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My dog's eye is swollen with a red growth. Is it cherry eye?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | unneutered | 10 months and 16 days old | 15 lbs

My dogs eye seems to be swollen and some kind of growth or something underneath the pupil. This has happened before but he has gone away within a couple of hours. His eye has been like this for about a day now and I'm not sure what to do.

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Cara, DVM, cVMA

Veterinarian

Published on August 30th, 2017

It looks like Archie has a cherry eye, or a prolapsed nictitans gland. The gland is present in the third eyelid and can swell when it gets irritated. Smaller dogs seem to be more prone to it generally. Sometimes the eye itself can get irritated, and he may need medication to help with that. If it seems to be bothering him or it doesn't go away there is a surigical procedure to tack it back into place.

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    Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 11th, 2017

    This is a somewhat common condition known as cherry eye. It is a swelling of a gland in the third eyelid. This should be evaluated by a vet soon, because the longer it stays like that, the more difficult it will be to fix. Sometimes it can be fixed with a steroid eye drop prescribed by the vet, but most times it needs surgery to fix it. Az looks like a Labrador mix to me from the pictures. I hope that helps and Az gets better soon.

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