Watery eyes... is this "normal"?

[LaurenA]

Are watery eyes normal for bulldogs?

Rook eyes have been watery since the day we brought him home. The wrinkle/fold closest to his eyes always feels moist, but no tear stains. I've been putting a dab of Vaseline under each eye in the morning and that seems to help, and I also will wipe them dry when I'm wiping up his chin after he drinks. Before we switched his food, we were constantly having to clean gross boogies from his eyes through out the day. But since switching to Fromm Beef Frittata his eye have been clear and I only notice some eye goop in the mornings after a long night of sleep. His eyes still water, but I thought he was doing well.

Last week we took Rook in to be neutered. Per the vet, we didn't feed him the morning of the surgery and only fed him a small amount that evening when we brought him home... much less then he usually gets much to his dismay. The day after the surgery, I was doing our usual morning routine of cleaning his face, and noticed his wrinkles were clean and dry and no morning eye goop! I can only think that there must be something in the food causing the watery eyes, since the day before he barely had anything to eat. I feel like such a dummy for not realizing this sooner.

We are wondering if we should try him on another food, but not really sure what. He is just over 6 months old, so I think he is still too young for the allergy test since his immune system is not fully mature. Other than the watery eyes he has been a very healthy pup - ignoring the vets orders to take it easy for 10 days after his surgery (do they really expect that to happen???) - I am very very thankful that we haven't had to deal with more severe allergy issues yet.

I'd love to get some input from everyone here. Do your bullys have watery eyes? Should we try switching foods? Any recommendations?
Thanks everyone!

Oh, since you took the time to read my very long post, here is a pic I took of Rook yesterday... after I reminded him he is not supposed to be running around and jumping, he decided boot chewing would be a suitable alternative.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Well..I think watery eyes can be from different problems. I'm sure it can be food related. But it could also be environmental or even his eyelashes! I have to give Jake Benadryl right now because I'm certain there's sumpin in the air!

 

[SunDog]

Very cute boot-chewer! Lupe has watery eyes more often than not, but her vet hasn't really thought much of it and since her eyeslashes check out ok, I've resolved just to keep "my eye" on it and have that checked at every time I go in. Once, traveling, they got really red in Utah, and like [MENTION=2092]JAKEISGREAT[/MENTION], I treated her with a half-dose of benedryl...though now I think that redness came from the dry air more than anything. Good luck with your symptom hunting!

 

[ollieivy]

i really don't want to freak you out, so please don't. i have been through a few eye issues with my bullies, and you should take your pup to the vet to rule this out and to ease your mind. there is a condition that bullies sometimes have called distichiasis (when eyelashes grow in the wrong places), which my ivy was actually suffering from and the follicles actually had to be cauterized (surgery). she has been fine ever since. even if it isn't this, you should rule it out.

also, because bullies' eyes are exposed, their orbital sac can get dirt in it very easily. i sometimes have to eyewash with normal saline.

sorry if this is too much information.

 

[ollieivy]

and also, so you don't freak out, if there is no swelling around the eye, and your bully isn't holding that eye closed, it is almost for sure NOT distichiasis, but i would get it checked anyway.

 

[LaurenA]

Thanks everyone!

[MENTION=4411]ollieivy[/MENTION] - I'd rather be aware of all the possibilities to rule out, than clueless with my little guy suffering! His eyes aren't swollen and he's not squinting so hopefully not distichaisis. But that sounds painful! I'm glad Ivy was able to get that fixed!

We go back to the vet on Monday to get his stitches out, so I'm going to have them look at his eyes too. We had the vet check his eyes when he was in for his puppy vaccinations and they didn't think anything of it before. But it certainly doesn't hurt to ask again. I had asked about diet/allergies on one of our previous vet visits and I felt like they kind of disregarded that as a possibility.