ER VET

In this episode of ER VET, Dr. Justine Lee, DACVECC, DABT chats with Dr. Danielle Rutherford on how to care for your pet's eyes and monitor them for any ocular problems!

The discussion covers the signs and symptoms pet owners should be attentive to when it comes to their pet's eyes, the necessity of regular eye cleaning, tips for administering eye care products to pets, and potential health issues dogs might face in adverse weather conditions. With helpful advice and insights, this episode provides valuable information for pet owners to ensure the well-being of their furry companions' eyes.

Listen to Episode #180 Now:

"So eye care is huge. That's a big, big concern we can pay attention to because our eyes are the first contact a lot of our pets have with the outside world, with pollens, with hair, everything in their environment."

— Dr. Danielle Rutherford

 

BIO:

Danielle Rutherford, VMD
Internal Medicine
Undergrad: Harvard University
Veterinary School: University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Internship: Veterinary Emergency and Referral Group, Brooklyn, NY
USDA accredited for International Travel Certificates

Transcript:

Announcer [00:00:00]:
Pet Life Radio. This is Pet Life Radio. Let's Talk Pets.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:00:26]:
Welcome to ER Vet on Pet Life Radio. I'm your host Dr. Justine Lee, and I'm a board certified emergency critical care veterinary specialist and toxicologist. Thanks for joining us today. Today we're going to be talking about all things eyes. And being that your dog and cat have eyes, you need to tune in. We'll be right back after these messages. I'm your host Dr.

