I notice that one vet would syringe normal saline
onto the eyes first to flush out debris, then apply the
orange strip onto the eye. The dog's eyelids are closed.
The dye which turns green on contact with the eyes is
then flushed away with another syringe of saline. This
method is described in her Vet text book and is
practised by vets.
All these years, my method is to drop eye drops onto the
eyes to clear the eye debris, if necessary. If the eyes
are clear, I place the orange strip onto
the eye, use my thumb and fingers to close the eyelids
for a few seconds. The orange dye from the eye strip will stain ulcers
green. Then, I use eye drops to flush away the excess dye.
Any ulcers of the cornea will be appear as green spots
and are proof to the owner that her dog has eye ulcers.
There are more than one way to do a procedure. But mine
is the better way. Syringing a dog's eyes with normal
saline can be quite stressful
to the dog that is not sedated. Imagine the
doctor syringing your eye with a mild force. You may
understand what will happen but not the dog. The dog may
bite if not muzzled and the owner gets upset. I may
muzzle the dog and place the strip directly into the eye
in one swift motion. The whole process takes less than
two minutes to stain and show the ulcers as contrasted
to the need to draw saline and syringe it two times -
one before and one after the application of fluorescein
dye.
Each vet has his or her own
style of doing procedures or surgeries. Sometimes, the
Vet text book procedure is not to be adopted if it is
inefficient, traumatic or uses up more materials or
takes more time.
A
corneal ulcer is painful and
animals with ulcers often squint
their eyes. It is wise to
consult your veterinarian
immediately as the ulcer may be
a deep one or an infected one.
When the animal continues to rub
its eye, the corneal ulcer
ruptures and the gelatinous
aqueous or vitreous substance
comes out.
The eyeball collapses and the
animal will have lost it vision.
When this happens, there is very
little the doctor can do except
to cut out the eyeball. If
the bacteria goes into the
aqueous and the vitreous, the
eyeball becomes infected and is
very painful. This infected
eyeball may need to be removed
by surgery too.
Hence, it is always important to
treat eye injuries as an
emergency and consult your
veterinarian.
TOA
PAYOH VETS
