My deerhound Loki is suffering from a reccuring problem with his right eye.Every few days he is producing a mucus type jelly yello/white in colour that has been treated by the vet with several types of drops but it is still coming back.Has anyone else had these sorts of issues or can anyone offer any advice.Loki is currently about 5 months old is that is of any relevence.

My little deer had the same problems at that age. Bathing and cleaning did only help for a day or two.
My vet examined the eyes, and asked me to be aware of entropium, it is (usually the lower) eyelid that turns inwards. That can be a temporary problem that occurs only once in a while. That was not the case with my Penticton, he had the problem with both eyes.
But when the problem is in only one eye, you should be alert for entropium. A google picture search for dog +entropium sould give you an idea how it looks.

Wit Penticton succesful treatment was made with hydrocortison with the appendix "Terra.Pol.B." It is eyedrops that I had to give him twice a day for a full week, end eventually again if the problem came back. It was a kind of infection.

Many thanks i will do a search tonight!!

My advice is, - do not irritate the eye to much.
Eye-drops 3 to 5 times are better then anything else. Some youngsters have this problem.
The more you look at the eye, the more you irritate it.
Very often it cures it self, but that is only our personal experience.

I am in Sydney and Atticus has always had seasonal conjuntivitis. Some years worse than others and needing drops others I have got away with cleaning and lubricating. Caile has just come from down South and has had hayfever for months now - snuffly snout and gunkie eyes. I have been working her through the Vet list of doggie antihistimines and have just got her on to one that works so she is much happier (it also doesn't sedate her which some have - she runs much faster now. Who would have guessed she could!?)

What is your vets diagnosis?

Vet diagnosed conjunctivitus but after four attemps with drops it isnt clearing and i think they are a little stumped as to what to say.We have tried washing all his bedding in different detergents but every few days it seems to reappear.It doesnt seem to be bothering him too much as hes not rubbing at it and it doesnt seem red but i just want to reassure myself that its nothing serious.

My little boy Clyde has also problems with his eyes since two or three weeks now.
The vet said to me that a lot of pups have this red eyes and the yellow drops in the morning. We have got eye-cream and we should put it in both eyes twice a day. But we have no chance to do this, Clyde hate it!!!!! So I hope it will get better without doing anything....It also get worse if he is playing a lot with his girl-friend( a 8 month old retriever)outside.

If it is an allergic conjunctivitis, many people find it helpful to bathe the eyes with cold calendula tea (available from health food stores) twice daily.

If this does not help, Prednefrin Forte two to three times daily may work. You can also use Cyclosporin 1% drops as well as the Prednefrin Forte.

Entropion is very rare in deerhounds. I have never seen it, but we see a few deerhounds for allergic conjunctivitis

I hope this helps. (I have worked for a Veterinary Ophthalmologist for many years, so it is one of the few areas I could be of any use!)

If this does not help, let me know where you are and I will try to recommend a Veterinary Ophthalmologist in your area. (The animal eye world is VERY small!!)

All the best,

Nat

Thanks for all the advice i am feeling slightly more reassured now

Sorry if there are any vets on here, but going to say this!

Don't bother with the vets, they'll charge a fortune for eye drops. Go to your local chemist and ask for Chloramplenicol 0.5% w/v antibiotic eye drops. Will cost you around £4.00. I guarantee this will clear his sticky eye up within 24 hours. It is the same as any vet prescribed eye drop, just a hell of alot cheaper.

If it doesn't go within 24 hours, I'll eat my hand!!!

I only knew how to spell it, because I always keep one in the fridge as Murphy has had this previously and it works. The pharmacist gives you funny looks though when you say who it's for!

I am surprised that the pharmacist will sell the eye drops to you if you have told him that it is for an animal as a lot of 'human' medication is not licensed for animal use. Maybe chloramphenicol is though

No Houndy it isn't. As soon as you say it is for a dog, they tell you they can't guarantee etc. But years of owning dogs have taught me not to rush to the vet for the slightest thing. Most dog medicines, look in the ingredients, it is the same as humans. If a dog had a nasty cut we used to give them half doses of human antibiotics, cleared them up of any infections.

Though saying this. Please don't take my word for anything, I'm not a doctor, nor a vet and obviously if a dog is poorly you should seek advice of a vet, but for an eye infection, save yourself £60 and get the eye drops from the chemist. I always have some in the fridge.

I do agree with you - It really makes me mad when you have to pay high prices at vets yet know that the human version is a lot cheaper.

When Murray had the runs all the time I bought Loperemide from Wilkinson's. 89p for 6 capsules and they worked a treat (obviously I didn't give him the 6 at once ).

I have also give past dogs AB's with no ill effects. The only thing I would never give them is Asprin/Paracetamol

Soluable asprin and paracetamol is perfectly safe to give to DH's and is very effective in helping them cope with minor aches and injuries, and is particularly useful in dealing with "Deerhound neck", which is quite common especially in young, growing dogs.

I paid £80 for Deerhound neck once. He couldn't stand up without yelping, couldn't sit down without yelping. Took him to the vets, they gave him Rymadil?? One tablet and he was doing laps of the garden at 300 mph. Looked at the ingredients, it was doggy nurofen!

Does that mean you can give your dog Advil? Is it the same ingredients? BTW I'm not advocating or suggesting, just curious.

alan wrote:


Interesting! What do you base that on? Have you had vet input into this?

As Fiddle says, the build up of mucous in the eye of growing puppies is very common. I discuss this in my booklet "Your Scottish Deerhound Primer" (www.fernhill.com/primer.htm) under the section "Goobers-in-the-eyes". If the mucous is greyish in colour, it is a normal eye goober which some puppies get between 6 months to 2 years. I now think it is related to different rates of growth of the skull and eye during this age period when everything is growing so quickly.Leave it alone or gently remove it with the tip of the edge of a kleenex. If it is white-ish or yellow, then you are into a bit of conjunctivitis. Owners do need to become knowedgeable about basic health issues or you will bankupt yourself very quickly. You should always feel free to check with your breeder before vetting your dog. Mentoring new puppy owners is all part of what a breeder expects to do as part of placing their pups. I would hate to think that my puppy owners would take their dogs to a vet without checking with me first about the "problem" (such as eye goober) to see if was an "issue". ~Barb

houndy wrote:
Oh yes, we're not that brave, but have used both on numerous occassions to great effect but our vet is a dog specialast with many years experience and I would trust his judgement totally. As Richard says, bankrupcy is a real possibility with dogs.
As an example ,one owner of a DH bred and sold by us, spent more than £3000.00 on x.rays, MRI scans etc, before contacting us. I precribed paracetamol as and when required and the dog has grown out of the problem.
By the way Houndy, who told you not to use either of the above mentioned treatements?

Hi Richard, this is very interesting re the eyes and in our limited number of puppies, have only had one or two with slightly mucky eyes which I knew wasn't entropia as I have seen and operated on this in sheep many times. We observed and left well alone and in due course, it cleared up on its own.