Need help/advice for severe dry eye and biting paws

[Sausage]

Hello,

My name is Kristi and I am new to this group site. I stumbled across you guys here while I was searching for advice on best way to treat our new ”Sausage”. She is our 2nd English Bulldog and we just adopted her from a rescue about 10 days ago.

The lady at the rescue was very clear when she said that she had chronic dry eye and would need drops for the rest of her life, but she didn't explain the pain,(what seems like) suffering, infection and she said ”one drop per day”; not cleaning thick, dark green Mucus from her eyeballs every 2-4 hours and using med drops and regular moisturizing drops.

Despite that, I love my new Sausage and I just don't know what to do besides the expensive tiny-tube of Rx meds that is almost gone and it's only been 2 weeks.

I was hoping someone here could give me alternate Rx meds, over the counter meds, and/or home remedies to clean and better take care of her eyes that ACTUALLY WORKS!

She also just started chewing the heck out of her front paws. Any advice or ideas?

Thank you all kindly,

Kristi

 

[Sausage]

Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

Hello,

My name is Kristi and I am new to this group site. I stumbled across you guys here while I was searching for advice on best way to treat our new ”Sausage”. She is our 2nd English Bulldog and we just adopted her from a rescue about 10 days ago.

The lady at the rescue was very clear when she said that she had chronic dry eye and would need drops for the rest of her life, but she didn't explain the pain,(what seems like) suffering, infection and she said ”one drop per day”; not cleaning thick, dark green Mucus from her eyeballs every 2-4 hours and using med drops and regular moisturizing drops.

I don't mind spending whatever it costs. But the Rx from Vet was $45 for s tiny tube that's barely lasted 10 out of the 30 days it was supposed to.

The RX isn't working, and she just seems so miserable at times.

*****I need help/advice on best ways to clean that thick, super sticky and dark green stuff from her eyes, w/out causing further pain & irritation....
*****What RX’s, over the counter and home remedies do you all suggest for her eyes?
*****and she just started chewing feverishly at her paws...why and what do I do?

Thank you,

Kristi Montes

 

[Lalaloopsie]

Re: Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

First of all welcome and thank you so much for rescuing this poor sweet baby! Second, my condolences on the prices of eye meds, I moved to the US just a year ago and my jaw is still on the floor from prices for medicines here. I’m a doctor myself, and lived in Europe and China and even Africa, so I know how much it costs in other countries. The same meds in Europe cost much less, times and times less. I buy a lot of meds and eye drops when I or my hubby travels abroad, bcs it’s just unaffordable here.
What concerns your eye situation. First of all, when you put antibiotic drops or ointment, you cannot put it into putrid eye. It is just waste. There are components in pus which inactivate antibiotics. First you must thoroughly wash away that green goo. For this you can use something like Burts bees eye wash solution, or even human Bausch and Lomb Advanced eye relief. These meds are not expensive. After you washed with lots of solution green stuff, use first antiseptic eye drops like Vetericyn Plus antimicrobial Ophtalmic gel. Also not too expensive. And after that, may be 30 mins after, use that 45 bucks antibiotics ointment.
Antibiotic ointment you can use 2 a day, in the morning and in the evening, but washing of the eye and Vetericyn ointment you can do multiple times a day. It won’t break a bank. Just let antibiotic ointment to work for approximately 3 hours and after that wash and put Vetericyn every hour, and put antibioticonly in the evening.
The idea is to treat it aggressively so bacteria and slime which is food for them are regularly removed with wash and antiseptic.
Paws chewing is usually allergy, environmental or, more often, food related. May be you should change her diet. Allergy also increases amount of ophthalmic discharge, more slime - more food for bacteria.

 

[helsonwheels]

Re: Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

[MENTION=18302]Sausage[/MENTION] great advice above! There are other members that will advise you too as they’ve been there with their bullies. Just hang on.

 

[2BullyMama]

Welcome to EBN!! Thank you for giving her a great new life.

Since the discharge id green there is infection so she’ll need antibiotic drop till it clears up.

Once clear you can use over the counter drops fir dry eyes.

What food... brand and protein are you feeding?


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[1Chumly]

Re: Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

When we got Monty 4 years ago, my vet gave me the expensive ointment for Monty and like you, I couldn't deal with it. There is no way to give a consistent dose from that silly little tube. I spoke to him about an alternative and he prescribed Tacrolimus drops instead. It is not cheap either but it lasts soooo much longer and is much easier to deal with. 1 drop in each eye twice a day. You might check with your vet to see if it would be appropriate for Sausage. I just took Monty back to the vet last week because of all the neverending gunk in his eyes and after he checked them thoroughly was told they are good. It's a combination of dry eye and allergies. We also use a sterile eye wash to flush his eyes and using a tissue and without touching his eye, get as much of that gunk as we can. You might also check with your vet about a cytopoint shot for the allergies and as [MENTION=15780]Lalaloopsie[/MENTION] said (and also gave you excellent advice), consider changing her food. What are you feeding her, brand, protein etc?
Good luck and welcome!

 

[Sausage]

Re: Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

Good Morning Pam,

Ty for your feedback! We have been feeding her pedigree because that's what our previous EBD loved and did we'll on..
So u think there is a good shot its allergies?
****Get this, so besides the paw chewing she started the other day, Last Night she started fiercely thrashing her head; shaking and digging at it! It got so bad that I had to physically hold her down (but carefully) just so she wouldn't hurt herself while waiting for the sleep aid, melatonin, to kick in.

Well by that time It was too late, she has been shaking her head so much, that a hematoma started to form on the flap, more-so on the inside, closer to where the ear-flap & head meet.

So, I was able to get her to sleep for the night but of course, it's 5:28 am and she just woke up shaking her head again.

