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Why does my older dog get eye gunk in cold weather? Is it normal?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 8 years and 8 months old | 21 lbs

My dog keeps getting gunk in the corner of her eyes. It started happening about 4 months ago, when the weather started to get really cold. I've been cleaning them with saline solution & I also purchased a dog safe eye drops. Her eyes seem to be getting better since I started using the drops. I've been told by a few friends that their dogs have been getting the same gunk. Is this something that often happens in colder weather? My dog is 8 & this is the first time this has happened.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 8th, 2017

Hi there and thank you for posting your question! Eye discharge can be caused from many things. Allergies, dry eye, eye trauma, infection, foreign material, etc. It sounds like the eyes have been improving, so this may have been more of an allergy or irritation than anything. If the discharge continues, I would have your vet take a look at Izzy to determine what the cause is. Your vet will likely stain the eye and do a tear test to determine if there is eye trauma or dry eye present. Dry eye would require a more specific treatment and won't improve with over the counter eye drops. If it is allergies, a great allergy eye drop you can safely use in dogs is called Zaditor (Ketotifen Fumarate). You can administer 1-2 drops in both eyes twice daily to see if that helps with the eye discharge. Again, if the eyes are not improving or worsening, then I would have Izzy seen by her vet. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions / concerns you may have. I am also available via consultation.

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