Everything about your small pup is precious, and you want to save them from anything and everything. I know the feeling and have been there when I had to deal with eye issues in my small baby. So, the fear and questions are understandable and reasonable when you start to see various issues around the eyes and in your pet’s eyes. The Chihuahua is a dog with many eye-related diseases and conditions. So, it is better to learn about eye diseases affecting your Chihuahua.
Chihuahua can carry many eye diseases, such as eye traumas, glaucoma, corneal ulcer, dry eyes, cherry eyes, and much more.
The following list covers some more common ones, such as glaucoma, corneal ulcer, and dry eyes. Read on to learn how to spot these conditions in your pet’s eyes and what medical attention they need!
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Eye Diseases and Conditions in Chihuahuas
The various eye diseases that can make the life of your chihuahuas miserable are:
Eye Trauma:
This is a very common injury in dogs, and it can be caused by a number of things, such as accidents, fights with other animals, or foreign objects getting into the eye.
Symptoms include swelling, pain, redness, discharge from the eye, and loss of vision. Treatment depends on the cause and may involve surgery, antibiotics, or other medications.
Glaucoma:
This is a serious condition in which the pressure inside the eye increases to a point where it can damage the optic nerve and cause blindness.
It is most commonly seen in older dogs, but any dog can be affected. There may not be any symptoms initially, but eventually, the dog will start to squint and have a dull appearance in its eyes. Treatment involves medication to lower the pressure in the eye and surgery in some cases.
Corneal Ulcer:
Many things, such as bacteria, viruses, injury, or exposure to chemicals, can cause a corneal ulcer, a sore on the eye’s surface. Symptoms include pain, redness, tearing, discharge from the eye, and a swollen eyelid. Treatment depends on the cause and may involve antibiotics or surgery.
Corneal Endothelial Dystrophy:
This is when the cells that line the inner surface of the cornea (the clear front part) start to die off, resulting in vision loss. It can be caused by age-related factors or injury to the eye. Symptoms include cloudy eyes and painless, decreased vision in one or both eyes.
Treatment involves medication for discomfort and surgery if needed. This is a condition that affects the endothelium, which is the layer of cells that lines the inside of the cornea.
It can cause vision problems and eventually lead to blindness. There is no specific treatment for this condition, but it may be monitored with regular eye exams.
Dry Eyes:
This occurs when there isn’t enough tear production to keep the eye’s surface moistened properly, which results in inflammation and irritation.
There are two main types – struvite disease, where minerals crystallize on top of tears, and keratoconjunctivitis sicca, where not enough mucus forms on tears, so they evaporate quickly. Symptoms include
- redness,
- discharge from Chihuahua’s eye,
- pain, and
- a gritty feeling in the eyes.
- irritation,
- inflammation, and
- damage to the cornea.
Treatment involves artificial tears and medication to increase tear production. A dry eye is a condition with insufficient moisture in the eyes. It is most commonly seen in older dogs but can occur in any dog.
Foreign Object In Eyes:
This is another common injury in dogs, and it can be caused by anything from grass awns to bugs to pieces of metal. Symptoms include
- pain,
- redness,
- swelling,
- discharge from the eye,
- and loss of vision.
Treatment depends on the object and may involve surgery or antibiotics.
Conjunctivitis:
Conjunctivitis is an infection or inflammation of the conjunctiva, which is the thin layer of tissue covering the inside of the eyelid and the eye’s surface. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, allergies, or other causes. Symptoms include
- redness,
- itching,
- discharge from the eyes that may contain pus,
- squinting, or
- swelling around one or both eyes.
Treatment depends on what is causing it but often involves antibiotics.
Lens Luxation:
This is a condition where the lens over-fills with fluid and falls out of its normal position in front of the pupil. This can cause pain and problems, seeing if it affects both lenses at once because there will not be an image formed on each retina due to double vision (diplopia). The most common symptom is sudden blindness, either in one eye only or sometimes both. Treatment involves removing the lens and replacing it with an artificial one (IOL).
Cataracts:
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens in the eye. It can be caused by many things, such as diabetes, trauma, or exposure to UV light or chemicals. Cataracts are very common in older dogs, but any age dog can have them. Symptoms include
- cloudy eyes that may seem blueish due to a lack of pigment on a white coat,
- difficulty seeing at night if only one eye has developed a cataract,
- squinting when exposed to bright light and
- general discomfort from having impaired vision.
Surgery is required for most cases where they cannot see well enough to function without their owner(s) assistance.
Cherry Eye:
This is a common condition in Chihuahuas where the third eyelid or nictitans gland slides out and causes an enlarged red bump on the inner corner of the eye.
Furthermore, this can be caused by genetics, injury, infection, or tumors though it usually occurs for no clear reason. The only symptom is cherry eyes, but they are usually easy to notice without looking closely at the dog’s eyes unless surgery is already done to correct them.
Treatment involves removing excess tissue around one or both if this happens more than once and possible corrective surgery depending on how severe it was initially.
Some dogs do not require treatment because their cherry eyes cause no problems but may need regular check-ups to ensure this is still the case.
Conclusion:
This was just a brief overview of some common eye diseases and conditions in Chihuahua. If your dog shows symptoms like discharge, redness, squinting, or blindness, take them to the vet for an evaluation. Many of these problems are treatable if caught early enough, but some can lead to blindness if left untreated. Prevention is always better than cure, so regular check-ups are important even if your dog seems healthy.
Thanks for reading!
