Scratched by a cat

7152Pavel

Many animal lovers don't limit themselves to just one pet in the house. Well-bred animals get along well with each other. But sometimes misunderstandings happen even between the best friends. So, let’s answer the question, what to do if a cat scratches a dog’s eye? Please note that the provocateur of a fight is often a cat. It is she who most often becomes the culprit of the damage caused.

Firstly, the danger posed by a cat's claw should not be underestimated. The consequences of a cat scratching a dog's eye are the saddest. Up to loss of vision, and in case of particularly severe damage, even the eye itself. It is very important to know how to provide first aid to an animal because a lot depends on it.

When to seek veterinary help?

An eye injury in a dog is a serious problem that requires immediate attention to a veterinarian. There are various problematic situations in which it is necessary to rush to the veterinarian.

Getting injured as a result of an unpleasant interaction with a street cat. A fight between an angry cat and a dog can be costly for the animal's health. If in the first hours after the injury your pet rubs its eye vigorously, squints and rushes from side to side in pain, it is necessary to carefully examine it. If, after an injury, clouding of the cornea in the area of injury, changes in the eyeball, or the appearance of blood or pus are clearly visible, you should immediately go to a veterinary clinic, where a specialist will prescribe the appropriate treatment.
Mechanical damage due to debris, dust, or sand getting into the eye. When a small foreign body penetrates under the third eyelid, severe irritation appears on the cornea of the eye. The dog will try to scratch his eye with his paw and squint all the time. He will experience discomfort and pain. If excessive tearing occurs, the dog owner needs to be wary. In this case, it is necessary to remove a speck of dust or speck from the eye in a veterinary clinic. Otherwise, complications may occur, including blindness.
Traumatic injury due to penetration of the eye by a sharp object. When a branch, stick or other object gets into the eye, the cornea is damaged and a wound is formed into which various microbes and bacteria penetrate. If the dog has an urgent need to squint, this may also indicate a minor injury. With a strong blow, an injured animal may completely close its eyes and experience pronounced painful sensations. If at the same time purulent or bloody discharge appears in the corners of the eyes, the dog does not allow the eyelid to open and behaves aggressively, you should immediately take him to the veterinary clinic. Timely treatment will save the animal's eye.

This is interesting: Why does a cat hide under the blanket?

First aid

The first steps to prevent the occurrence of irreparable processes in the cornea are the following::

Under no circumstances should you allow your dog to scratch an injured eye. It is necessary to monitor the animal, and if possible, put a special medical Elizabethan collar on it.
If an animal is in severe pain, you can alleviate its suffering by dripping the eye with a 2% solution of novocaine
If you are unable to visit the veterinarian in the near future, we recommend that you administer antibiotic drops to the affected eye. Normax, Torbex, Ciprovet and Gentamicin are optimal. Please note that the dosage of the drug should be accurately calculated according to the weight of the dog.

Please note that you should never use other drops that differ in composition, especially if they contain corticosteroids, without the appropriate instructions from a doctor. The same applies to tetracycline ointment, which is used only under strict medical supervision.

The use of other drugs that differ in composition from those indicated and contain corticosteroids, as well as eye ointments, including tetracycline, can only be used on the recommendation of a veterinarian. Otherwise, not only will they not help the animal, but, on the contrary, they can irritate the cornea of the eye and cause even greater irritation.

When providing first aid to an animal, do not forget that if a dirty cat’s claw gets into the eye, under no circumstances should you go without a visit to the veterinarian. The presence of a large number of pathogenic bacteria in cat claws increases the risk of vision loss. So is the organ as a whole.

All of the above recommendations should be considered as first aid only. In order to completely eliminate the risk of complications from the injury and provide the most effective ophthalmological treatment of the eye . Without contacting a specialist, the animal may remain disabled for life. Professional, highly qualified treatment is especially important if a young animal is injured.

What are the signs of an eye injury?

Scratches on the eyes of dogs can often be very small and unnoticeable, which means that you need to pay attention to behavior that is not typical for your animal. If your dog whines, shakes his head frequently, or rubs his paw at the top of his muzzle, you should carefully examine his eyes.

Having noticed a scratch, it is best to urgently take your pet to a veterinarian , or even better, take the animal to an ophthalmologist veterinarian. But it often turns out that not all cities have such specialists, so in this case limit yourself to a simple veterinarian specialist.

What first aid can and should be provided to a pet?

