5 Causes of Swollen Dog Eyelids and What You Need to Do

Swollen eyelid is one of the common dog problems that our dogs could have. As a dog owner, we should be aware about the possible health problems our dogs would have. A swollen eyelid might be common, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be worried about it. Swollen eyelid might lead into more serious problem if it is ignored and undiagnosed. That’s why we, dog pet owners should be responsible to have our dog regularly visit to the vet.

What exactly is a swollen dog eyelid?

A swollen dog eyelid is similar to a swollen person eyelid that could be one of the symptoms of any undiagnosed eye problem that our dog might have. It would usually occur when there is an inflammation or oedema in the connective tissues around the eye.

Of course a swollen eyelid is also painful for our dogs and it pains both upper and lower of their eyelids. There are a lot of causes of a swollen dog eyelid, such as eye infections, or an eye injury. However, there are also some PARTICULAR causes for a dog’s eyelid to be swollen that we dog owners should be aware of them and identify its treatments.

These are 5 of the particular causes why your dog has a swollen eyelid

1. Allergic reaction

A swollen dog eyelid could be caused by an allergic reaction. Every dog has an allergy, which could be environmental or food based.

Environmental based; it could be through air or from the grasses that our dog walked on. Food based; not all the dog food in the market are safe for our dogs, there are some certain ingredients that might trigger our dog’s allergies. That’s why it is important to identify first the ingredients of our Dog’s food or the places where we go for a walk with our dogs.

When an allergy reacts, it would usually cause our dog to scratch and by scratching, a swollen eyelid or infections on our dog’s eyes occurs. When that happens, or even before that happens, it is a good thing to bring your dog to the vet to get its treatment.

2. Corneal Abrasion

This is just of the eye injuries our dog could get from scratching a lot or by getting poked on the eye by playing with the other dogs. Corneal abrasion is very uncomfortable for dogs to have. This could cause redness, swollen eyelids and severe sensitivity to daylight. That’s why when dog has a swollen eyelid, it is difficult for them to open their swollen eye.

3. Glaucoma

This occurs when there’s an imbalance production of fluid in our eyes that causes to create fluid increasing an eye pressure into an unusual level. This unusual level of fluid in the eye can cause the destruction of retina and optic nerve. This isn’t just an eye problem to us human, but also dogs could have this.

Dogs can also develop glaucoma like us. Though glaucoma is not an eye injury that results to swollen eyelid to dogs, but an eye disorder that needs an immediate medical attention. Glaucoma can cause a swollen eyelids to dogs, but aside from swollen eyelid, some serious eye problems might occur too.

4. Conjunctivitis

This is also known as pink eye that has a swollen eyelid symptom, and who said humans are the only one can get a pink eye? Of course small animals, like dogs and cats can get a pink eye or conjunctivitis.

There are different types of conjunctivitis in dogs, such as allergic conjunctivitis, and viral conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis is caused by an eye irritation when there is soreness on the eyelid or near to the eyelid.

Any breed of dogs that has an allergy or any skin diseases, are the kind of dogs that are prone to have more problems with conjunctiva inflammation and one of the causes of conjunctivitis to dogs is bacteria. Aside from bacteria, having a dry eye too can cause conjunctivitis.

5. Foreign Objects on the eye

These foreign objects can be dust of sand, or any tiny objects that can cause any kind of unusual irritation to our dog’s eyes. These foreign objects cause your dog to scratch its eyes more often and will lead to watering eyes and excessive blinking, and might cause a swollen eyelid to your dog. Aside from swollen eyelid, foreign objects can cause lacerations and ulcers too on the dog’s eye.

A swollen dog eyelid can be one of the symptoms of any of these eye problems that your dog might have. So it is important to bring you dog to the vet to identify the exact problem of your dog’s swollen eye.

These are the treatments you can give to your dog’s swollen eyelid

1. Symptomatic treatment

You can give your dog’s swollen eyelid an application of a warm compresses for 5-15 minutes several times per day and removal of any discharge from the eye.

2. Antibiotic Chloramphenicol

This is always a first choice when your dog has a bacterial conjunctivitis because it is effective against bacterial infections. It is typically used by veterinarians to treat any eye infection, skin infections such as, wound infections, bone infections, and intestinal infection in dogs and cats. As a general treatment for a conjunctivitis.

3. Optimmune Ophthalmic Ointment

This is an ointment that vets would usually prescribe to dogs that have an eye problem. It is an immunosuppressive agent used to minimize the inflammation on your dog’s swollen eye. This ointment should be used every 24 hours, because the effects usually fade away right after a day.

These treatments should be prescribed by your dog’s trusted vet to be certain for the exact dosage you should apply on your dog’s swollen eyelid. Aside from all of these treatment, you need to gently clean your dog’s infected eye with a soft cloth, soaked with a warm water to clean up any discharges on the infected eye.

Here are the things you need to do when your dog has a swollen eyelid

1. Give your dog a temporary relief

If you noticed that your dog has a swollen eyelid, the best thing to do is to give your dog a first aid. A swollen eyelid is very uncomfortable for dogs, that’s why giving them a temporary relief will ease their pain.  A few home remedies can give your dog a temporary relief, but always remember to wash your hands before touching your dog’s eye to avoid making it worst.

By using a warm washcloth and gently wipe that discharge on your dog’s infection is one of the home remedies you can do. You can also flush your dog’s eye with saline solution, with this, it can help to minimize the irritation on your dog’s eye. Remember to use an eye drop to drop enough solution into your dog’s eye.

To lessen the scratching of your dog on its swollen eyelid, put your dog on a cone so your dog won’t be able to scratch the swollen eyelid, and keep your dog away from dusty environment.

2. Identify the other symptoms aside from a swollen eyelid

A swollen eyelid is just one of any undiagnosed eye problem of your dog such as redness, swelling, watery discharge, bulging of the eye, etc. Swollen eyelid occurs along with any of those symptoms.

That’s why you should check some of the other symptoms that your dog has to identify what kind of treatment your dog needs.

3. Visit the nearest Vet

Giving you dog’s swollen eyelid some home remedies is only good for a day or 2. It is still important to get your dog a help from the vet. The vet will run some tests on your dog to identify what exact is the cause of your dog’s swollen eye and will give you the exact treatment to help your dog’s situation.

Conclusion

Your dog’s swollen eyelid can be a minor or a major eye problem. So, it is important to figure out the other symptoms that has occured along with a swollen eye to be able to determine what the exact problem your dog might have. A swollen dog eyelid can also be just an allergic reaction, that’s why identifying what are the things that triggers those allergies is also a necessary thing to do.

When a swollen eyelid occurs, you as a dog owner should give your dog a first aid to lessen the possibilities of getting your dog’s eye infected. The importance of first aid is also to ease the pain that your dog has, and it is very uncomfortable for them to have it. The said treatments on this article are just guides for all of the dog owners. A guide to give you some ideas and knowledge of the things you need to do when your dog has a swollen eye.

However, a vet’s care should never be replaced by any of the said home remedies. Our dog’s vet is the one who knows the exact things to do to cure that swollen eyelid of your dog.