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My dog's eye is red and swollen from shampoo. What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Cavalier King Charles Spaniel | Male | unneutered | 8 months and 11 days old | 13 lbs

I washed my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel a few hours ago and shampoo got in his eye. I immediately washed it, but now his eye became extremely red and rolled down. I gave him antibiotics drops, but they don't work....Please, help.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

Veterinarian

Published on April 25th, 2017

Ouch, poor Sam! You did the right thing by rinsing his eye immediately. The redness and swelling of his eye could be a result of irritation from the shampoo. In some cases of irritation, the cornea can also become scratched, particularly if Sam is scratching his face or rubbing it on the ground. A vet should examine Sam's eyes and will likely need to perform a fluorescein stain test to determine if any scratches are present. If there are no scratches, Sam may need a prescription for a steroid based eye medication to decrease the inflammation in his eye. However, if a scratch is present, steroids in the eye are not safe and a different anti-inflammatory medication may be needed. Make sure Sam is wearing an e-collar (cone) to prevent him from irritating his eye further. I hope that he's on the mend soon!

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Oh no, poor Sam! It sounds like the shampoo has really irritated his eye. You did the right thing by washing it out, but given that it has now become extremely red, he has to see a vet. The eye is such an important and delicate structure that any problem with it should be considered an emergency. That's because leaving it untreated can lead to vision loss. I would take Sam into a vet now to have his eye examined and treated. I don't recommend treating his eye yourself with antibiotics drops, especially if they weren't prescribed to him by a vet. A dog's eye reacts differently to human eye medications than a human's eye, and giving him human medications that aren't prescribed by a vet could lead to harm to Sam. A vet will know which medications are safe to give Sam to treat his eye problem, please take him into a vet right away. Good luck, I hope this helps!

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