How To Give a Pet Eye Drops

As much as you would have eye problems or concerns, your pet may have those problems as well. Unlike human beings, we can easily express what kind of irritation we are feeling, but your pet would only be able to whine or probably stay silent with the pain or irritation. In worst cases, your pet may try to scratch the eye incessantly to relieve itself of the irritation or pain. So make sure to take the precautionary steps of protecting your pet’s eye as you get it to a veterinarian.

And as much as you would have procedures to follow before putting Visine in your own eyes, here are also some procedures you have to do when giving your pet eye drops.

1. Read the instructions. Depending on the condition of your pet, and the instructions of your veterinarian, you have to follow the instructions of the eye drop you are going to give. It will require you a certain amount of drops to apply in a day, and what prerequisites you may have to do, like wiping any discharge around the area of your pet’s eye. Whether it is for dry eye, eye cataract or eye glaucoma, following the instructions religiously will help your pet get better faster.
2. Secure your pet. If you can hold your pet between your legs, make sure that it will not be able to get away, but is comfortable at the same time. Make sure that it is not scared or in pain, or else you might hurt each other in the process. If you can get a friend or family member to help you, it will make it easier for you to administer the drops with both hands.
3. Pull back the lower eyelid. Once the pet is secured, ready your eye drop medicine and pull back your pet’s lower eyelid to make it as a kind of pocket for the medicine. Remember to do this gently, yet fast enough so you can squeeze in the drops as fast as possible into the irritated eye. The longer you take, the more uncomfortable your pet gets, and you may not get to finish before your pet refuses to come near until some amount of time, or sufficient coaxing.
4. Let your pet walk around or rest. After applying the drops, your pet may either go walking about the room, blinking or shaking its head because of the liquid, but it will eventually resume to going about normally within a few minutes. If your pet is not feeling well because of its eye problem, it may opt to just go back to sleep. Whichever it will be, make sure to monitor your pet for any possible complications that may arise.

For further information on the types of eye drops that may be recommended for your pet, look up these following brands: Patanol (for allergic reactions like inflammation, redness, itching, watering and burning), Restasis (for chronic dry eye), Vigamox (for pink eye), Zymar (used to treat bacterial eye infections), and Tobradex or Tobramycin (also for bacterial eye infections). Each type of eye drop have different instructions, so make sure to read them again before applying them to your pet.