My dog's eye is bothering her. What can I do if I can't afford a vet?

Question

Hi there I was wondering if u send u a pic of my dogs eye if u can please help me out as to what it is. We don't have the money to get her to the vet. She is only 3 yrs old and she is shih tzu. So I tried but can't get a pic on here is there a way I can get one to u? My email is carterkarlee yahoo.ca thank u. Please help I don't want to have to put my dog down. She still is happy and eats and plays. We have a cone on her right now but her eye does bother her a lot. Pet's info: Dog | Shih Tzu | Female | unspayed | 3 years and 4 months old | 10 lbs

Rebeccah Wood · Accepted Answer

Hello there! I can see your pictures, and boy oh boy, does it look like miss Trinity has a problem! I can't say definitively, but it looks like Trinity has a pretty severe corneal ulcer on her eye. A corneal ulcer is an erosion of the surface of the eye caused by some kind of trauma. They can be from infection, from a foreign object, and sometimes they are self-induced by scratching. I understand financial hardship, but this is probably very painful for Trinity and there isn't anything that you can do for her at home, aside from keeping her from traumatizing it and keeping the area around her eye clean. She most likely needs topical antibiotics and pain medication, and this type of trauma takes a very long time to heal. Sometimes, if the ulceration is too deep or painful, the eye may even have to be removed. The vet will confirm this by staining Trinity's eye - they will put a dye in her eye that collects in ulcerations and glows under a blacklight. If this test is positive, they will recommend a course of treatment. As far as paying for her care goes, there are several options. The first is to apply for CareCredit. CareCredit is a credit card that is specifically used for veterinary bills. I have had clients with bad credit get accepted for this card, and they usually have some kind of no-interest incentive for the first 6 months. You can also check with your regular vet to see if they have a hardship fund - sometimes good samaritans donate funds to animal hospitals just for this purpose - to help out people and their pets that need it. Asking friends and family for help or loans can be difficult, but can sometimes be helpful as I'm sure they know how much you love Trinity. Lastly, and this is the suggestion that no one wants to hear, but if you truly cannot afford her care, you may need to consider surrendering her to a local humane society or shih-tzu rescue that can get her the treatment she needs so desperately. Whatever is causing her eye to look this way is incredibly painful, and I know that you wouldn't want her to experience this for long. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope that Trinity gets well soon!

My dog's eye is bothering her. What can I do if I can't afford a vet?

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