While you are just taking or are about to take your injured animal to the veterinary clinic, in order to prevent the onset of irreversible processes in the eyeball, do the following:

You should definitely stop your dog from scratching his eye. It is advisable to hold the animal by the paws, or even better, use a special collar.
If your pet is in pain, in order to ease this pain, you can drop a two percent solution of novocaine into your pet’s damaged eye (in general, it is always advisable to keep it in your home first aid kit for pets); if the pain is very severe, the dog may not allow the veterinarian to examine the damage at all, so a drop of novocaine is worth it in any case.
If the veterinarian is in another city, or if it is a day off and the specialist is not working, and it is not possible to show your pet to the veterinarian today, you can drop antibiotic drops into the dog’s eye: in this case it would be good to use Normax, Torbex, Cyprovet or Gentamicin (before When using, check the dosages in the instructions for the drug; the dose of antibiotics is calculated depending on the weight of the pet).

What not to do

Under no circumstances should you apply any means to stop bleeding or disinfect the injured eye before traveling. Exposure to such drugs will often only worsen your pet's injury, or even make it irreversible. You should not try to blot the surface of the eye with all kinds of napkins, and you should not press on the damaged surface.

Eye removal for glaucoma in a dog

My dog had an eye removed in January 08 due to glaucoma.

Hello. In January 08, my dog had an eye removed due to glaucoma . the seam healed normally and was clean. At the beginning of March, the dog began to scratch it, they noticed that purulent discharge appeared from a small hole that was left from a stitch in the inner corner of the eye, then this hole became even larger, blood began to flow, and pus appeared. This wound has not healed yet (it has festered for more than 2 months). They injected me with antibiotics, applied streptoid ointment (as prescribed by the doctor), and now we are dripping sea buckthorn oil ourselves. Tell me how we can help? The dog eats well, is cheerful, and behaves normally. (Biryukova Natalya Alexandrovna, Ekaterinaburg)

Answer

So, you need to widen the wound, open it, and completely remove the infected contents. And only then carry out antibiotic therapy.

Eye removal in animals

For certain eye diseases in animals, surgery to remove the eye becomes necessary, since the eyeball becomes a source of suffering for the animal, and the pathological processes that develop in it can threaten the health and life of the animal.

Removal of an animal's eye is carried out when the intraocular structures are severely damaged and visual functions cannot be restored. Such diseases include: buphthalmos (terminal glaucoma), penetrating wounds into the eyeball, blunt injuries and contusions, which are combined with damage to the choroid, with extensive hemorrhages and disorders of the retina and vitreous body.

Surgery to remove the eyeball is necessary in cases where therapeutic treatment is pointless. Pathological processes that rapidly develop in an animal’s eye can only be stopped with the help of surgical intervention to relieve the patient of pain and return him to normal life.

Surgery to remove a dog's eye must meet the following requirements:

— minimal injuries;

- low risk of postoperative complications;

- small volume of anesthetic substances;

- short period of pain after surgery;

— satisfactory result;

The methods used to remove a cat's eye are called evisceration, enucleation and exenteration.

Enucleation is the removal of the eyeball, in which the muscular-ligamentous and auxiliary apparatus of the eye is left intact.

Evisceration is the complete removal of the contents of the eyeball and all intraocular structures. After the blood clot dissolves, only the fibrin framework remains in the cavity, which prevents complete atrophy of the eye. Usually after a month, the size of the operated eye becomes significantly smaller than that of a healthy one.

After a year or two after surgery, the fibrinous framework that supports the shape of the eye completely resolves, resulting in complete atrophy, and in some cases the diameter of the eyeball does not exceed 0.5 centimeters.

There are some disadvantages of this method and they are expressed in postoperative inversion of the upper eyelid, inversion and inversion of the lower eyelid, which subsequently leads to injury to the conjunctiva, an increase in mucous and lacrimal secretions. Purulent conjunctivitis may also begin. The gland of the third eyelid, which is normally held between the eye itself and the third eyelid, falls out and can be pinched by the eyelids.

Exenteration is a radical way to eliminate the pathological process in the eye. This technique involves enucleation combined with removal of the extraocular muscles, eyelids, orbital fat, third eyelid, lacrimal gland, and all conjunctival tissues. The cut edges of the eyelids are sewn together. This method is indicated for the treatment of severe purulent processes of the eyeball, orbit, as well as neoplastic processes.

