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I know the proper answer is probably 'We can't give medical advice, see your vet', but thought I'd ask anyway as some people might have experience of this...
A few weeks ago, Jasper got a bit of a gloopy eye. He was rubbing it occasionally, the white of his eye looked red, and rather than the normal clearish eye gloop, it was opaque and creamy, a bit like mayonnaise.
I bathed it in boiled saline water for a few days - the gloop changed to more normal, translucent gloop, he rubbed it less, and it looked less red - but the other eye also started getting a bit of discharge.
After a bit of advice and online research, I got some Optrex for Eye Infections (safe for dogs according to many sources, even though not licensed for them). It was only after the pharmacist gave me the third-degree - I told her they were for my son (false) who has ME/CFS (true) and can't get to the pharmacy easily (sort of true...ish) - that I realised that they were antibiotics, so not to be used unnecessarily.
So, the current situation - for a couple of weeks now, I've been bathing his eyes in the salty water about three times a day. He gets a small blob of gloop in the corner of each eye which builds up between washes, but sometimes he manages to go from morning to evening without it building up. Sometimes it will be enough to leak forward of his eye, other times it's so slight I can't manage to get it out as he won't keep his eye wide open. The whites of his eyes look fine, and he's not been rubbing it at all. As well as not wanting to use antibiotics unnecessarily, I'm unsure how he'll take to the drops - he's fine with bathing, but is very suspicious of something 'different' and VERY reactive if he thinks it's going to hurt.
Do you think I should persevere with the bathing? When he had a similarly gloopy eye before a vet told me it was normal (even though it was only in one eye and cleared up spontaneously). Or should I use the Optrex? (I can spend a couple of days desensitising him once it's open.) Or should I go to the vet - who I'm sure will either tell me to carry on bathing it, or sell me something with the same ingredients as the Optrex that costs 4 times as much?
A few weeks ago, Jasper got a bit of a gloopy eye. He was rubbing it occasionally, the white of his eye looked red, and rather than the normal clearish eye gloop, it was opaque and creamy, a bit like mayonnaise.
I bathed it in boiled saline water for a few days - the gloop changed to more normal, translucent gloop, he rubbed it less, and it looked less red - but the other eye also started getting a bit of discharge.
After a bit of advice and online research, I got some Optrex for Eye Infections (safe for dogs according to many sources, even though not licensed for them). It was only after the pharmacist gave me the third-degree - I told her they were for my son (false) who has ME/CFS (true) and can't get to the pharmacy easily (sort of true...ish) - that I realised that they were antibiotics, so not to be used unnecessarily.
So, the current situation - for a couple of weeks now, I've been bathing his eyes in the salty water about three times a day. He gets a small blob of gloop in the corner of each eye which builds up between washes, but sometimes he manages to go from morning to evening without it building up. Sometimes it will be enough to leak forward of his eye, other times it's so slight I can't manage to get it out as he won't keep his eye wide open. The whites of his eyes look fine, and he's not been rubbing it at all. As well as not wanting to use antibiotics unnecessarily, I'm unsure how he'll take to the drops - he's fine with bathing, but is very suspicious of something 'different' and VERY reactive if he thinks it's going to hurt.
Do you think I should persevere with the bathing? When he had a similarly gloopy eye before a vet told me it was normal (even though it was only in one eye and cleared up spontaneously). Or should I use the Optrex? (I can spend a couple of days desensitising him once it's open.) Or should I go to the vet - who I'm sure will either tell me to carry on bathing it, or sell me something with the same ingredients as the Optrex that costs 4 times as much?
