Eye Injuries in Pets: When to Seek Emergency Care
Your dog comes in from the backyard squinting. Or your cat's eye is suddenly red and watery. These moments are scary. Because eyes are delicate. And when something goes wrong, you need to know whether you're dealing with something minor or whether your pet needs to go to an emergency vet.
Let's talk about the most common eye injuries in pets, what symptoms mean it's time to seek immediate care, and when you should be calling a 24 hour vet instead of waiting until morning.
Common Causes of Eye Injuries in Pets
Pets explore the world face-first. This makes them vulnerable to all sorts of eye trauma. Understanding what causes these injuries helps you prevent them and recognize when they happen.
Scratches and Abrasions
This is the most common eye injury we see. Your dog rough-housing with another pet. Your cat squeezing under a fence. A branch catching them in the eye during a bushwalk. These corneal scratches can range from minor surface wounds to deep ulcers that threaten vision.
Even small scratches hurt. A lot. And without treatment, they can become infected or develop into serious ulcers that damage the cornea permanently.
Foreign Objects
Perth pet owners know about grass seeds. These are a massive problem, especially in spring and summer. Grass seeds work their way under eyelids, causing intense pain and damage. But it's not just seeds. Dust, dirt, sand from the beach, even tiny bits of debris from your garden can lodge in your pet's eye.
Brachycephalic breeds like Pugs, French Bulldogs, and Persian cats are particularly vulnerable because their prominent eyes catch more debris.
Blunt Trauma
Car accidents. Dog fights. Running into furniture. Blunt force trauma to the head can cause everything from minor swelling to catastrophic injuries like the eye popping out of the socket (proptosis). This is an absolute emergency requiring immediate veterinary attention.
Chemical Exposure
Pool chemicals. Cleaning products. Garden pesticides. Even some shampoos can burn your pet's eyes if they get splashed. Chemical burns require immediate flushing and urgent veterinary care to prevent permanent damage.
Fights with Other Animals
Cat scratches to a dog's face. Dogs fighting. Wildlife encounters. Claws and teeth near the eyes can cause puncture wounds, lacerations, and infections that develop quickly.
Symptoms That Demand Immediate Attention
Some eye problems can wait until your regular vet opens. Others need emergency vets right now. Here's how to tell the difference.
Seek Emergency Care Immediately If You See:
Your pet's eye is bulging or sitting outside the socket. This is proptosis and it's a true emergency. The eye can dry out and lose vision within hours. You need a 24 hour available hospital vet immediately.
Visible blood in or around the eye. Whether it's bleeding from the eyeball itself, the eyelids, or the tear ducts, blood means serious trauma that needs urgent assessment.
A cloudy or blue appearance to the whole eye. This often indicates glaucoma, severe inflammation, or corneal damage. Delaying treatment can result in permanent blindness.
Your pet cannot open the eye at all. Severe squinting or keeping the eye completely shut indicates extreme pain. This level of discomfort suggests significant injury or infection requiring immediate treatment.
You can see a foreign object embedded in the eye. Don't try to remove it yourself. You could cause more damage. Get to an emergency vet.
The pupil looks different in one eye compared to the other. Unequal pupil sizes can indicate serious internal eye damage, neurological problems, or dangerously high eye pressure.
Seek Veterinary Care Within Hours If You Notice:
Constant squinting or excessive blinking. This indicates pain and irritation. While not always an immediate emergency, it shouldn't wait days.
Thick yellow or green discharge. This suggests infection. While you might have until morning, don't delay beyond that. Infections progress quickly.
Redness and swelling around the eye. Mild redness might resolve on its own, but increasing redness or swelling needs professional assessment.
Excessive tearing or watery discharge. Clear tears suggest irritation or a minor scratch. If it continues for more than a few hours or gets worse, veterinary examination is needed.
Your pet is pawing at their face or rubbing their eye. This behavior shows discomfort and can make the injury worse. An Elizabethan collar (cone) and a vet visit are both necessary.
What Not to Do When Your Pet Has an Eye Injury
Panic makes people do things that seem helpful but actually cause more harm. Here's what to avoid.
Never use human eye drops unless specifically directed by a vet. Some medications safe for humans are toxic to pets. Even "harmless" saline drops might not be appropriate depending on the injury.
Don't try to remove deeply embedded objects. You could cause tearing, bleeding, or push the object further in. Let the vet handle this under proper conditions.
