Conjunctivitis treatment

[Helen_Jayne]

Hi, I have a beloved silkie who can't open her eye, it looks nasty with a white crust sticking it together. Can I use human eye ointments on her? I washed it with saline solution to unstick the eyelids but she still won't open it, it does look sore. I noticed her eye was a bit gacky yesterday and put saline in it but it's got worse overnight.

 

[CayugaJana]

Yes you can use human ointments on her. I would definitely do it right before bedtime so it won’t get rubbed off as fast.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you get antibiotic ointment or drops without a prescription in the UK? Ciprofloxacin, Neosporin, oxytetracycline, Erythromycin, and others may be used. If the conjunctivitis is due to a respiratory disease, such as mycoplasma, you may want to get an antibiotic from your veterinarian. If there is sneezing, nasal drainage, gasping, lethargy, that could be a problem.

 

[Helen_Jayne]

Thanks. I've actually managed to treat it with saline solution several times a day so thankfully I did without but it's good to know this for future problems. It is a problem in the UK that you can only get over-the-counter medicines which tend to be very mild - anything stronger and most things containing antibiotics require a prescription.