# Recurring Conjunctivitis



## CRS250 (Dec 31, 2012)

Sorry to learn your pup is having these problems. You are not alone in having a GR with these kinds of problems, I posted the story of our Murphy's eye problems a week or so back... very similar to yours it seems. It sounds like you were proactive and got Minnie the best treatment available, good job. Hopefully it is just a process and she'll out grow it as you've said however a couple things I'd mention as perhaps they will be helpful for you. This is taken from my appointments with our opthalmologist, our regular vet, and conversations I've had since. 

Our vet told us:
Conjunctivitis for dogs is not like it is for humans. They do not get primary infections in the eye. There is some underlying cause to this, be it allergies, tear production, ingrown hair follicles, foreign body, or some more unlikely scenario I'll not guess at. That cause is creating inflammation in the eye. She has treated and referred multiple GR puppies in the past for similar conditions. If she does not find the issue at her office, she said it is rare that this it is anything more than allergies. However she is not an expert so suggested we could see an opthalmoligist to have Murphy checked for more serious problems, or things she could not detect. I asked her what she has done for other dogs and said, a steroid, a painkiller, and a cortical steroid drop. I asked her to prescribe this for Murphy, while we determined if we would see an opthalmoligist. 

pain med: tramadol
steroid: prednisone
eye drops: neopolydex opthalmic suspension 5ml
Antibiotic doxycycline

We tailed off the tramadol after 2 days because it made him even goofier than usual, ran out the antibiotics and steroid, and used the drops for 7 days. The symptoms were gone in 12 hours, but being the over protective parents we are we decided to see the specialist.

You said they are treating Minnie with Cyclosporine.. this drug helps promote tear production as its primary treatment effect according to:

Cyclosporine Ophthalmic: MedlinePlus Drug Information

It sounds like a maintenance treatment that they think Minnie is not producing sufficient tears. It seems to be a very safe option, but if she has an underlying cause I'm not sure how it would help to resolve it?

I know for us we had a lot of choices in the ways and things for which they would test Murphy. This was helpful because each test was an additional fee. We had them run everything possible as everything came up negative. They found only inflammation and some mild ingrown hair follicles. The otphalmologist said this is not uncommon for young dogs and determined it was most likely allergies causing the inflammation. She said we could expect him to grow out of this around 1.5 years of age. Did they talk to you about allergies being a possibility? Our opthalmalogist suggested two OTC oral medicines to try if Murphy's symptoms return. The side effects of which are more minor than cyclosporine for the dog.

We have only had one return of symptoms, approximately 8 weeks later and we treated him with the same cortical steroid drops (neopolydex opthalmic) that cleared the symptoms up within 12 hours the first time. The drug is specifically geared toward bacterial infections, but as they relieve his symptoms so quickly they are our first go to. However they are dangerous if he has a scratch rather than infection, and they must be used for the full length of dosage. So their use is a judgement call based on the exact symptom. We had the same success on the second round of treatment. The eye cleared in 12 hours and the inflammation/oozing was gone completely within 72 hours.

I hope this is helpful or gives you some other ideas to talk to your vet about at the least.


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

My Thor (soon to be 9 months) suffers from eye allergies which cause him to have frequent irritation of the eye. I have seen three different vets regarding this. The first diagnosed it as an allergy probably to rag weed and prescribed antibiotic ointment because at that time he feared a secondary infection. This was effective. The second vet I discussed the problem with (when he wasn't having symptoms) agreed that it was likely an allergy and seemed to think it was a good idea to keep using the med throughout the fall once a day or every other day to keep the eyes clear. And then recently I discussed it with a third who said if he wasn't pawing the eye and the discharge wasn't major it was best not to treat. I wasn't crazy about that idea but on that particular occasion the problem went away on its own ( though this time it was really mild) Just my experience. Your puppy may just be sensitive yo something environmental like mine.


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## CRS250 (Dec 31, 2012)

thorbreafortuna said:


> My Thor (soon to be 9 months) suffers from eye allergies which cause him to have frequent irritation of the eye. I have seen three different vets regarding this. The first diagnosed it as an allergy probably to rag weed and prescribed antibiotic ointment because at that time he feared a secondary infection. This was effective. The second vet I discussed the problem with (when he wasn't having symptoms) agreed that it was likely an allergy and seemed to think it was a good idea to keep using the med throughout the fall once a day or every other day to keep the eyes clear. And then recently I discussed it with a third who said if he wasn't pawing the eye and the discharge wasn't major it was best not to treat. I wasn't crazy about that idea but on that particular occasion the problem went away on its own ( though this time it was really mild) Just my experience. Your puppy may just be sensitive yo something environmental like mine.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App



I'm curious what antibiotic the ointment is, could you check and post back please? You have to apply it into the eye?


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## thorbreafortuna (Jun 9, 2013)

On the paperwork I have it reads: "Triple Antibiotic Ointment with HC3". It comes in a little tube. We found that the easiest way to apply it was putting a dab of it in the inner corner of the eye and the kid of gently rubbing the lid. I think the directions say to ut a ribbon of ointment inside the lower lid or in the center of the eye.


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## Minnie24 (Feb 3, 2014)

Thank you for your detailed and very helpful responses! It's so nice to know that Minnie's not alone...I know that Golden's have had to deal with far worse than eye irritation/allergies, but I just feel bad giving her those annoying drops twice a day, although I think in a way she might enjoy it cause she gets a treat afterwards every time ...the ophthalmologist said it is most likely allergies and many Golden's outgrow them between age 1 and 2 as their immune system develops and builds resistance. My dog walker has also said that she sees about 75% of puppies with allergies vs. 25% of adult dogs. I took some notes based on the medicines you used for your puppies and will talk to the ophthalmologist during our re-check appointment next week. The reason she put Minnie on the cyclosporine was for the reason that you mentioned- that it's safe incase she scratches her eye..but I definitely do want to ask if there is another option that would possibly help the underlying cause.


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## Bentman2 (Sep 30, 2013)

*Bentley*

Yea, my Bentley has yellowish green discharge coming out of both eyes this morning. He has been pawing at one eye for a day or so and shaking his head, so off to the vet today. He has his Cerf exam on Monday with the opthomologist. Praying that everything is good with him today and Monday. Hope Minnie, Murphy, and Thor are ok too. :uhoh:


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