The idea of having to administer eye drops themselves to their dogs and cats at home is stressful for a lot of pet owners!! However, with the right technique, it can be an easy enough treatment that owners can do at home without having to bring back the pet to the vet every day.
Ideally, you get the vet to show you how to do it the first time – this is usually not a problem, as most likely, you are in a consult with your pet where an eye problem that needs treatment is spotted – therefore, the vet can show you right away how to apply the eye drops.
Make sure you get clear instructions how often to use the eye drops and how many of them to put into the eye (also in both eyes or just one?).
At home, before you start with the actual treatment, make sure that if there is a lot of discharge around the affected eye, to carefully clean it, ideally with a sterile saline/eyewash solution or if you do not have that on hand, with clean, warm water.
Ideally you have another person with you to help you restraining your dog or cat as you will need both hands for administering the eye medication. If you are on your own, try to restrain your dog or cat by backing them with their hindquarters against a wall so that he/she cannot back away from you. Remember, the better the dog/cat is restrained, the easier it will be for you to apply the treatment and also the less chance that you will hurt him or her.
The actual administration of the eye medication:
If you are right-handed, place your left hand around your dogs/cats chin and muzzle and push it slightly upwards, so the eyes will be looking towards the ceiling. Then, you pull down the lower eyelid of the affected eye downwards with the fingers/thumb of the same hand. Like this, you will get a pouch formed by the lower eyelid into which you can apply the eye drops. Your other hand holding the medication should be meanwhile resting on your dog’s or cat’s head. Keep that contact to the head ideally at all times during the procedure so in case your pet moves, your hand with the medication will be able to follow without wasting the eye drops or hurting the eye.
You can now drip the recommended amounts of drops into the pouch of the eyelid. Be careful not to touch the eye/eyelid with the tip of the bottle. Once the drops are in the pouch, slowly let go the lower eyelid, close upper and lower eyelid and lightly massage so that the medication spreads evenly over the surface of the eye. Now you can let your dog or cat go.
As always however; Don´t be afraid to ask us for help or to show you how to do it best yourself at home, we are more than happy to help you!
Ideally, you get the vet to show you how to do it the first time – this is usually not a problem, as most likely, you are in a consult with your pet where an eye problem that needs treatment is spotted – therefore, the vet can show you right away how to apply the eye drops.
Make sure you get clear instructions how often to use the eye drops and how many of them to put into the eye (also in both eyes or just one?).
At home, before you start with the actual treatment, make sure that if there is a lot of discharge around the affected eye, to carefully clean it, ideally with a sterile saline/eyewash solution or if you do not have that on hand, with clean, warm water.
Ideally you have another person with you to help you restraining your dog or cat as you will need both hands for administering the eye medication. If you are on your own, try to restrain your dog or cat by backing them with their hindquarters against a wall so that he/she cannot back away from you. Remember, the better the dog/cat is restrained, the easier it will be for you to apply the treatment and also the less chance that you will hurt him or her.
The actual administration of the eye medication:
If you are right-handed, place your left hand around your dogs/cats chin and muzzle and push it slightly upwards, so the eyes will be looking towards the ceiling. Then, you pull down the lower eyelid of the affected eye downwards with the fingers/thumb of the same hand. Like this, you will get a pouch formed by the lower eyelid into which you can apply the eye drops. Your other hand holding the medication should be meanwhile resting on your dog’s or cat’s head. Keep that contact to the head ideally at all times during the procedure so in case your pet moves, your hand with the medication will be able to follow without wasting the eye drops or hurting the eye.
You can now drip the recommended amounts of drops into the pouch of the eyelid. Be careful not to touch the eye/eyelid with the tip of the bottle. Once the drops are in the pouch, slowly let go the lower eyelid, close upper and lower eyelid and lightly massage so that the medication spreads evenly over the surface of the eye. Now you can let your dog or cat go.
As always however; Don´t be afraid to ask us for help or to show you how to do it best yourself at home, we are more than happy to help you!