Why Are My French Bulldogs Eyes Bloodshot: Your French Bulldogs’ eyes are as sensitive as any human’s and are vulnerable to irritation, allergy, trauma, and illness. When your French eyes are noticeably red or irritated, it may be a symptom of something as mild as an itch, mild allergies, or as severe as an eye condition. Bloodshot eyes are among the first symptoms of irritation.
Your French Bulldogs’ eyes have a lot of similarities with ours. The eye is an organ that continually adapts to light stimuli and focuses on objects of interest. Dog eyes vary from people’s because they have an additional third eyelid, called a nictitating membrane, situated in the inner corner of their eye. Their third eyelid can expand to shield their eyeball against cuts and scratches or in response to infection.
Environmental pollutants can cause inflammation, and disease can impair or weaken various parts of your Frenchies eye. Certain breeds of dogs are much more susceptible to eye problems than the others, such as:
| Dogs that have long hair over their heads, like Maltese and Poodles. | Brachycephalic or flat-faced dogs such as bulldogs, Shih Tzus, and French Bulldogs.Elderly dogs or ones with current health issues, including diabetes or high blood pressure |
What Causes Your French Bulldog To Have Red Eyes?
Among the most likely reasons for bloodshot and irritated eyes in your Frenchie include the following:
Allergies
Eye allergies can cause your Frenchies eyes to become painful, swollen, and red. Many factors can cause such an allergic response. Typically, if the source of the problem is removed, the issue should fix itself without difficulty, but occasionally a ride to the vet is required for your Frenchies allergy treatment.
Eye allergies are also connected to close exposure to allergens that your French Bulldog is exposed to throughout your household. Examples are mould, dust mites, or pollen. It could also be triggered by certain food or other additives.
Vets can perform both skin and blood examinations. Findings can help determine the best ways to minimize allergen exposure in your home. Many medicines, as well as natural remedies, can also make your Frenchie recover. When you have a good idea of what is causing your Frenchies eyes to go red due to allergies, then take the following steps:
| Replace everything in your house, including the problem item. |
| When you believe your Frenchie has been exposed to allergens like dust, dander, feathers, or spores, seek to remove as many sources as possible. |
| When necessary, clean the carpets and clean every soft piece of furniture that can hold onto all these invisible irritants. |
| Relatively benign allergens can usually be managed quite successfully. For example, if your french suffers from pollen, you can search online for pollen counts every day for your area. Then only take your Frenchie for a walk when the counts become low. |
| Under extreme situations, it might be important to keep your Frenchie in a different, protected area that is not exposed to the irritant until a suitable care solution can be found. |
| Consider an air purifier, as this will also help decrease airborne allergens. |
| Gently clean your French Bulldog eyes with temped water. Boil the water and let it cool. It can help make your Frenchies eyes to become a lot more comfortable, and it helps remove any allergens or contaminants from their eyes. Use your cotton wool balls and be patient and careful. |
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Eye injury
Even the slightest eye injury may become an infected wound and vision loss. Don’t ever mess with your Frenchies’ eyesight; always seek prompt care with your vet. Look at their eyes when you notice your Frenchie squinting, avoiding bright lights and sunlight, and constantly blinking. Excessive tears are a common indication of issues, such as watery discharge.
Eye injuries develop if a foreign object enters or lodges in the eye. In addition, your Frenchie scratching their cornea, overgrown eyelashes, or inverting the eyelids could even lead to eye trauma.
Immediate Care
When your Frenchie is blinking or constantly squints and hates bright lights, there is a good probability that something in their eye:
| With your thumb, raise the top eyelid of your Frenchie and search for any object or debris underneath. |
| Try the same thing with the bottom eyelid. |
| If you see anything that needs to be removed and isn’t stuck in the eye, wash it out with warm water or use a moist, damp cloth to remove it. |
| If you have trouble extracting the foreign object, gauze your Frenchie eye and take it to the vet. |
| When the foreign object has pierced your Frenchies eye, urgently bandage it and immediately take them to the vet. |
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease that creates a fluid build-up and pressure within the eye. When this liquid is created in excess, the eye pressure rises and damages the retina and the optic nerve. And can eventually lead to blindness. Glaucoma results in discomfort that is more acute in dogs than in people. The signs and symptoms include:
| Red or Bloodshot eyes |
| Eye pain includes rubbing against the ground or some other surface or with their paw. |
| Pupils appear different in size |
| Cloudy cornea |
| Bulging swollen eye |
| Squinting |
| Tearing |
Speed is a major element in treating glaucoma; that is why it is important to see your vet immediately if your French Bulldog is showing symptoms. Your veterinarian will perform an ophthalmologic examination.
