The conjunctiva is the membrane on the inner sides of your eye lids
The Latin suffix “itis” means “inflammation of”
Therefor, the word conjunctivitis literally means inflammation of the conjunctiva, or in other words, sore inner eyelids.
Conjunctivitis is a fairly common and generally fairly mild complaint. It is usually caused by an infection or an allergy. It causes the eyes to become red, itchy and sore. If not treated you may see weeping of the eye and a yellowish discharge from the eye corners, becoming more green in colour as the infection develops. Although conjunctivitis will often get better on it’s own, your dog may need antibiotics if it is caused by bacteria and showing a thick discharge.
What you can do:
Well, as ever, if we are dealing with something as important as eyes, it is often best to have this checked out by a veterinary professional if it goes on for more than a couple of days or seems to be getting worse but, in the interim, simply washing the eyelids with saline solution may help. You can either buy the ready made saline in single-use pods from first aid suppliers, or maybe you already have this product in if you are a contact lens wearer yourself. If you don’t have saline, you can always make your own. Simply take some cool water in a beaker and mix in a teaspoon of salt. Stir the solution until all the salt has COMPLETELY dissolved and the water is crystal clear. That’s it. That’s your saline solution.
Personally, I like to use the traditional methods first to treat this complaint because 9 times out of 10, it really is all you need.
TEA BAGS!!
Black tea contains compounds that are thought to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory actions on the body, and certainly having used this method myself, I can absolutely attest to its efficacy. As previously stated however, if things aren’t showing signs of improvement after a couple of days, ALWAYS speak to your veterinary professional in case a course of antibiotics is required to treat the infection.
When I have my morning cuppa, I save the teabags to one side. Once they are cool I hold one hand under my dog’s jaw while clutching a piece of kitchen paper to catch the dripping tea. I use my other hand to wipe the eye on one side of the face with the teabag, being careful not to push too hard and risk splitting the bag. With a bit of practice, you will be able to hold open the eye lids a tiny fraction as you press the teabag against it. This will squeeze a little of the cold tea into the eye which will clean and soothe your dog.
IMPORTANT
Never use the same teabag or kitchen paper to do BOTH eyes. This will transfer any infection from one eye into the other. Instead, make sure you wash over the eyelid with the teabag, wipe the eye and face dry with the kitchen paper and then dispose of both. Wash your hands and repeat the procedure on the second eye. Making sure your hands are cleaned between bathing each is is vital to guard against cross contamination.
It really is as simple as that. Bathe the eyes this way 3 times a day for a couple of days and hopefully you should see improvement. If you do, you can continue for a few more days to ensure the problem is treated. If things do not settle down, speak to your vet.
Here’s my conjunctivitis kit! …. and of course, I use Yorkshire Tea being a Yorkshire lass xx