Veterinary

Fairytale bulldogs and their friends

News:

Be vigilant and careful - pink spots on the snow are not potassium permanganate!1. This is ISONIAZID! This poison reacts with water/snow to produce a pink color. Strictly keep your four-legged animals on a short leash. Smell it, and especially not under any circumstances. Mothers with small children need to be extremely careful! Playing with such snow is very dangerous.

Author Topic: Eye diseases in dogs (Read 8767 times)

« : 19 December 2010, 15:31:31 »

Eye diseases in dogs.

A dog's eye consists of an eyeball, then covered by the upper and lower eyelids with eyelashes. The eyelids and the front of the eye are covered with a mucous membrane - the conjunctiva (which forms a fold - the third eyelid). Tear fluid accumulates in the inner corner of the eye and flows through pinholes into the nasal cavity along the lacrimal canal. When blocked (due to inflammation or physiological characteristics), the tear flows onto the front surface of the dog’s muzzle, forming dark “paths”.

In dogs, unlike in humans, it is difficult to determine diseases associated with visual impairment (myopia and farsightedness). Most often, inflammatory diseases of the eye membranes (conjunctivitis, keratitis, blepharitis) are observed in dogs.

Types of injuries

The cornea, sclera and eyelid are the most dangerous and vulnerable to injury areas of your furry friend’s eye. Moreover, the trauma of the first two of them often leads the pet to blindness. Wounds that occur when a foreign body enters the eye are usually divided into the following types:

Non-penetrating. In this case, the wound channel affects the surface of the cornea, but does not involve deeper layers;
Penetrating. A dangerous, deep type of damage that can lead to loss of the eye.

In addition, veterinarians divide wounds into simple and complex, with complications and without complications. Surgical intervention is required for complicated wounds, when the injury has led to extensive damage to the cornea and sclera. Surgery for severe mechanical damage is also necessary to remove the remains of the eye.

Wounds that reach the choroid of the eyeball are especially dangerous. Such an injury makes the visual organ vulnerable to harmful infection, which can lead to uveitis (an inflammatory process in the choroid). A bruise that damages the lens is the most serious injury of all; because of it, the animal will most likely become one-eyed.

It is important to understand that even the slightest injury to the eye apparatus can lead to blindness. This is due to the localization of the site of inflammation if it occurs, that is, in the immediate vicinity of the pet’s brain. In addition, any pathology of the eye increases the risk that the dog will eventually develop glaucoma or have increased intraocular pressure. All this inevitably leads to a decrease in visual acuity.

This is interesting: Types of cat clippers

A cat or dog scratches its eye: what to do?

If your pet has severe itching and scratches its eyes, this is the first sign of conjunctivitis. It can occur in both acute and calmer forms. If you don't take action, your cat/dog can tear their eyes and hurt themselves even more.

In such a situation, you need to show the animal to a veterinarian and he will prescribe the correct treatment. Only a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis.

Unfortunately, your beautiful creature, cat and dog, fell ill with conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis is a disease caused by inflammation of the connective membrane of the eye in an animal. This disease can affect one eye or both. It is necessary to pay attention if a cat scratches its eye constantly, for example, only the left one, then the right one is still healthy. The main causes of conjunctivitis are: - Introducing a bacterial infection into the animal’s eye; Manifestation of various skin or viral diseases to which the animal has been exposed; Getting any foreign body into the animal's eye, causing irritation and inflammation of the eye; It could also be an allergy; Or mechanical damage to the cornea. Conjunctivitis can occur in animals in both acute and chronic forms. If an animal scratches its eyes intensely, as if tearing them apart with its paws, then most likely the disease is expressed in an acute form and is caused by a bacterial infection. The first main symptom of conjunctivitis in an animal is severe itching, during which the animal scratches its eye throughout the day. However, I note that sometimes, in rare cases, a pet may not experience itching in the eye area

Source

Symptoms

Mechanical damage to the visual organ is characterized by the sudden onset of symptoms. At the same time, the pet’s eyelids swell, the eye itself turns red, the animal becomes restless and constantly tries to wipe the damaged area with its paws. Sometimes the owner may notice blood stains in the injured area. The easiest way to detect damage is if a foreign object, such as a blade of grass or a small midge, gets into your pet's eye.

The severity of the injury can be checked using an ordinary flashlight. It is enough to direct a beam of light into the damaged eye and see if the pupil has dilated. If there is no reaction, then the injury is very serious, and the animal must be urgently taken to a doctor for examination.

With such signs, when the eyeball becomes dark or protrudes beyond the orbit, we can say with confidence that pathogenic microflora has entered the tissue. An animal with such symptoms requires prompt and qualified treatment.

