‘The only reason animals wink is when their eye is uncomfortable’ | Animal Magic

What should you do when your pet is winking at you? Well, the answer is certainly not to wink back!
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The only reason animals wink is when their eye is uncomfortable.

This might be a momentary thing – e.g. from a speck of dust instantly blinked away – but if it persists, there is always a reason, and should be briskly seen to.

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Recently I saw two dogs on the same day, each with one sore red eye. I checked for all the usual problems. I looked carefully at each eye with a bright light from multiple angles to see if there was something caught on the surface. Using local anaesthetic, I lifted each of their three eyelids.

The Mewes Vets, Haywards Heath (Photo: Google Maps)The Mewes Vets, Haywards Heath (Photo: Google Maps)
The Mewes Vets, Haywards Heath (Photo: Google Maps)

I noted in each case that the whites of the eye were inflamed and sore looking, but no foreign bodies were visible.

Then I used the orange/green dye called fluorescein to check to see if something like a thorn had scratched the surface of the eyeball. Fluorescein makes an otherwise invisible scratch visible. But again, it was negative.

So I needed to look deeper into the actual eyeball.

And this was when I noted that the pupil, which is the hole in our coloured iris allowing light to reach the retina at the back of the eyeball, was smaller in the affected eyes.

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So I directed my light across the front chamber of the eyeball and was able to confirm that the iris was swollen relative to the normal size.

Both dogs had uveitis.

And in both cases, it turned out that they had both been engaging in an unusual amount of rough and tumble.

One had just welcomed a new adult pal into his home, while the other had recently started at doggy day care, where I suspect some excessive play had caused a knock on the head.

This was a relief to me, as uveitis – i.e. inflammation of the iris – can be caused by all sorts of very nasty diseases.

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It was great to be able to reassure both families that, with the appropriate treatment, both these dogs would quickly recover.

  • Sponsored by the Mewes Vets: 01444 456886; Email: [email protected]; Visit: www.themewesvets.co.uk