Never apply pressure to the eye. If the eye is swollen or bulging, pressing on it can cause more damage.
Don't wait days to see if it gets better. Eye injuries that seem minor can deteriorate rapidly. What looks like a small scratch on Monday could be a serious infection by Wednesday.
Don't try to pry open swollen eyelids. If your pet can't open their eye, forcing it open causes pain and potential additional trauma.
When to Call an Emergency Vet
Here's the thing about eye emergencies. They don't happen on a schedule. Your pet doesn't wait until 9am Monday to get a grass seed stuck in their eye. Most eye injuries happen during walks, playtime, or overnight.
Call a vet immediately if:
The injury just happened and it's outside business hours
Your pet is in obvious severe pain
There's visible trauma like bleeding or a bulging eye
You can see a foreign object in the eye
Your pet's vision seems suddenly affected
At Port City Emergency Vets, we're open 24/7, 365 days a year. No appointment needed. We have digital radiology, in-house blood work, and everything required to diagnose and treat eye emergencies properly. Located at 279 Canning Highway in Palmyra, we're equipped to handle the most serious cases.
Eye emergencies need immediate attention because timing matters. The difference between seeking care within the first hour versus waiting until tomorrow can be the difference between saving vision and permanent blindness.
What to Expect at the Emergency Vet
Understanding the process helps reduce anxiety when you're already stressed about your pet's injury.
Initial Assessment
The vet will ask what happened, when it happened, and what symptoms you've noticed. They'll examine your pet's overall health and then focus on the injured eye.
Diagnostic Tests
Depending on the injury, the vet may perform several tests. A fluorescein stain highlights scratches and ulcers on the cornea. Tonometry measures eye pressure to check for glaucoma. Sometimes imaging like x-rays or ultrasound is needed if there's trauma to the head or suspected foreign bodies.
Treatment
Treatment varies widely based on the injury. Minor scratches might need antibiotic eye drops and pain medication. Serious ulcers might require surgery. Foreign bodies need removal, often under sedation. Proptosis (bulging eyes) requires emergency surgery to replace the eye and suture the eyelids.
Your pet will likely go home with an Elizabethan collar to prevent them rubbing or scratching. This is essential. Pets will make their injuries worse if they can reach them.
Follow-Up Care
Eye injuries need monitoring. You'll likely have a follow-up appointment to ensure healing is progressing. Some injuries require daily medication for weeks. Compliance matters enormously for successful outcomes.
Preventing Eye Injuries in Your Perth Pet
While you can't prevent every injury, you can reduce the risks.
For Dogs:
Check your yard for sharp branches and thorny bushes
Supervise play with other dogs, especially rough players
Use protective eyewear (Doggles) for working dogs or those prone to eye issues
Keep them on lead in areas with dense grass during seed season
Rinse eyes after swimming, especially in pools with chlorine
For Cats:
Keep them indoors if possible, especially at night
Ensure climbing areas don't have sharp protrusions
Trim bushes that might scratch their face
Monitor interactions with other household pets
For Both:
Store chemicals and cleaning products securely
Keep grass seeds out of your yard when possible
Regular vet check-ups to catch early signs of eye disease
Know your pet's breed-specific risks
Why Eye Injuries Can't Wait
Eyes heal remarkably well when treated promptly. But they deteriorate just as quickly when neglected. A minor scratch treated within hours typically heals completely within days. That same scratch left untreated can develop infection, deepen into an ulcer, and cause permanent scarring or vision loss.
The cornea can perforate. Infections can spread to internal eye structures. Increased eye pressure from inflammation can cause glaucoma. Retinal detachment can occur from blunt trauma. All of these complications become more likely the longer treatment is delayed.
Your pet's vision matters. They rely on it for quality of life, confidence, and navigating their world. Protecting that vision means recognizing when something's wrong and seeking care immediately rather than hoping it resolves on its own.
Port City Emergency Vets is Here When You Need Us
Eye injuries are frightening. But you're not alone. Port City Emergency Vets provides expert emergency care 24/7 in Palmyra. Our experienced team has the equipment, knowledge, and compassion to handle your pet's eye emergency properly.
No appointment needed. Just bring your pet in and we'll assess them immediately. Call us on
08 6185 1726 if you need guidance on whether to come in or if you have questions about your pet's symptoms.
Your pet's eyes deserve the best care. And when emergencies happen, having a Vet in Perth you can trust makes all the difference.
