What Should You Do If Your Dog Has Eaten Eye Drops?
If you discover that your dog has eaten eye drops, you should take it to the vet immediately. A veterinarian will examine your dog and assess its vital signs. They will also ask you questions such as:
● What symptoms have you been noticing in your pet?
● When did the symptoms start?
● Do you know for sure that your dog ate eye medication?
● Did you have access to the bottle?
Be prepared to answer these questions. Record times and symptoms as soon as you know that something may have happened. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
The veterinarian may do blood work to determine how the internal organs are functioning. Heart rate and respiration monitors might be used if your dog has an irregular heart rate, arrhythmia or trouble breathing.
Your vet will then recommend the best form of poison control and treatment. They may recommend activated charcoal, which can absorb some of the toxic chemicals from the body through a process called covalent bonding.
Yohimbine is another medication that can counteract antihistamine in eye drops, which is what causes the toxicity in dogs. This medication may have to be administered several times and frequently until the eye solution are out of the system.
Your dog may have to stay at the vet’s office for monitoring and medication. You’ll be able to take it back home when all signs of poisoning have disappeared. The vet may also redo the lab work to ensure that the chemical is no longer affecting your dog.
Can I give my dog allergy eye drops?
Visine is Not FDA Approved for Use in Dogs
The FDA has not approved the use of Visine for treating dogs. Before you try to treat your dog with Visine or any other OTC eye drop, you should take them to see the vet for a proper diagnosis.
Tetrahydrozoline, the active ingredient of Visine, is in the same drug class as oxymetazoline and causes similar symptoms in pets. Flavored chewable vitamins may be attractive to dogs. High doses of vitamin D can cause kidney failure. Very high doses of vitamin A can also cause serious problems in pets.
Do not take Systane Ultra (artificial tears eye drops) by mouth. If Systane Ultra (artificial tears eye drops) is put in the mouth or swallowed, call a doctor or poison control center right away.
Hydroxypropyl cellulose is considered safe for all animal species.
What do I do if my dog ate eye drops?
If it’s an actual medicine, call a vet tomorrow and simply explain the situation. If they think you should bring her in, do so. If it’s just some irritation relief drops, your dog will be fine.
Will eye drops hurt a dog?
Do you use Visine? This is a very common OTC eye drop medication used by many around the world. It’s so common that you probably have a bottle in your medicine cabinet. While this is an effective treatment for some eye problems, can it make your dog sick? Is Visine toxic to dogs?