****My thought is maybe an ear infection or allergic reaction? Here's all the signs/symptoms I have, maybe you might have had an experience like this it heard of one?
1 - She ceased from chewing her paws (for now) since this new ordeal escalated.
2 - Her ear looks very clean, no order & nice shiny & soft coat
3 - Even her green-goopy eyes are looking pretty good
3 - With her paw chewing; I took some advice I read on a different forum that you could soak her PAWS for 30 secs 1 min in Povidone solution, diluted in water. Then dry very well and can sprinkle like Gold Bonds powder in her pad; because it's non-toxic if licked. This seemed to slowly cease the paw-chewing but then immediately coinciding is this earthing.

- Could this be a reaction to the powder or Povidone-Iodine solution? Though, that was never close to her ears.

- Could this be a reaction or infection because maybe I'm unaware that while flushing her eyes, I was thinking, it impossible that the ear & eye solution could have leaked from her eyes to her ears? But I'm always drying and cleaning everything.

- Maybe the dog food, Pedigree, is not quality or safe for her? That the ears have been slowly creeping up until BOOM, Last Night? Would- ore could it likely be the food; Despite that, we have had her for just a tad more than 2 weeks and no signs until last night?

- And besides the Vet at this moment, is there anything I can do? Provide her? Such as an over the counter ear flush, Benedryll? Cotton Bas in her ear canal?

***And until I can get her seen by the Get, is there anything extra I can do to help prevent the hematoma from enlarging; it better yet, to help encourage it to naturally drain? Or does this, in our opinion, probably going to need to be drained by the Get? It's rather minimal in size but nonetheless; it is still the beginning pocket swelling of one.

I truly apologize Pam for reaching to y auth al this rambling. I have seriously had only about 3.5 hrs sleep and I'm supposed to be getting ready for a rather important job interview this morning. But I cannot leave my sweet baby girl if she is shaking her head.

Please..any this, suggestions, or advice?

Warm Regards,

Kristi

 

[Hankster]

Re: Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

oh boy Kristi,,, i hear your heart and pain in this. I dont have any suggestions but hopfully you'll get some answers soon. Only thing i can think of is did you try the Benidryl for the meantime? They even give that in a shot at emergency at times to stop situations like this. Wishing you luck in both Your babies comfort and job interview...

 

[1Chumly]

Re: Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

Oh boy! I am so sorry to hear all this. I do believe a visit to the vet is in order. Do you have a good bully vet? What area of the country are you in? We do have a list of recommended vets on here so see if there is one near you.

Over the counter remedies....

I would try her with Benedryl 1 mg per lb of dog e.g. 50lb dog, 2 25mg pills up to three times a day.
For minor ear irritations, I use Zymox Inflamation Relief. I also use their ear cleanser or a solution of half witch hazel, half apple cider vinegar and really squish it around the ear. I am afraid I don't know what to advise about the hematoma, but again, I would get her to the vet for immediate relief.

I would change foods pronto if I were you and make dogfoodadvisor.com your new friend. It sounds like she is having a big outbreak and the food is the most likely culprit. You should feed at the very least a 4 star food, 5 star is better. Some of the foods preferred on here are Fromms, Acana, Orijen, Zignature or raw. Others feed Taste of the wild, my son feeds Kirkland brand from Costco or Victor's. I have been through quite a few foods with Monty and I am now feeding him Zignature and all is well! There are foods out there that are not so expensive as Acana etc, but make sure it is grain free and one protein is good. A good rule of thumb is if you can buy the food from a supermarket, don't buy it! You may have to do some trials to see if she is allergic to a particular protein (chicken is common). Monty eats Salmon & Trout or Duck but I tried him on the Zignature Turkey and it didn't agree with him at all! Same brand as he is eating, just a different protein.

I hope everything has calmed down, poor baby. Let us know how she is doing. I am sure others will be along to help too.

 

[Cbrugs]

Re: Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

I was scrolling through Facebook and just saw this post about ear hematoma. I didn’t read it but maybe there’s something that can help.

How to Treat Ear Hematoma in Dogs


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[rjisaterp]

Welcome to EBN [MENTION=18302]Sausage[/MENTION] . Jewel and Bentley say hello.

 

[Clermont]

yes, green drainage = infection

 

[oscarmayer]

Re: Need advice please. New adopted EBD with SEVERE DRY EYE W/Infections and paw biting

Fluid/blood from a small hematoma will be absorbed by the body in time...focus on the cause. Head shaking is usually from an ear infection...I'd be inclined to treat it as such. If you have Otic solution, use it. We generally use Q-tips to dig out as much wax as possible working our way down the ear canal as much as 1.5 inches. The ear canal goes straight down and then turns sharply inward...there is little to no chance of damaging the ear drum so do not be fearful of doing so. After de-waxing, fill the ear canal with Otic solution and massage the ear with your fingers. Unfurl a cotton ball and stuff it as far into the canal as you can....wait for 15 seconds and then remove it. Used another cotton ball to clean up the inside of the outer ear. You are now looking at a bright shiny ear. Do the other side. Have treats at the ready to distract from shaking. If the ear is indeed infected you may need additional Vet prescribed treatment to get it under control.

While you're at it, clean under the nose rope and tail pocket with baby wipes or Tucks.

Get your girl on high quality grain free food...Acana, Merrick, Orijen, Fromm, etc. We feed all 5 of our guys Acana Duck. It works well for all including 2 allergy patients. Dose Benadryl 2 pills twice daily. Use EZ Cheese to hide the pills. Like Pam said, Tacrolimus(compounded drops) has been our go to med for eyes for many years...it's by far the most effective med we've used. We order it from Wedgewood PetRX with a Vet scrip.

Have her eyes been evaluated for entropion?