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Announcer [00:01:21]:
Let's Talk Pets on PetLifeRadio.com.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:01:40]:
Welcome back to ER Vet on pet Lake radio. Today I'm really excited to be speaking with Dr. Danielle Rutherford and we're going to be talking about all things eyes. She's a veterinarian at Westside Veterinary center in New York City. And Dr. Rutherford, thank you so much for joining us today.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:01:57]:
Thank you so much for having me, Justine. I'm so pleased to be here and speaking with all of you.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:02:02]:
Wonderful. So just so our pet owning audience knows who you are, do you mind just giving us a little bit of background about who you are, where you train and what you do now?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:02:12]:
Of course. So I am a native New Yorker who went to veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania. I spent four years there and then returned back to New York where I did my internship at the veterinary emergency and referral group. And since 2013, I've been a small animal practitioner at Westside Vet where I see dogs and cats every day. And I've been back home in native New York.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:02:37]:
All right, so what I wanted to talk to you about today are eyeballs. Now, obviously, we always know that the eyes are the window to the soul, but in the veterinary er, we often will see dogs and cats coming in for medical emergencies like sudden blindness or a lot of discharge or even swelling of the eyes. Now, I always say when it comes to a pet's overall health, one of the earliest indicators are actually their general appearance. So it may be stuff like vision or how clear their eyes are. A dog's health is comprised of many factors. Just like humans, we pay a lot of attention to what they eat. But in your opinion, what are some other very important health concerns to pay attention to?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:03:20]:
Thank you so much for asking that. It is absolutely something I talk to people about every single day. We love our pets. We love to feed our pets, and it's very easy to pay attention to what's going in their mouth and often what's coming out. But generally, looking at their appearance is super important as well. So eye care is huge. That's a big, big concern we can pay attention to because our eyes are the first contact a lot of our pets have with the outside world, with pollens, with hair, everything in their environment. And it's an easy way that we can really notice changes with our pets and their health and get them into the vet as soon as possible.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:03:59]:
But there's so many things we can do to also kick in and step up and do things to kind of keep them comfortable and keep them out of the vet just by doing some things at home.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:04:08]:
All right, well, you mentioned caring for dogs eyes and ears. What are some key ingredients owners should look for in eye care products for their dogs? And stepping back, what are some signs that mean that they even need eye or ear care?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:04:23]:
I think the most important thing to keep in mind when we're taking care of our pets eyes is it's a very sensitive area. So the most important thing we can look for with ingredients is something as close as possible to the natural eye environment. When we do treatments such as flushing out the eyes, we really are trying to prevent buildup, to prevent infection, to prevent discomfort. It's not meant to treat infection. Of course, we have to see our vets for that. So these products don't have to be medicated, but we really want to look for products that have ingredients that are ph balanced. They're not going to sting when we try to put them in our pet's eyes, so they're not feeling uncomfortable. We want something that usually contains sterile saline.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:05:10]:
Sodium is one of our components of our natural tears, so it's going to be very gentle to our eyes. We'd like to have something without a lot of harmful preservatives. And also we always want to use products where we can rely on them. We know that they've been made by a reputable company. For example, eyewash is something super simple that we can use at home. It helps us to remove debris from their eyes, get pollen out of our pets eyes, especially for our pets who deal with allergies. That's one of the biggest ways we can help keep them comfortable. So one that I really like is made by Project Watson under Baushin Lam.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:05:47]:
It's a great sodium based, sterile saline solution. Easy to use, has a very nice tip that allows a steady stream. We're not sitting there drop by drop trying to flush everything out of our pet size. It's very quick and easy to use because, of course, the most important thing we can do is to look at our pets. And some of the things that we really want to notice if we need to do this is, of course, maybe an odor or debris in their fur. But also, if their eyes are red, they're rubbing at their eyes. They might be squinting or blinking excessively. They might have one eye that looks swollen compared to the other.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:06:23]:
Those are things we can really pay attention to even when our pets turn up and look at us to say there might be a problem.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:06:28]:
Awesome. So some great points again, whether or not it's a dog or a cat, if you notice any signs like squinting or redness or swelling or discharge from the eyes, like green discharge or excessive clear discharge, like excessive tearing. If your dog or cat are rubbing at the eyes, if it looks like pink eye, which is basically when the conjunctivitis, when the conjunctiva or the pink part of the eye becomes really swollen, if there's cloudiness to the surface of the eye, or, God forbid, if there's loss of vision, like you notice your dog is bumping into things or has a lot of anxiety, they're about to walk down the stairs and they're hesitant to do it. Maybe they have vision issues. So, again, look for those clinical signs. Again, squinting, rubbing, discharge, redness, swelling, anything that's going to irritate any behavioral changes. You always want to get to the ER vet or your veterinarian, because we want to make sure that there's not an ocular or eyeball problem. Now, I'm actually a huge advocate of having eye wash at home in your pet first aid kit, and you brought up the perfect situation.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:07:36]:
Like, if your dog or cat had something in the eye, we want to make sure to flush that out. So love that there's ph balance solutions that are out there that can help with that. And as a toxicologist, I always say when there's something poisonous that splashed into the eye, I actually want you to make sure you flush out that eye at home. So great information. Really appreciate you bringing that up. Now, how often should a dog's eyes be cleaned? Every day. Do they need it every day, or are there certain breeds or situations where you would do it every day.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:08:04]:
That's a great question. Of course, every dog is going to be a little different, but we really have a hard time over cleaning rather than under cleaning in general, I try to pay attention to pets based on their environment. So here in the city, we have a lot of smog, a lot of pollens. We spend a lot of time in the dog parks where it's dusty. They're playing with friends. Our pets are kicking up a lot of dust. Those pets can really benefit from daily eye cleaning. I also think a lot about breeds who might have excessive hair on their face.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:08:38]:
We have a lot of poodles and doodle mixes that have a lot of curls and long, beautiful eyelashes that trap a lot of dirt and debris. Those pets also benefit from frequent eye cleaning, but also one of the bigger things that's very easy for owners to see, and often they come to the vet asking about this, is those pets that deal with tear staining. So tear staining is definitely something that benefits so much from daily eye cleaning. If we can keep that tear debris from building up on the fur, it prevents a lot of buildup that leads to terrible odors and also redness and inflammation under that hair. Where their skin gets so red and irritated, our pets start pawing to try to remove that debris. If we can do that at home regularly, in just a minute a day, it helps to keep the buildup down so they're not uncomfortable.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:09:25]:
All right, Dr. Rutherford, you asked a great question. Tear staining. What are the signs of tear staining? Is it like just clear discharge or what exactly happens? Do you mind just describing it?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:09:36]:
Of course. Typically, the first sign that we may see, it's going to be a lot easier to notice in pets with lighter fur or hair, but often we see a reddish or brown staining on the fur itself right under the eyes. Often, these pets will always seem a little bit moist around their eyes. There can be a lot of extra clear or dark discharge because they're dealing with more irritation. These pets may also have a lot of kind of a change in smell in their hair as well. If you get close to their face, a lot of owners will notice their pets smell a little bit different, almost a little musky to the scent, but they may also be rubbing at their eyes just because they're a bit uncomfortable. But honestly, the first thing we see is always that dark or reddish stain to the fur.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:10:20]:
All right, super helpful. I always think it's small, white breed dogs that often have really severe tear staining. So, like for me, I think the Maltese, some of these poodles, miniature poodles, often will have it. So again, if you do notice that we do want to get that address. All right. Now I live in Minnesota and I will disclose I have dry eye, I have blepharitis, and it's definitely made worse during the winter, so my eyes get super dry, especially when there's a fan or a fire in the fireplace. We're approaching some cold. Obviously, depending on where you live in North America or wherever you're listening to this podcast, what are some potential health issues dogs might face during adverse weather in the wintertime?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:11:03]:
Thanks so much for bringing that up. We deal with the cold as well here. I think you're absolutely right. A lot of pets with dry eye can absolutely have a worse time in the winter. It gets so dry, windy, especially when the heat is on in the apartments, it gets really dry as well inside the apartment. So adding extra moisture just by rinsing our eyes can be super helpful. One other thing that we really deal with here in the city, and this may go for many other cities and places as well, is a lot of the salt that's placed down to try to prevent that ice from forming. So often our pets are walking outside and they may end up getting some of that salt blown into their face.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:11:42]:
Or also as they're walking, they eventually come home, they're touching their face, they're playing with their favorite toy. Often that salt ends up in their eyes as well, and that can be extremely irritating.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:11:53]:
We'll continue with this really important topic right after these messages from our sponsors.

