Yesterday, when you looked at your Boston Terrier, you saw their sweet if not large eyes peering back at you. Today, your Terrier’s eyes look swollen, red, and bulging, almost like they could pop out. This is obviously very terrifying to you as a pet owner. Should you consider red eyes an emergency? What’s caused this eye issue anyway?
Boston Terriers are susceptible to an eye condition known as cherry eye. This occurs when their third eyelid’s glands protrude visibly. Besides cherry eye, your Terrier could also have conjunctivitis, dry eye, or red eye.
If you’re unfamiliar with the above eye maladies that can affect dogs, then we encourage you to keep reading. In this article, we’ll explain more about these conditions, their symptoms, and whether they necessitate treatment from a vet (as well as what kind).
Let’s get started.
The Causes of Red Eye in Your Boston Terrier
Cherry Eye
What Is It?
While we people have two eyelids, your Boston Terrier and other dog breeds have three. This third eyelid, which is referred to as the nictitating membrane, is also found in cats. Your Terrier relies on their third eyelid to produce tears, which feeds the eye nutrients and oxygen.
Usually, you can’t see the Boston Terrier’s third eyelid until they develop a case of cherry eye. Then it becomes very visible. This occurs when the Terrier’s retinaculum, a fascia band for keeping tendons positioned correctly, becomes defective.
If your Terrier gets cherry eye, it’s usually within their first two years of life, but it can happen later, too.
What Are the Symptoms?
The most obvious symptom of cherry eye is also one of the biggest trademarks of this condition. That is, the third eyelid pops out. It resembles a cherry, hence the name cherry eye. This gland prolapse can lead to further problems if left untreated, such as third eyelid infection, swelling, inflammation, drying, or even the risk of trauma from external objects.
Accompanying these symptoms are eye fluid draining or discharge. Your Boston Terrier may also make more tears than usual because the third eyelid is unregulated.
How Does a Vet Treat Cherry Eye?
If you see a case of cherry eye in your Terrier, it’s recommended you bring them to a vet immediately. This condition will not get better on its own. In fact, the longer the Boston Terrier’s cherry eye goes unchecked, the more they’re at risk of infections and external trauma.
If you catch the cherry eye and bring your Terrier into your vet soon enough, then your veterinarian may recommend medical management. This would entail a steroid medication that could encourage the third eyelid to recede.
In most cases, though, it’s necessary for your dog to receive surgery to reset the placement of their third eyelid. Your Terrier’s third eyelid will not be removed outright, since this could cause dry eye.
Conjunctivitis
What Is It?
If you don’t see the telltale third eyelid but your Boston Terrier’s eyes are still red, then there’s the possibility they could have a case of conjunctivitis. This targets the eye’s conjunctiva, a mucus membrane that contains epithelial cells.
A dog’s conjunctiva is a far-reaching part of the eye, encompassing the eyelids (including the third eyelid) and the entire eyeball. As the cells within the conjunctiva release mucus, this keeps your dog’s eyes moist.
Since conjunctivitis causes swelling and discoloration in the Terrier’s conjunctiva, this could be why your dog’s eyes are red.
What Are the Symptoms?
Besides the redness, you may also notice the Boston Terrier’s eyes look very swollen. In response, your Terrier may blink more than they usually do, and they could begin squinting as well. The discharge coming from their eyes, which may be green or yellow and tends to have a cloudy texture, is a dead giveaway that something’s wrong as well.
You will tend to see the above symptoms in both your Terrier’s eyes, yet in certain instances, only one eye may be symptomatic.
How Does a Vet Treat Conjunctivitis?
By getting the Boston Terrier on a regimen of triple-antibiotic ophthalmic ointments, ciprofloxacin, oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol, tobramycin, or gentamicin, your pup may be on the way to wellness.
Dry Eye
What Is It?
Like we people can suffer from dry, itchy, uncomfortable eyes, so too can our favorite four-legged friends. Also referred to as keratoconjunctivitis sicca or KCS, dry eye leads to corneal inflammation as tear production drops below where it should be.