Corneal injury is a very serious pathology that can lead to blindness in a dog. The main signs of such damage are that the dog constantly squints his eyes. He may experience uncontrollable spasms of the eyelids and photophobia. Under no circumstances should you let your pet scratch the damaged area. Against the background of injury, keratitis can develop, an inflammation that leads to clouding of the cornea.

Treatment options

First of all, the owner must completely protect the pet from scratching the damaged area.

. To do this, you can put a muzzle on him and try to calm him down. It is acceptable to use mild sedatives to make the animal feel more confident. It is important to try to get your pet to a veterinary clinic as quickly as possible, only there they will be able to provide qualified assistance.

Under no circumstances should you attempt to treat your dog yourself, including removing a foreign object from its eye. This can damage the cornea and cause scleral rupture.

If the dog has been wounded in the eye by a cat's claw, then it is permissible to wash the damaged organ with a decoction of calendula and chamomile. It is also important to rinse the other, healthy eye to prevent possible infection. At the veterinary hospital, a specialist will carefully examine the injury and determine further treatment. If the wound is not very deep, then eye drops are prescribed that can relieve irritation, as well as antiseptic lotions for rinsing. The pet must be under the supervision of a doctor for 8-12 days. If suppuration suddenly begins, the animal is prescribed a course of antibiotics.
If some small particle (a piece of bark, a grain of sand) gets into the dog’s eye, the owner needs to rinse the injured organ with ordinary warm water. At the clinic, the doctor will additionally treat the eye and apply a solution of novocaine (2%) to relieve pain in the shaggy fidget. After this, procedures are carried out to finally remove the foreign object from the eye. Finally, antimicrobial drops are instilled into the eye to prevent infection from developing there.
If an animal runs into something sharp with its eye, for example, a blade of grass or a twig, and the object itself remains inside, then immediate surgery is needed. Before this, the pet is put into a state of anesthesia, after which the object is removed. Subsequent therapy consists of antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Finally, I would like to say that dogs are very active and cheerful animals that love to run, jump and chase cats. Unfortunately, each of these characteristics of the temperament of four-legged pets negates any prevention of eye injuries. Therefore, the owner should have in his first aid kit the basic medications to eliminate the first symptoms of such wounds, as well as the number of the nearest veterinary clinic where the pet can be helped.

Dogs often suffer eye injuries. This can be the result of a walk in a field with tall, coarse grass or in the forest when the dog, in the excitement of the hunt, does not notice a twig or branch, fights with relatives or with cats, car accidents or other accidents.

Injuries to the eye can be superficial (corneal trauma) or penetrating. Corneal injuries occur more frequently and, unless corneal perforation occurs, have a better prognosis. The most common cause of corneal injury is cat scratches.

Blunt trauma to the eye, in which the traumatic object does not penetrate the eye itself, can lead to prolapse of the eyeball, bleeding into the anterior chamber of the eye (hephema), dislocation of the lens, retinal detachment, fracture of the orbital bones, and rupture of the eyeball.

Acute eye injury occurs when pierced by a sharp object (cat's claw, thorn, twig, sharp toys, etc.). Such an injury is accompanied by lacerations of the eyelids, conjunctiva, sclera, penetrating injury to the cornea, hephema, displacement of the lens, etc.

An animal can get an eye injury at any age, but puppies and young dogs are more likely to suffer from eye damage because they are more active and less cautious. Also at risk are dogs of brachycephalic breeds with large bulging eyes (pugs, French bulldogs, Pekingese, etc.).

This page contains the most popular posts and comments from our users on the topic “Cat scratched.” This will help you quickly get an answer to your question, and you can also take part in the discussion.

Girls, my father-in-law was scratched badly by a cat. I washed it with soap and water and applied plantain. Did I do everything right? Who else does this? Or should I have used a different herb? We just don’t use chemicals at all! And we don’t take pills, we only treat ourselves with herbs. Tell me, girls. I’m worried.

The cat has a dangerous bug under its claws, since it scratched it badly, it could have caused an infection, it’s not plantain that is needed here, but something more serious.

The cat scratched me and a sore came out and itched. The analysis revealed ringworm. The doctor prescribed terbinafine cream and pimafucort. The soreness has gone away, but sometimes my hand still itches. Now the doctor prescribed me terbinafine tablets. But there are a lot of side effects, which I am absolutely not allowed to do. Has anyone drank them? I really don’t want to drink them... Who suffered from this? How did you recover? Thank you very much in advance