Abnormal Eyelid in Dogs

What Are Abnormal Eyelids In Dogs?

A lot of dog owners seem to suffer a genetic defect named Abnormal Eyelids. These Eyelids are a genetic form that inverts the Eyelids into the dogs eye. This type of rolling causes the Eyelids hair to rub against their cornea which can results in corneal erosions, ulcer erosions, which causes pain.

When Eyelids surface the eye itself, this causes itching and scratching which can be irritating towards your dog. This issue affects all different types of breeds, such as giant breeds known as the Great dane, Mastiff, etc. This also affects short-nosed breeds like the Boxer, Pug, etc, and also sporting breeds.

The term for abnormal eyelids are called Entropion, and this is usually diagnosed as early as around the dog reaches his or her own birthday. This issue also affects cats as well.

What Are The Symptoms Involved?

Before taking your dog to the vet, there are numerous things you can look for when it comes to Entropion. When it comes to giant breeds, one of the most common issues are mucus or pus discharge that is located in the corner of the dog's eyes. Eye tics, eye inflammation or a rupture of the cornea itself are other common signs of Entropion.

Your dog may also have excessive tears in their eyes as well. What usually occurs when this happens is the dog's eyelids may appear to be rolling inward to your pets eyeball. When your dog is still a puppy, if they cannot open their eyes by the time they are four or five weeks of age, it is extremely important to take your dog to the vet rather than waiting until it is too late which could result in surgery that is required. This issue causes extreme discomfort for your dog and if left untreated, can cause abnormal coloring in the eye, scarring, and slow healing type of sores on the cornea.

What Needs To Be Done To Fix Entropion

If this issue is taken care of right away, entropion can be reversed if the issue is removed all together or if pain has lessened in your dog.

One thing is certain is if your full grown dog has this issue, breeding should not be done because their puppies can genetically be born with this problem or become sick. What a veterinarian usually does is turn the eyelid hairs back away from your pets eye along with stitches inside the eyelid. Injections with a certain type of medication are also used into the eyelid close to the location where the eyelid is turning inwards, or they use a certain type of anesthetics to block the nerves in your dog's eyelid that will help prevent pain in the future for your pet.

What happens during surgery is a performance done that lifts the brow that results in permanent eyelid implants. When it comes to puppies, a veterinarian will treat them with temporary stitches that are usually removed in two to three weeks. Entropion in most cases usually requires surgery to fix the issue.

This type of surgery usually costs between $300-$500 depending on the severity of the issue at hand. There have been cases that have been known to charge between $500-$1500. Each dog varies, and each veterinarian charges a different cost, no one is the same.