In dogs, they make tears via their third eyelid as well as the lacrimal gland, which has a tear film that’s aqueous. While dogs can’t cry tears of happiness or sadness, they still need tears to keep infections and debris away from the eye as well as to keep the cornea lubricated. Their tears comprise water, fatty liquid, and mucus.
If your Boston Terrier has neurogenic KCS, hypothyroidism, canine distemper, or immune diseases, they could develop dry eye. The same is true if they take sulfa drugs, also known as sulphonamides.
Certain dog breeds are more likely to have dry eye than others. The Boston Terrier is on this list, as is the Yorkshire Terrier, West Highland White Terrier, Shih-Tzu, Samoyed, Pug, Pekingese, Lhasa Apso, English Spring Spaniel, English Bulldog, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and the Bloodhound.
What Are the Symptoms?
You can’t tell how dry and uncomfortable your Boston Terrier’s eyes feel by looking at them, but you will notice symptoms like redness, lots of blinking, and squinting. Your dog may also go long periods with their eyes closed, as this could somewhat alleviate their pain.
Other symptoms include corneal ulcerations as well as discharge that’s heavy in mucus, has a thick consistency, and may be yellow in color.
How Does a Vet Treat Dry Eye?
Your Boston Terrier needs to make tears, so get them to a vet right away if you suspect dry eye. More than likely, your vet will prescribe them either tacrolimus or Optimmune, also known as cyclosporine. Also, a tear production stimulant may be recommended. These medications can cause your dog to make their own tears again as well as renew their tear film.
You can do something for your Terrier as well. Every day, even a few times daily, take a washcloth and wet it with warm water. Then, clean up your dog’s eyes. This could generate the production of tear film as well as lessen pain.
Red Eye
What Is It?
Red eye in and of itself isn’t a medical condition that affects the eyes. Instead, it’s often a symptom of some other condition, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it seriously. Here’s a rundown of what could cause red eyes in your Boston Terrier:
• Uveitis: This eye inflammation targets the Terrier’s uvea, or tissue in the middle of the eye. One or two eyes can be affected at once, and symptoms may include blurry vision, eye pain, swelling, and redness.
• Glaucoma: Yes, your dog is at risk of glaucoma, which causes eye pressure that restricts the drainage of fluids. The optic nerve, which is impacted with glaucoma, feels this pressure especially and could cause vision loss.
• Corneal ulcers: The cornea has a lot of layers, and the deepest ones can disappear with a corneal ulcer. This condition, also referred to as ulcerative keratitis, includes symptoms like squinting and abnormal eye tearing.
• Eye injury or trauma: Trauma, such as an injury or puncture to the eye, would definitely cause redness, but the symptoms are likely to be more severe. Your dog may have eye bleeding and pain as well.
• KCS: Dry eye or KCS, which we talked about in the prior section, certainly has eye redness as a main symptom.
• Conjunctivitis: The same is true of conjunctivitis, which may cause discharge and squinting as well.
• Allergies: Your Boston Terrier may be allergic to all sorts of things, among them food, pollen, or grass. Symptoms of allergies in dogs include wheezing, sneezing, coughing, and skin itchiness. Some canines also exhibit nose and eye discharge and redness.
How Does a Vet Treat Red Eye?
Your veterinarian can diagnose your dog’s red eye in one of several ways, including blood tests, fluorescein stain tests, tonometry, the Schirmer tear test, and an ophthalmologic exam. Depending on which of the above causes is determined to be the culprit, treatment will vary.
Conclusion
Does your Boston Terrier have red eyes? It could be due to a condition known as cherry eye as well as dry eye, conjunctivitis, or any slew of conditions that cause reddened eyes (including allergies).
Since the above eye issues tend to worsen without treatment, your dog will depend on you to get them veterinary assistance if their eyes are red and uncomfortable. With the help of this article, you’ll have a better idea of what’s going on with your Boston Terrier. Best of luck!
Author Nicole Malczan