The sight of blood in your dog's eye may make you cringe. While it is definitely a cause for concern, what can you do about it?
Know what causes eye bleeding in dogs and when you need to be worried.
Eyesight is such an important sense, that doctors recommend eye check-ups at least once per year. Any infection in the eye can result in permanent blindness and in the worst case, turn out fatal.
Hyphema is a condition in which an eye bleeds. While it sounds serious, it’s actually treatable. If you have spotted that your dog’s eye is bleeding, proceed to check for symptoms. The first thing to do is to establish the cause, and then work to resolve it.
What signs can possibly indicate that your dog is suffering from hyphema? The most obvious sign is the dog bleeding from the eye. Other signs include:
Also Read: 30 Common Dog Health Problems and Solutions
The causes of bleeding eyes could vary. Some are mild, while others are extremely serious and need urgent medical attention. Here are the most common causes of hyphema:
Trauma is the leading cause of a dog bleeding from its eyes. If your pet has probably been injured in the head or the eye, it can show signs that it is experiencing pain. Look out for when your dog suddenly becomes unusually inactive.
If your dog’s eye is inflamed and you can spot blood dripping out, then the eye could be inflamed because of an underlying health condition or infection. Your vet is in the best position to define the problem and its causes.
The poison may not necessarily kill your dog, but it will affect your pet adversely. It’s possible that the blood in its eyes could perhaps come from mistakenly ingesting rat poison.
The presence of blood in your dog’s eyes could also be an outside manifestation of his inner health. The infection could be inside the eyes or on the head.
It’s also possible that your dog could be suffering from a life-threatening cancerous tumor. Only a professional can carefully detect this, so it’s better to take your dog to the vet immediately.
Also Read: Why is My Dog Bleeding from its Vagina?
How well do you know your dog’s family history? It’s best to find out your dog’s history from the breeder or adoption center you got it from. Some examples of particular dog breeds that can develop hyphema are Labradors and Boxers.
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The treatment procedure will always depend on the severity of the bleeding condition. Sometimes, the bleeding will stop on its own when the cause is mild.
Here are the possible treatment methods:
Firstly, you will need to restrict your dog’s movement and physical activities. A blood clot can turn out to be dangerous if rigorous activities are not controlled.
The clot can even travel to the heart in some cases. Your vet will treat the blood clot before it gets worse. There are drugs that break up the blood clots as well.
The first step is treating the hemorrhage. The vet will establish the specific underlying cause of the bleeding and treat it accordingly.
Your vet may recommend eye drops to cure inflammation and infection. If the main cause of the bleeding is inflammation, drops will usually work. With pain relief drugs and treatment, your dog’s eye should be back to normal within no time.
However, surgery may be required if cancerous tumors and growths are the underlying cause of the bleeding. Your dog’s eyes should be treated within 1-3 weeks if the eye-bleeding problem is not complicated.
When the cause is severe, the healing will take longer. It would be ideal to hospitalize your dog so that it can be monitored by professionals.
You will probably not lose your dog because of eye bleeding. However, you wouldn’t want your dog to lose its vision.
In the worst scenarios, the medical professionals may even remove your dog’s eye to cease the infection.
A dog bleeding from the eyes and mouth may require different medical attention altogether. Find an emergency vet the moment you notice blood in both the mouth and the eyes.
A digital marketing expert by profession, Andrews is a gifted writer and animal lover at heart. A self-confessed "pawrent", Andrews is well-versed in all things dogs. He uses his years of experience of raising puppies into show-quality dogs to help guide first-time pet parents. He believes in spreading the joy that comes with being a dog dad and advocates more families to adopt pets.