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Let's Talk Pets Let's Talk Pets on Petlife radio. Petlife Radio, PetLifeRadio.com.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:13:26]:
Welcome back to ER Vet on Pet Life Radio. Really honored to be speaking with Dr. Danielle Rutherford. And what we've been talking about are all things eyes. Again, if you notice that your dog or your cat have any clinical signs of, like, chronic discharge, chronic yellow pus coming out of their eye, or constant tear staining, in other words, that brownish appearance that appears where our eye boogers come in the morning. There's things you can do at home. Now, one of the things we've talked about is cleaning your dog's eyes, especially if we feel like something got into it or if they have that chronic tear staining. But remember, as an ER vet, I'm always paranoid that something more serious is going on.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:14:09]:
So if you notice that it does not resolve or the signs are getting worse, like your dog or your cat are constantly squinting, they seem light phobic, or they're scared of the light. They're rubbing their face on the carpet. Please don't let them do it. The safest thing you can do is put one of those funnel hats on and try flushing out the eye. And then get to your vet or your er vet, especially if you think something might have happened, like trauma. In other words, cats. When you introduce a new cat to a new cat or a cat to a dog, I always worry about injury to the eye. I worry about corneal ulcers.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:14:45]:
Depending on where you practice, sometimes we'll see parts of a plant or even a thorn of a plant getting stuck in a dog's eye, even their eyelid, where it can constantly scrape, causing a corneal ulceration. So you definitely want to make sure to take care of your pet's eyes. Now, what are some signs that a pet parent can recognize indicating that a dog needs to see a vet when it comes to their eyes? I know I've already touched on a few points, but what additional information can you tell us about Dr. Rutherford?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:15:14]:
I think the most important other thing that we can pay attention to is, of course, we mentioned great things. So any redness, any yellow or green discharge, particularly excessive tearing, pawing at the eyes, but also swelling. Symmetry is huge. So all of a sudden we may notice our pets may have different pupil sizes. We might notice that their eyelids, as well as the whites of their eyes may look different from one side to the other. That's a huge thing to pay attention to. Asymmetry can often be the first thing we notice when there's something wrong.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:15:46]:
You brought up a great example. Just yesterday, my husband was complaining of some type of weird blurry vision on the side of his eyes. And that's the first thing I did. I was like, okay, go look in a mirror since I wasn't home, and tell me if your pupils are symmetrical. So again, the pupil size or even little shortcuts like that can definitely give us a lot of information. Okay, so again, if you notice some signs, your dog or cat's ocular lesions are getting worse. They're rubbing more, they're painful, they're super light phobic. They don't want to open their eye.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:16:15]:
Their eye seems swollen or it's bulging, or the glass of the eye, the surface of the eye, the cornea is cloudy or looking blue or really red. You can see a scratch or a divot. You want to get to a vet right away. If you can't get into your own veterinarian, you want to go to the ER vet, because sometimes this is emergent. And we always want to protect your dog's eyes or your cat's eyes and vision as best we can. Now, lastly, do you have any tips or tricks for getting dogs that don't like to have their eyes held open to allow their pet owners to be able to clean their eyes?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:16:49]:
This is one of my favorite topics. So you brought up a great one already. I think if you have a very difficult dog, or especially even if you have a very painful pet, using a plastic collar or cone, as you mentioned already, is a great way to keep them in place so that we can flush their eyes well. I also tend to try to avoid having the bottle coming at their face. One of the best things you can do is use a washcloth or cotton ball, place some solution on that fabric and hang it over their head. Give it a light squeeze so we're not bringing a bottle right at their eyeball. I think also any encouragement we can provide, having an extra person that can give them pets words of encouragement. Love is always super helpful, but having a lick mat or even a tasty treat like a churro treat or other kinds of peanut butter or anything that's really their favorite treat in the world, that they can keep them distracted as you're working is very, very helpful.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:17:45]:
If you have a really small dog that's very wiggly. Often I'll take a little towel and just place it over their shoulders and wrap it under their chin just to hold their legs in place. If we can keep their back very close to us, that often helps as well. But it really, really helps to try to make this a good experience for them because we do want to make them comfortable in the end.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:18:05]:
Totally agree. You'd be surprised what churro treats or peanut butter smeared on a wall or on the kitchen floor will do. I oftentimes like to do it along a wall just so the pet is looking up. So if you do it a little bit higher, it oftentimes will help with flushing out the eyes. I have so much empathy for pet owners when we tell them, when we prescribe them prescription medication, like topical medications like eyedrops or some of these ointments. It's harder to get in than you think. And a key important takeaway is please always make sure to keep the tip sterile, especially even with eyewashes, because you don't want to touch it and let it get contaminated. Another important tip is please do not use a prescription eye medication on another pet or in a situation where you're not sure if it's going to help or not.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:18:55]:
Sometimes even just having like, artificial tears or sterile ophthalmic petroleum jelly or mineral oil is helpful if you're not sure. But I don't like to use different types of medications like triple antibiotic or urethromycin because some of them actually can cause allergic reactions. Cats do not like triple antibiotic ointment, just so you know. And I will say that a lot of owners, they are trying to do a good thing. If they can't get into the vet, they'll try these drops, but especially if your dog or cat has a corneal ulceration, like there's an actual scratch or ulcer on the surface of the eye. If you use a medication with a steroid, it could actually make it worse. So again, please don't use prescription medications on another pet for another problem, especially with eye medications, unless you check with your veterinarian first. Dr.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:19:46]:
Weatherford, any last tips you want to leave with us?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:19:49]:
Thanks so much for asking. I would just leave you with the idea that eye care is such an easy way owners can take part in their pet's health by cleaning their eyes. Just using a daily rinse, it can help so much to prevent discomfort and pain. We see pets every single day who come in for allergies, for shampoo that's gotten in their eye not every eye emergency is avoidable, but the ones that are. It would really help if we could have everyone at home do some prophylactic cleaning. That really goes a long way to keep our pets happy and healthy. Also, just looking at our pets eyes every day really helps us with early detection. Seeing things like redness, cloudiness, swelling, discharge.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:20:36]:
It helps us call the vet earlier, and we can help you find the right medication that your pet needs to take care of. The problem. I think the most important thing I would leave my pet owners with is have some eye wash at home. I think it's a great thing to keep in your medicine cabinet for your pets. Use it frequently and use a good quality product. I do like, again, the one by Project Watson, because it was made by a company like Bosch and Lam who really do care for eyes. They have great experience with eye care and have worked really well to make great products that are safe for the eyes. As you said, justine, we don't want to use eye medication that's been prescribed for other pets.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:21:14]:
Really use something safe and gentle and reliable. If you can't get in right away, it helps so much to relieve their discomfort while we're waiting to get you to the vet. And it really helps make our pets feel better as they come in. They're not so uncomfortable as we're having to look at them, too. So definitely keep some eyewash around.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:21:30]:
Wonderful. Again, one of the things that I always like having in my pet specific first aid kit. So you always want to have a sterile new bottle of eyewash for both dogs and cats, because you never know when your dog or cat is going to get something in their eye. I did also want to bring up, having had contact lenses for like 30 years of my life, I did want to bring up how the name project Watson came up. Do you mind just giving us a little bit of background behind that?

