Droopy eyes - should something be done?

[JaspersMum]

Louie's eyes have always drooped and look very red, especially when he is tired.  It has got better as he gets older and his head changes shape - he is now 6 months old.

Louie is due at the vets for his 6 month check up on Saturday and I was going to ask whether we should look at doing anything about it, I think I read somewhere about stitches to tighten the eye up and prevent infections getting in.

His eye weeps sometimes and the discharge has caused a little discolouration to the hair at the corner of his eye. Louie is not a show dog and will not be used for breeding in case this makes any difference.

What is your advice? Should we interfere or how long should we leave it before the head/eyes are no longer going to change the situation?



Sometimes it looks OK

[Colin]

Droopy eyelids (or ectropion ) can cause problems - but it's hard to tell from the photos if this is what Jasper has - it looks to me like he could have unpigmented third eyelids. Usually the third eyelid is brown and blends in with the rest of the eye, but when it's unpigmented  you can see the white of the eye - when the dog is tired it will look slightly red. Misty has one unpigmented 3rd eyelid, many Cockers do - but it's purely cosmetic and doesn't cause any health problems.

Do the eyelids actually droop, so they curl outwards ? It's probably best toi ask the vet about it, as you say, just to be sure.

[silkstocking]

Was going to say the same as Colin. Nancy has the same. Its pretty common in parti colours and nothing to worry about 

[Joules]

Coco had entropian which is where the eyelid turns inwards and causes constant irritation.  Her eyes were always watering and didn't look fully open.  She had the op the rectify it at a year old when they thought it would not correct itself.  Has been a big success and her eyes are much better now.  From what you say though, I am not sure this is the same as Louie has.  I would deffo speak to the vet and see what they say - if he has entropian, I would have thought they would have pointed it out to you by now 

[JaspersMum]

Coco had entropian which is where the eyelid turns inwards and causes constant irritation.  Her eyes were always watering and didn't look fully open.  She had the op the rectify it at a year old when they thought it would not correct itself.  Has been a big success and her eyes are much better now.  From what you say though, I am not sure this is the same as Louie has.  I would deffo speak to the vet and see what they see - if he has entropian, I would have thought they would have pointed it out to you by now 

Thats what I thought, Jasper had Cherry eye before I had him so I am constantly looking in case Louie develops a probem. However despite going every month for his weigh in and check-ups when eyes have always been the same and often quite red, there has been no hint of "watch out for" or "we'll need to do".

However Jaspers Lumps had the same reaction until I questioned the vet, then we were all into biopsy and removal (all turned out to be benign) but I'm not sure who's leading who in being proactive.

Therefore I'd like to go armed with the sort of potential problems and your expert views so I know what to ask and that we are not doing something un nescessary OR leaving something we should've dealt with.  Thanks guys

[spanielcrazy]

Certainly won't hurt to ask at the vets if you're going anyway..make the trip worthwhile!

Crackers always had droopy eyelids, and if she was really tired they would droop more and be red. Never caused her a bit of problems in 15 years, other than occasionally getting something in them.

Made for some comical pictures and comments, she would look like she'd partied too much!

[Rhona]

My Sam has droopy dry eyes.  He quite often has lots of gunk in them too.  He has drops everyday and always will.  The vet can measure the water in his eyes and let you know.  I would get it checked if I was you.  Our vet told us that dry eye can cause scratches on the surface of the eye and can eventually lead to blindness so you really do need to get treatment to add moisture.

I have had a few disputes with the vet.  We get Optimmune which fixes the problem.  It is quite expensive (about £30 a tube)  At one point he was given fake tears (a fraction of the cost) and they gave a better result.  She put him back on the Optimmune which I am not too happy about. 

Take him along in case it is a moisture problem.   

I hope he is okay.

[Donna_Phil]

Mollie is exactly the same !

She always looks sad, and one eye weeps and have caused a discolouration on her face.

I asked my vet about it, but her dad had the same eyes, he said it was ok as they dont seem to fit together when pups anyway.

She is now older and still the same, they seem get more droopy as the day goes on.

They dont seem to cause distress or irritation, im just taking it as a characteristic of my little droppy eyed pup.

[scooby's mum]

Scooby's eyes are the same - droopy and red.  I must admit, I was very concerned when I first got him but, as the others have said, it's very common (I have been told that it is especially common in blue roans) and, tbh, I think it makes them more cute and sad looking 

When we went to look at Misty though, her eyes were the first thing I looked at, and luckily her rims are really tight 

Like you, I did check with the vet when he was a pup and the vet reassured me that it's nothing to worry about.

[karen45]

Jake has droopy red eyes too.  He has also been diagnosed with dry eyes.  He has articificial tear drops twice daily (viscotears) and this really improves his eyes.  They rarely look red and droopy with these eye drops.

[JaspersMum]

Thanks for all the comments - sometimes I kick myself for not looking more at the eyes although as Lou had just had a sleep when we got there he was probably wide eyes and bushy "stump" anyway.  I didn't know that it was particularly common in blue roans though - you would think it was a breed issue rather than colour linked.  Presumably if it's pigmentation, thats the colour link in genes?

I don't always notice it on Louie anyway, as you say it is part of him and it's not until we've taken a photo that it looks like he's been on a alcohol binge session! (Or perhaps he has - I wondered were the port went at Christmas).

I just like going to the vets armed with information, makes me feel that I'm not being ripped off.  That said I do have confidence with the practice having been with their other branch for many years during which my then horse was stabled at a senior partners (great as he taught me how to do injections and like probably saving me a fortune).

I'll let you know what the vet says on Saturday.

[Jane S]

I didn't know that it was particularly common in blue roans though - you would think it was a breed issue rather than colour linked.  Presumably if it's pigmentation, thats the colour link in genes?

If you're talking about unpigmented third eyelids, it's not blue roans particularly but particolours (lack of pigmentation in the third eyelids is thought to be connected with the presence of white markings in Boxers so the same is probably true of other breeds). You also see some solids with unpigmented third eyelids (they probably have particolour breeding in their recent ancestry though). There is a big difference between unpigmented third eyelids and droopy eyelids though - we've got a blue bitch who has both third eyelids unpigmented but you can barely notice it as her eyelids are so tight. If there is any droopiness, that's when the redness becomes much more noticeable.

[JaspersMum]

As I was at the vets today, Jasper had stitches out and Lou for 6 month check up, I asked them to look at eyes, typically today they looked nice and tight and no sign of the red rims. 

Anyway, the nurse couldn't comment, didn't seem to be any sign of turning in or out so we've left it that when I book him in for castration in about a month, they'll look more whilst he's there.

[Deb H]

My Jasper has droopy eyes too. Bless him looks much worse when he is tired a prooper ginger whinger Our vet has had a look (she is interested in all things eye lucky for us) and has said he may need surgery when he is older (He is 5 today) and to leave things alone for now.

[Cob-Web]

Molo had the dry eye test last summer; he had constantly red and gunky eyes

His test came back inconclusive, we were told to keep "an eye" on it (no pun intended) and take him back if it didn't improve......I changed him to a raw diet not long afterwards, and within 6 weeks, they had cleared up completely

He was back on a processed food diet while were were away over Christmas, and within a week - gunky eyes again  Until then, I had thought it was a coincidence - but now I'm more convinced of the health benefits of raw feeding ,and its a lot cheaper than Optimmune