What Causes Stye In Dog Eyes And How Can You Treat It?

It is a common belief that an eye can tell a lot about individual health. Just like you, your pup eye can show its health clearly. Change in the coating of their eyes or any pigmentation can directly signify some deficiency in their body. In the worst scenario, these can be the initial symptoms of some severe diseases.

However, that is not much in the case of dog styes; they are not that serious, but they can damage your furry friend’s eyes if not treated in, timely manner.

Wait.

Do dogs get styes? Let’s find out.

In This Blog

• Can Dogs Get Styes?
  • What is the difference between Chalazion vs Stye?
  • How Can I Tell If My Dog Has A Stye?
  • How To Get Rid Of A Stye?
  • How Long Does A Stye Last?
  • Can You Pop A Stye?
  • Is A Stye Contagious?
  • Will A Dog Stye Go Away On Its Own?
  • Why Are My Dog’s Eyes Red?
• Preventions
• Wrapping Up

Can Dogs Get Styes?

Yes, dogs can get styes. Just like humans, your furry friend can suffer from dog eyelid stye.
But, “What is a Stye?”

Dog eye stye is an annoying condition in or around the eyes which causes severe pain. Some people also describe this as a hordeolum or dog eyelid cyst. The leading cause of this condition is an infection caused by bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus. This infection forms pus and hence results in the dog swollen eyelid.

What is the difference between Chalazion vs Stye?

The external styes cause the dog’s eye lid swollen. It occurs on the eyelid’s corner due to bacterial infection in the eyelash’s follicle or root. It is red initially and soon starts storing puss, causing pain.

How Can I Tell If My Dog Has A Stye?

To check if your dog has dog eye stye, look out for the following symptoms:

• Dogs eye swollen
• Inflammation on the inner or external side of the eyelid.
• Puppies eyes are red
• A ruptured abscess with fluid discharge, i.e., pus
• You find your dog continuously rubbing their eyes.

Other eye infections and even dog chalazion have almost the same symptoms. Hence it’s hard to distinguish between them for an ordinary person. Therefore your dog vet can tell you better what is wrong with your dog’s eyes.

Home Remedies For Stye

You can do your Dog eye stye treatment easily at home by taking a few precautions like wearing gloves and maintaining proper hygiene.

Help your furry friend to relieve their pain by following home remedies:

Eye Washing

Eye washing is the most basic but most effective approach to treat dog’s stye eyes. Even the eye swelling via the accumulation of dirt, oil in eyelids, or puffiness due to the meibomian gland, eye washing can help a lot in that case.
Now to wash dogs’ eyes, take clean water and a soft washcloth to clean dirt, as well as bacteria. Clean the eyelids and area around the eyes with extra care.

Stye Warm Compress

The following method is warm compression. Just like cleaning, clean and sterile, but warm cloth is necessary to carry compression. The main aim of compression is to loosen up the pores to open and encourage glands to drain out. Wash the eye after compression too.

Tea Bags

Just like warm compress, you can use used tea bags for compression. Make sure that the tea bags are clean and mildly warm. You can choose any tea bag, rose tea, herbal tea, or chamomile tea bag. Try to use one tea bag only once for at least 15 minutes. You can also dip cotton in the tea to apply to the dog’s eyelid cyst.

Warm Rice

Other than tea bags and warm cloth, you can use rice too. Microwave rice for a few minutes and place them in a soft and clean cotton cloth. Ensure a tight knot before using it for heat compression.

Instructions For Home Remedies

• Wash your hands before and after dog eye stye treatment.
• Always use a clean and disinfected cloth.
• Repeat the cleaning and compression process at least twice a day.
• Don’t continue the home remedy yourself if your dog doesn’t cooperate during treatment and feels more pain. It’s advisable to visit a veterinarian, in that case.

How To Get Rid Of A Stye?

Home remedies are suitable to treat a dog, but you can’t solely depend on them. So here comes the question; how to treat a stye for better results. Well, you can use the following methods along with home remedies for proper treatment of dog eye stye,

Antibacterial Medications

You can use eye wash or ointment for stye treatment. Firstly try to comfort your dog and lean your pup’s head to apply the cream or drop-down eye drops. Most dogs don’t easily cooperate with such treatments. That is why it is better to use oral antibacterial medications mixed in their food. Cortisone is the most used drug in case of excessive swelling and redness in the eye.

Anti-anxiety Drugs

It’s natural for even our furry friends like us to feel anxious and irritated in pain. The pain becomes more unbearable when debris starts accumulating close to the eyelid. For that, you can give any anti-anxiety drug or painkillers to comfort your pup.

Veterinarians Help

As mentioned earlier, home remedies are not fully effective, and in some cases, medications also don’t work. In that case, only a professional removal can work. Initially, veterinarians will also try to use the cleaning and compression method. However, if the situation doesn’t improve, your pup’s doctor will use a needle to open the stye and drain off the secretions. Further, just saline eye application will stop the infection.

How Long Does A Stye Last?

Mostly a stye will be eliminated within three to five days. However, by continuous cleaning and warm compression the stye will disappear within two days. You can also consult a healthcare professional if the infection continues over than usual time.

Can You Pop A Stye?

We know it’s hard for you to see your pup in pain but don’t even think about squeezing or popping dog stye. Instead of helping, it can spread further infection. You can use warm compression to press it a little, but let it burst on its own. Along with this use, antibiotics to stop additional infection.

Is A Stye Contagious?

Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium responsible for dog stye, can spread the infection to other parts of the dog’s eyes. That is why stye eye is contagious and painful too. Most dogs don’t stop rubbing their eyes, which can spread the infection. You can use a dog cone, also known as the Elizabeth collar, to stop your dog from scrubbing its eyes.

Will A Dog Stye Go Away On Its Own?

A normal dog stye doesn’t last for more than three to four days. However, for faster healing, you can:

• Clean your dog’s eyes from time to time.
• Use a warm compression technique with the help of a warm cloth.
• Give antibacterial drugs to your dog.

If your dog’s stye doesn’t reduce or heal in a few days, it’s better to contact your pup’s Veterinarian.

Why Are My Dog’s Eyes Red?

Most of the dog’s parents complain that my dog’s eye is red. As such, there is not a particular medical condition that can be responsible for red-eye. However, one or a combination of the following conditions can cause dog red eye’s:

• Allergy
• Stye
• Conjunctivitis
• Corneal ulcers
• Glaucoma
• Injury in the eye
• Continuous rubbing

Other than this, chronic medical conditions like diabetes can be why your Puppies eyes are red. To get better clarity, it’s safer to contact your dog’s vet.

Preventions

There is a common phrase that prevention is better than cure. So to prevent your dog from getting dog stye in the first place, follow under given tips:

• Clean your dog’s face properly while bathing them.
• Close your house windows on windy days and also while you take them to drive.
• Use protective dog glasses to cover your puppy’s eyes.
• Stop them from rubbing their eyes by training or just distracting them.
• Whenever you are outside with your puppy, use clean cotton wipes to clean your puppy’s eyes from time to time.
• To avoid further infection, trim their hairs around the healed section of the eyes.
• If your dog doesn’t stop rubbing their eyes, use a cone for a few days.

Wrapping Up

Stye in dogs is common and usually not something to worry about. Sometimes surrounding or poor care can be the cause of persistent infections. However, an allergy to some products like shampoo or soap can lead to an eye infection in some cases. No matter how much information you collect on the internet, only a professional can distinguish between a normal eye infection and a serious problem. Visit your pooch’s vet if you don’t see any healing after following our basic home remedies.

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