Ickie Eye

[Lesley M]

My blue roan Rocky (1.5yrs old) has a weepy eye this morning. Cream coloured discharge.  Its not terrible but wondered if you wonderful cocker people have any recommendations before going to the vet and a getting a £14 consultation fee plus the cost of eye drops.  Of course if the vets necessary, its what I will do. 

[Ziggys mum]

£14 vet fee?  where do you live? it's £28 just to go through the door at ours.

[john51]

If it looks like a mild infection, I normally give eyes a chance to clear up by themselves. Bathing the eye two or three times per day with a weak salt solution (1/2 teaspoon of salt to a pint of water, ideally boiled and cooled) normally does the trick with all the hard work being done by the body's immune system. Mind you, with consultancy fees of only £14 I'd be tempted to take him to the vets even when he's healthy! We currently pay £32.

[Lesley M]

Thanks for advice.. I thought salt water but never want to presume anything with my little man.  Live North London.. seems our vets quite a bargin then 

[Helen]

diluted cold tea is very good for minor eye irritations    Even vets recommend it   

[linda c]

Your vet is cheap, we live east midlands and ours is £24. I'd give it a couple of days, bathing with diluted tea as Helen said, old fashioned ways are sometimes just as good. 

[Lesley M]

trying the salt water today if no better on to tea tomorrow..thank you, so glad to be part of this forum x

[Welsh cocker]

Saline solution used for contact lenses. Safe to use to wash the eye out and soothe irritation but wouldn't help with infection (if that is what Rocky has). Can buy big bottle from chemist or supermarket cheaply. It's an alternative to home made salt solution and ensures no salt grit irritates eye further. Pets at home sell eye drops for dogs with eye infection which I have used with success on my previous dogs.

[Sheryl]

You have to be careful with drops. If you use drops on a dog with a scratched lens, you can do damage.

My vets consult fee is £14 too!

[Emilyoliver]

You have to be careful with drops. If you use drops on a dog with a scratched lens, you can do damage.

My vets consult fee is £14 too!

Agree , have a dog who has regularly occurring corneal ulcers. Not worth risking the wait where eyes are concerned IMO.

[MANDYANDALFIE]

My current vet charges over £30 to walk in the door!!!  Alfie has had weepy eyes a couple of times but it seems to be the result of walks at sandy beaches or over other dry sandy land (Alfie never just walks but always goes nose down at speed everywhere) and clears up in 24 hours or so when the sand grains have worked out of his eyes although it looks a disaster to begin with.  Have you been somewhere similar? I just wipe away the gunk with a soft cotton wool pad and bathe with a salty solution as mentioned.  If it persisted for more than a day or so though I would get him to the vet just in case there was an infection present.

I call my vet the "current vet" as I'm about to change to a highly recommended vet who has a new practice locally with a more realistic pricing plan!  We also regularly visit a vet in central Italy to get the worming treatment necessary to return to the UK which must be administered by a vet.  Last visit cost £6 for the consultation, administering the tablet, and signing and stamping the passport - bargain!!!!

[MIN]

Gemma always gets gunkie eyes for a day or two after a days beating.  i put it down to running through the grass etc. I bathe them with a shop brought eye solution for a couple of days

[panda66]

Chamomile teabags have been recommended to me 

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

£44 for the vet trip in Fulham, SW London!!
My dog had a corneal ulcer last year and it went on for weeks - I took him to the vet on day 2 and got him eye-drops. The symptoms were weepy, conjunctivits as well as a swollen inner third eye-lid and lots of squinting. I could see the ulcer too. It is apparently extremely painful for the dog.
For £14 I'd take him in for a check-up!
In the meantime, everyone's suggestion of cleaning it with luke-warm boiled water and a flat cotton pad are good. My vet said don't bother with salt, but make sure it's distilled (ie boiled and then cooled down a bit).

[john51]

I'm sure that tea of whatever flavour will do the same job as saline in keeping the eye clean. I thought that tea was recommended for eyes because the astringency of tannin helped to reduce puffiness round the eye. That might be important for some of the female dogs out there but my big, butch, black and tan boy (who doesn't even have a skirt and feathers on his coat) really isn't too fussed!

Corneal ulcers obviously need veterinary treatment but the original post indicated a discharge which sounds more like infection. If you have any doubts, or things don't improve quickly, then a visit to the vets is obviously called for.