One common ailment that a lot of beagle owners worry about is when their dog presents red or watery eyes. This can cause a lot of stress on pet owners, especially if these symptoms don’t go away over time.
In this article I’ll explain what types of conditions cause these symptoms, the severity of those conditions, and how to best treat red or watery eyes in beagles.
What Conditions Cause Red or Watery Eyes in Beagles?
Tears are a completely normal part of any mammal’s eye health. When it happens excessively then it can be a reason to be concerned.
Tears are essential for cleansing eyes so that they may remain functional, it works as lubrication of the eyes and helps clear debris out of the way. Tears also help to fight off infections. The beagle’s eyes can get excessively tearful because of infections or allergies, since they tend to remain closer to the dust that’s found on your house floor. They’re also notorious diggers and sniffers, so their eyes can get dirt trapped fairly easily as well.
Generally, the tear ducts and third eyelid work hard to prevent these infections and allergies from happening, but in beagles these reactions tend to be more common compared to other types of breeds.
Another reason that your beagle may present red or watery eyes is if they get their cornea injured. The cornea of the eye can get scratched during daily activities like playtime with other dogs or exploring plants and bushes.
In all of the above cases, there isn’t much need to worry. If the allergy or infection persists, a vet visit should clear all of their symptoms up.
However, there are some more extreme cases for having excessive teary eyes to look out for in beagles, especially over long periods of time. These include:
- Epiphora:
Epiphora is characterized as an overflow of tears to the face, usually caused by a drainage obstruction within the tear ducts. Tears of the animal normally drain via tear duct sand it eventually empties into the nose, but when there is any sort of blockage on the way, the tear overflows out the eyes.
Unlike human beings, dog’s tear ducts drain naturally through the throat and throat, not the eyes. So in such a scenario, it is seen that the tears are flowing in the wrong direction. To find out if your beagle has epiphora, you can check out the dampness around their eyes. If you find out the eyes and the area around those are very damp, along with irritation and inflammation, it’s likely epiphora
So, why does this happen?
The blockage can happen due to many reasons like diet related inflammation, trauma, allergic reaction, and even as a complication from some types of medications. Beagles tend to be more prone to epiphora than other breeds.
- Distichiasis
Veterinarians say this disease can cause severe irritation in the eyes. This disease can take place in dogs of any breed. Distichiasis is a condition that makes the eyelashes grow in the inward direction of a dog’s eyes. Following this condition, the dog will get a lot irritation whenever it tries to blink.
While this is a common condition in dogs, it’s crucial to dry and detect this irritation early. If left untreated, distichiasis can lead to corneal ulcers, eyelid pain, and excessive tearing of the eyelids
What Are The Symptoms and Types of Watery Eyes?
The most common symptom of red or watery eyes in beagles is that they are most likely to have wet or moist fur under directly under their eyes.
If the excessive tears from the eyes are on a very serious level, your beagle you may begin to exhibit a reddish and brown stain below their eyes. All the areas around the eyes will be moist and the eyes will start to appear more bloodshot red. The skin around the eye area will also start to appear reddish and irritated. Your beagle may start pawing at their eyes more due to this irritation, and it’ll make daily life for them frustrating.
Some important symptoms to always keep an eye out for include:
- Discharge from eyes
- Redness of the eyes
- Serious irritation
- Inflammation
- Squinting
- The skin around the eyes starts to get loose.
- Ulcers of the cornea
- Scratched cornea
These symptoms are always a red flag for the well being of your beloved beagle. If you start to observe any of these, you should consider consulting with a vet promptly.
How to Prevent Watery Eyes in Beagles
Prevention is always better than a cure. Having a watery eye for the Beagle can be easily avoided just by taking some precautionary measures. It is better to groom your beagle regularly, especially after they play outside or go for a long walk.
It is natural that with time the eyelashes or eyebrows can grow longer. If it becomes a common problem, you may want to invest in trimming gear or visit a dog groomer equipped to help with eyelash grooming. But you should be extra careful while doing it yourself as some of the veterinarians say it is more likely for your dogs to get infected from having a cut from home by a nonprofessional hand.
As I mentioned earlier, dogs, especially beagles, are prone to being closer to the dust on the ground. So for the betterment of your beagle, you’ll want to try frequent bathing to keep them fresh and clean, and to clear away any possible allergens or irritants.
If you’re able to determine what kind of plants cause allergic reactions to your dog, you’ll want to work hard to avoid those as much as possible.
How to Treat Watery Eyes in Beagles
Treating red or watery eyes in beagles entirely depends on the cause behind this symptom in the first place. You have to identify it for proper treatment. For example with an infection, you’ll likely need the eye to be medically treated, and the beagle may require some antibiotics.
Medication can also be used to help treat allergic reactions, but larger issues like corneal tears or ulcers may require some sort of procedure with your vet.
Vets can be helpful when it comes to clearing obstructions as well, but these procedures can get expensive, so your focus should definitely be focused on prevention first.
In most common cases of red eyes however, simply flushing them out with water or saline solution (like common eye drops from any pharmacy) should generally take care of the job. If you’ve tried this and the red and watery eyes persist, you should consider the other factors that I’ve mentioned above.
Final Thoughts
We all just want what’s best for our pets, and dealing with any medical concerns can be pretty scary at times.
But what’s most important is taking proactive measures when you first begin to see some signs of irritation in your beagle’s eyes. If some at home cleaning isn’t doing the trick, there’s nothing wrong with a precautionary trip to the vet to make sure that everything’s alright.
