Can You Use Human Eye Wash On A Dog?
According to veterinary eye care experts, normally a call is received by every animal hospital almost every day from the owners or caretakers of pet dogs regarding the problems in the eyes of their dogs along with their concern about various other health problems of their lovely companion. They usually ask whether they can use their eye wash on their dog.
In response to these types of calls these experts recommend the use of ordinary eye wash including buffered sterile saline to wash the eyes of their dog. But if the dog has sore and inflamed eyes then instead of recommending any eye wash they usually advice to see their vet immediately. Though certain ointments and artificial tear drops used by humans may not be harmful for your dog, if his eyes are drying, but using them without consulting your vet can be harmful for him in certain conditions.
Common eye problems in dogs
Sometimes, certain anxious and worried pet owners bring their dogs to their vet to check the soreness in his eyes. This soreness can be variable in each case as in some cases it can be mild in nature in the supporting tissues around his eyes but in certain cases it can be corneal ulcer of advanced stage causing projecting out of the internal content of his eyes from the surface of his cornea. People usually use human eye drops to clear up the eye problems of their pet for several day without consulting their vet. In the meantime the problem grows to an advanced stage only due to such negligence.
For this reason most of the vet hospitals and private vet practitioners direct their entire staff to take the calls regarding the ocular problems in dogs on priority. Main reason to give importance to such calls is that the severity or type of the eye problem cannot be evaluated verbally. Some innocent looking problem can lead to an emergency condition, if not cared properly in time. Such cases must be attended at priority.
Squinting, for instance, is one of the most common eye problems in dogs. Initially it starts with slight irritation in an eye that squints for some time with an excessive production of tears. But it cannot be diagnosed that the dog is squinting due to a dust article hiding under his eyelid, wound of penetration due to careless use of BB gun or due to minute scratch on the cornea, without examining the structure and condition of the eye. In this condition if the pet owner uses the human eye wash to clear the eyes of his dog, without consulting the vet, then it can be harmful for the pet in the long run. Initially innocent looking squint can become a fatal problem, even up to cancer, for the dog if not examined well in time.
With all of this in mind you should not use human eye wash on a dog, even for clearing up his tearing eyes, without consulting a vet. Instead of using human eye wash you are recommended using Vet Aid’s Animal Wound Care Spray for this purpose.
