# Entropion



## virgilsmom (Aug 13, 2008)

My Vizsla, Virgil is a little over 5 years old and at his yearly checkup last week, the vet said "they had not seen this in him before but that Virgil now has Entropion." The vet tried to show me but I couldn't see anything wrong except the same goo he has always had in his eyes. Two days before Virgils checkup he had been sniffing in a group of weeds and came out sneezing so hard and long I thought he might pass out. He sneezed off and on the rest of the day and the next day. I told the vet about this, because I thought maybe his eyes were irritated, so Virgil was put on benedril 2 times a day for a week. I could tell the vet didn't think this was the cause of the eye problem. The vet also said Virgils ears were alittle inflamed. My question is: Is the Entropion something that developes at his age? And if his eyes are just irritated from the pollen is a week of benedril long enough to help. I don't want to have surgery if it is not nessesary. The vet we saw last week is not our usual one, we have an appointment with our vet tomorrow to look at Virgils eyes again. Any information on this condition would be appreciated. Thanks


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I don't believe that Entropion or Ectropion develop with age, but I'm not sure. They are both eye conditions that are genetic. If you go over to the "search" box on the upper right-hand side of your screen and type these terms in, you'll find several earlier threads on the subject. The Vizsla breed as a whole is prone to these two conditions. Willie had corrective surgery for Ectropion the month after I adopted him. 

Virgil's romp through the weeds would have only exacerbated his eye condition... but not caused it. My best advice to you would be to set up an appointment with a qualified Veterinary Ophthalmologist in your area.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

My response may not apply in this case, as surgical intervention may be required. 


Unfortunately, the lower eyelid is a receptacle for dirt, dust and bacteria. 

This is only an old wife's tale (or an old hunter's trick :-\)... Chamomile tea eye rinse may, just may help flush out allergens and some bacteria. 
http://clarefraser.com/2006/08/04/chamomile-eye/

Other than that, for very mild form of drooping lower eyelid due to a mild bacterial/allergic reaction, in a young dog, we were subscribed Fucithalmic vet eye gel.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Just what datacan said... The drooping lower eyelid is the hallmark of Ectropion. The condition, in nontechnical terms, is sometimes called the "catcher's mitt". Normal environmental debris gets caught in there, causing a lifetime of eye irritations and infections. It can be handled without surgery, but surgery is the only real fix. 

Entropion is when the eyelid turns under a little, and the eyelashes rub against the eyeball. People get these conditions, too.


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## marathonman (Jan 15, 2013)

As mswhipple suggested, find a certified ophthalmic vet if you can. I don't think most general vets get that in-depth of knowledge into specific things. 
One night after playing, our boy's eye was red and he was squinting. We thought it was a scratch so we dropped by a late night vet. He tested for a scratch but found nothing so he sent us on our way with an ointment. It happened again so we went to our regular vet. They didn't know what was the cause, but they referred us to someone that could help us. Long story short, the dog eye vet was able to diagnose the underdeveloped eye/entropion/infection problems rather quickly and get us going on treatment.


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## virgilsmom (Aug 13, 2008)

Thank you for all of the information. We had our checkup with our regular vet and she said that Virgils eye lids are swollen and ears inflamed because of the heavy load of pollen he got into. No infection was found. Our vet numbed his eyes with drops and checked under the other lid and didn't find any foreign objects. Virgil will stay on benedril and dexamethasone drops through August and see how he is. His eyes look a little better already, not squinting as much. He may still need surgery eventually. Of course if I see any change for the worse, i'll have him looked at again. I do trust our vet, we've had her treat our animals for close to 30 years and she is very good. Thanks again for the helpful information.


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## Hbomb (Jan 24, 2012)

H has got mild entropion in his left eye. When he was little he had lots of problems with eye infections.

Datacan, we used camomile tea to bathe his eye and it did help a lot! Over the last few month his eye has been much better.

The vet has warned us he may need an op at some point though.


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