Question:
Buster, my 10 year old, male, yellow lab mix, woke up with a droopy eye. There is no discharge, however, there is a dark membrane in the inner corner of his eye, that is not in the healthy eye. I have made a weak boric acid solution and am using an eye dropper to flush the eye, but nothing flushed out. I have re-applied the boric acid solution, as it also has healing attributes. I would like to know if there are any other suggestions for treatment, short of a trip to the vet. I will take him if necessary, as he is like one of my children.

Buster is a high maintenance dog, as he has painful arthritis, and is diabetic. He receives 2 Rimadyl tablets daily for the arthritis. For his diabetes, he is on prescription Hills W/D dog food, has his urine tested regularly, and receives 2 insulin injections each day. Unfortunately, Buster has cataracts due to the diabetes, but he gets around great (you wouldn't suspect he was blind) and is a very happy dog who still plays ball.

Back to the droopy eye; it is more droopy when he first wakes up, and less droopy after he has been awake for a while, until the next nap.

Any suggestions?

Answer:
Veterinarian consult needed immediatly!

Answer:
NEVER EVER put anything in your dogs eye w/o consulting with your vet.

Your dog may have had a stroke!!

Take him to the vet immediately! Keep him warm and don't leave him alone but please go to the vet now!!

Answer:
Thanks again for your input. I am just guessing that dog strokes would be similar in symptoms as a human stroke--ie, paralysis, extremities "locked" in odd position, confusion, drooling, etc., and Buster shows none of these signs--the only abnormal symptom is the drooping eye that clears up shortly upon waking. This morning I didn't even notice any drooping, so I must have flushed out whatever was in it with the boric acid solution.

FYI, Boric Acid sounds like something dangerous, but it is not. I had a pharmacist tell me years ago to use it on my sons "pink eye", of course making sure the area and solution are sterile. It worked on my son, and all signs are pointing to it working on Buster. I do, however, have a call in to the vet regarding his sister, who drank the pond water, so I will be sure to ask her about the possibility of stroke.

Thanks again,

Marshon

Answer:
You have and had no way of knowing what was/is wrong with the dogs eye so flushing it out may have or could cause additional problems.

W/O an eye scope you are unable to tell if something foreign was lodged somewhere, or whether the dog could have an infection causing a plugged tear duct.

As for strokes, they do not always present themselves in the same manner depending on the part of the brain affected.

I could care less if you flushed the dogs eye with water, you had no idea what was wrong and could have potentially made it worse if a foreign body was there (which I hope is not the case) Or delayed treatment if the dog had a stroke.

Eyes are of the most delicate and any problem with an eye should be seen by a vet IMHO!

Your child was 'diagnosed' with pink eye therefore a remedy could and can be recommended which it was. You're not sure what this situation was, could have been any number of things, infection, contamination, bacteria, stroke, foreign object.

Better to be safe then risk eye damage. Eye surgery is of the most unpleasant for a dog and extremely expensive!

Just some thoughts

Answer: