Symptoms and Treatment of Keratitis in Dogs
📝 Summary
Keratitis is inflammation of the cornea — common in small long-haired breeds — and ranges from surface roughness to deep pain, pus, and even perforation. Treatment means flushing the eye, antibacterials to prevent iris adhesion, and atropine, with vet care for severe cases.
1 Causes
Usually from trauma or injury to the eye — the most common trigger — but it can also appear with an infectious disease or another illness.
2 Symptoms
(1) Traumatic keratitis: a mark of injury on the corneal surface, damaged epithelium, and a rough, uneven spot. (2) Superficial keratitis: a rough surface, cloudy eye, with the opacity a pale blue or gray-white. (3) Deep keratitis: inflammation reaches deep into the eye; the eyeball is painful to touch and turns white-opaque from black, with broom-like purplish capillaries. (4) Suppurative keratitis: severe pain on touch and pus-like discharge; severe cases can perforate the retina and cause suppurative endophthalmitis.
3 Treatment
(1) Clear the inflammation: flush the eye with 3% boric acid (or saline) to remove discharge, then put antibacterial drops or ointment in the conjunctival sac to prevent the iris from sticking; do this twice daily, and 0.5–1% atropine sulfate can be used. (2) Antibacterials such as 0.25% chloramphenicol, 0.5–1% streptomycin, 0.5–1% neomycin, or 0.5% tetracycline once or twice daily prevent corneal infection; high-concentration drops (e.g., 40,000 U/ml penicillin, 5% streptomycin, 4,000 U/ml polymyxin) may be used hourly, or an antibiotic ointment applied. (3) To ease corneal cloudiness: calomel mixed with sugar powder in equal parts once daily, or 0.5% acetocortisone drops, helps control new vessels and cloudiness and aids absorption.
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