around here! I'd have a time figuring out what in the world was bothering him.

Glad to hear Bandit is on the mend

Poor baby...good he is recovering well !:xfngr:

Glad to hear Bandit is doing much better :flwr:

Sounds like it was an allergy and the tiredness coild have been from this too something to do with the bodies reaction...glad he is on the mend now.

Glad to hear Bandit has improved and his beautiful eyes are back to normal :luv:

Pleased to hear that the little guy is looking better today.

It sounds like you have him all fixed up, but wanted to let you know that I witnessed a stick bug spray Ollie's eye once when he was trying to eat it. American walking sticks emit a chemical, and some others species too, so be on the lookout for them.

Glad he's okay!

chloe92us said:

It sounds like you have him all fixed up, but wanted to let you know that I witnessed a stick bug spray Ollie's eye once when he was trying to eat it. American walking sticks emit a chemical, and some others species too, so be on the lookout for them.

Glad he's okay!

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oh wow, I didn't know that! Isn't nature amazing? Bandit would be just the type to do something like that. His favorite thing is moth-hunting...and eating them. As soon as the sun goes down, he goes on the back porch and starts hunting them. SOOO cute. When he sees one, he pokes his head in the doggie door and barks for me to come out and watch him! Then if one gets out of his reach, he wants me to swat it low enough that he can catch it.

haha...yes, Ollie is a hunting spaniel as well- he has killed moths, butterflies, moles (he actually smells for them and digs them up!), stick bugs (he considers these a delicacy), bees (he's been stung several times), etc. I always have to keep a close eye on him outside since I never know what he's going to find! Just be careful b/c some insects can hurt the eyes!