How to cure a stye in a dog's eye?

As mentioned, a stye is a swelling in the eyelid of the dog, usually in the area near a pestana, which is caused by a bacterial infection of a sebaceous gland of the animal's eyelid.

The bacteria that cause the infection most frequently involved belong to the genus Staphilococcus .It can be found in animals of any age , race and condition, and, as we will see later, it is not usually a serious condition.

The symptoms produced by a stye in a dog's eye vary greatly from one case to another, but generally they cause discomfort or even pain in that area, which makes the dog scratch worsening the situation, since superficial wounds can be caused with the ones in the eyelid area and, in extreme cases, ulcers in the eye.

In many cases you can also see redness and tearing in the affected eye.

Image: diagnicoveterinario.com

A stye is not the only cause of inflammation in the dog's eyelids, so it is advised to visit a veterinarian to rule out other diseases that may be confused with a stye.

Some examples of diseases that may occur with similar symptoms are:

• Entropion : more frequent in some races, such as Shar Pei, is caused by the rubbing of the eyelashes with the eye, due to the peculiar shape of their eyelids, with wrinkles and folds.It causes irritation in the eye and tearing.
• Tumors : tumors may appear in the eyelid area, which are recognized as lumps in that area.One of the most frequent is the adenoma of the Meibonian glands (sebaceous glands) of the eyelid of the dog), which, although fortunately it is a benign tumor, requires surgical treatment.
• The conjunctivitis and the ulcers in the Eye of the dog also causes redness, pain and tearing, but, unlike the case of stye , a lump is not found in the eyelid.
• Problems in the nictitating membrane .Dogs have a nictitating membrane, also known as third eyelid .It contains a gland called Harder's gland .These structures may have inflammation, hyperplasia (overgrowth) or prolapse (part of them outward).These alterations are easily differentiated from a stye because the color of the "lump" is more pink than that of the stye (which is the same as the eyelid) and because they are located in the medial area of ​​the dog's eye , that is, at the edge of the eye closest to the animal's snout and further from the ear.

As seen, styes are not serious illnesses , and they can also heal spontaneously in a short time.

At being a bacterial infection, the most effective remedy is an antibiotic ointment appropriate to be applied to the areas of the eye, which must be prescribed by a veterinarian.Being a stye, in principle, a process not Too serious that can be solved on its own, the physician should assess the possibility of using the antibiotic to avoid complications such as scratch wounds and in the most serious cases or that do not finish healing. Hot Panos .Apply Hot buns in the area can be used to relieve the process.It is advised to do it 3 or 4 times a day for about 5 or 10 minutes (depending on the patience of the dog).Anyway you have to be careful when performing it, if not, the remedy could be worse than the stye itself.First, you have to take care of hygiene , since some hands dirty or dirty buns could aggravate the infection or create a new one.Therefore, you have to wash your hands before doing so and use clean buns.Secondly, make sure that even if they are hot, they do not burn . Keep the area clean and avoid manipulating or attempting to exploit the stye. As has been seen, hygiene is very important in these cases, just keep the area clean with water.On the other hand, trying to exploit the stye can worsen the situation.There are other remedies that have been noted as positive as cleaning the area with wet gauze in warm chamomile infusion or in an infusion prepared by boiling water to which a tablespoon of curcuma is added.

This article is purely informative, at ExpertAnimal.com we have no power to prescribe veterinary treatments or make any kind of diagnosis.We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian in the event that he presents any type of condition or discomfort.