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:21:56]:
Absolutely. So at the company Baushin Lam, we had a great team that worked together and started to create veterinary products to expand on their already great human products. One of the creators has a wonderful dog named Watson, who is a great spokesperson for this product. That's where the name came from. But the goal of the company is really to provide the same good quality ingredients in human eye care and now translate into veterinary eye care as well. We want to make sure that they get the same quality products that we do as people.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:22:29]:
Wonderful. And from my understanding, it was actually employee of Bauchen Lom who had a rescue dog named Watson and ended up having chronic ocular problems. And that's where they decided to provide this product. So great to know. And again, so important. We look at our dog and cat's eyeballs all the time. As a veterinarian, I want you to avoid the veterinary er by having to go in in the middle of the night if your dog or cat has an ocular problem. So the more that we notice and keep care of our pets, the longer they live and the longer we can spend time with them.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:23:01]:
Dr. Rutherford, thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate all that you do.

Dr. Danielle Rutherford [00:23:05]:
Thank you so much for having me. It was great talking with you today.

Dr. Justine Lee [00:23:09]:
Well, that brings us to the end of today's show. Find me@drjustinelee.com on Facebook or Instagram at drjustinelee. Or email me your pet questions at drjustine@PetLifeRadio.com. With that, we're out of time, and I just wanted to give a huge shout out to Dr. Weatherford for joining us and Mark Winter, our producer, for making the show possible. See you at the next episode.

Announcer [00:23:31]:
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand, only on PetLifeRadio.com.

Timestamped Overview:

00:00 Eye health crucial for pet's overall well-being.
06:28 Signs of eye trouble in pet, seek help.
08:38 Poodles and doodles need regular eye cleaning.
11:03 Dry eye in pets worsens in winter.
16:49 Use plastic collar, washcloth, treats for pet care.
18:05 Important tips for administering pet eye medication.
22:29 Employee's dog Watson inspired ocular care product.

Key Topics and Bullets:

Primary Topic: Introduction to Eyes and Eye Care
- The importance of eye care for dogs and cats
- Common eye health concerns and indicators for pet owners to look out for
- Introduction of guest Dr. Danielle Rutherford and her background in veterinary medicine
Primary Topic: Eye Care Products and Signs That Indicate Need for Eye Care
- Key ingredients to look for in eye care products for dogs
- Signs that indicate a need for eye care in pets
- Importance of daily eye cleaning for pets with specific environmental factors or breeds with excessive hair on the face
- Signs of tear staining and its implications for a pet's eye health
- Potential health issues for dogs during adverse weather, particularly in the winter
Primary Topic: Indications for Veterinary Care and Tips for Administering Eye Care
- Signs that indicate the need for professional veterinary care for a pet's eyes
- Tips and tricks for pet owners to administer eye care for pets that may be uncooperative or in discomfort
- The importance of keeping eye care products sterile and utilizing appropriate products to soothe a pet's discomfort
Primary Topic: Importance of Home Eye Care and Conclusion
- The role of owners in their pet's eye care and early detection
- Recommendation for having eye wash as a part of a pet's first aid kit
- Background of the Project Watson eye care product and its goal to provide quality veterinary eye care
- The benefits of providing good quality eye care for pets
- The necessity of observing and caring for a pet's eyes for a longer, healthier life
- Acknowledgments and conclusion of the episode