Therapy depends on the extent of glaucoma and any underlying conditions that could be responsible for developing glaucoma. Your Frenchie must be treated and taken good care of to avoid a recurrence of the disease. Treatment options include:
Dry eye syndrome
Dry eye is a limited ability to produce tears. Tears are important for keeping your Frenchie’s eyes healthy. Your French Bulldogs cornea is especially dependent on producing tears as a film for protection, offering lubrication, moisture, and sustenance to the cornea and conjunctiva.
There are several reasons for dry eyes. The most prominent is the response of your Frenchies’ immune response, which starts to attack the tear glands. It can destroy your Frenchies’ tear glands in the long run.
Some other causes of dry eyes include illness, injury, or medicine. In certain cases, tear development is decreased as there is an issue with the nerves of the tear gland.
The signs and symptoms include:
| Red or Bloodshot eyes |
| Swollen conjunctival blood vessels |
| Excessive blinking |
| Chemosis |
| Prominent nictitans (third eyelid) |
| Discharge |
| Loss of vision |
Your vet will conduct a detailed medical and ophthalmological evaluation of your French Bulldog, considering its historical background, symptoms, and potential events that may have contributed to this disorder.
Treatment: Topical treatments, such as synthetic-tear medicine and lubricant, may be recommended and administered to account for your Frenchies’ lack of tears.
You’ll also need to make sure to clean your French Bulldogs’ eyes when you take the medication; keep their eyes clean and free from discharge.
Uveitis
Uveitis is an inflammation of several components that make up your Frenchies uvea (the pigmented layer of the eye). It is considered anterior uveitis when only the ciliary body and the iris are agitated. When all three components are affected, inflammation is referred to as true uveitis or pan-uveitis.
There are several possible causes of uveitis. Often the real cause is never found. Popular sources are as follows:
| Metabolic disease |
| Infections including viral |
| Toxins |
| High blood pressure |
| Trauma to the eye |
| Lens damage |
| Eye tumours |
| Immune-mediated |
Symptoms of uveitis include:
| Intense red bloodshot eyes |
| Squinting |
| Avoid bright lights |
| Cloudiness of the eye |
Treatment is primarily intended to minimize irritation and alleviate pain, usually through topical eye medication like corticosteroids or non – steroidal-inflammatory medicines.
Treatment of uveitis caused by trauma requires the restoration of any corneal injuries or the extraction of a foreign substance in the eye. This can include referrals to an expert.
Corneal ulcers
Corneal ulcers affect the surface of the eye. Ulcers range from superficial (small graze or scratch) to deep and significant.
The eye’s surface is very delicate, and extensive ulcers may enable the eye to rupture. An operation to heal a damaged eye is usually sufficient when detected quickly. A raptured eye might need to be removed or referred to a professional animal hospital.
Symptoms of an eye ulcer include:
| Red bloodshot eye |
| Closed eye or squinting |
| An obvious hole or crater |
| Weepy eye |
| Blinking more than usual |
| Cloudy eye |
| Scratching and rubbing at the face and eye |
| Avoiding bright lights. |
Schedule a meeting with your veterinarian if your French Bulldog exhibits any of these symptoms or if you think they might have an ulcer on your Frenchies eye.
The following are the most common treatments:
| Eye drops |
| Antibiotic tablets |
| Anti-inflammatory pain relief |
| Surgery |
Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis is a disorder where the pink tissue, the conjunctiva within the eyelid, is irritated. There are two forms of conjunctivitis that your French Bulldog could have. Contagious conjunctivitis, also called pink eye, is triggered by an infection of viruses or bacteria and is not very common.
Noninfectious conjunctivitis is commonly shown in dogs, including French Bulldogs. It may have a range of potential sources, which tend to be allergies, irritant material that gets into the eye, trauma, or eye damage. Noninfectious conjunctivitis is not contagious. Nevertheless, if a bacterial infection triggers an occurrence of conjunctivitis, your Frenchie may pass the disease on to others.
Symptoms of Conjunctivitis include:
| Red, Bloodshot, puffy eyes |
| Eyelids sticking together |
| Eye discharge |
| Rubbing or pawing the eyes because of itchiness |
If your Frenchie has any of these symptoms, have your vet check them as soon as possible. Your vet will decide if the French Bulldog has pink eye or a condition of conjunctivitis that is not contagious.
If your vet confirms that your Frenchie has pink eye, an antibacterial ointment could be administered topically to the eye. Anti-inflammatory medicine may also be offered to your French Bulldog to assist with inflammation and irritation. Suppose a foreign body is responsible for inflammation and redness. In that case, your Frenchie may need to be put under a local anesthetic so the vet can remove it without jeopardizing further damage to the eye.
Cherry eye
Cherry eye is a herniated eye gland, explicitly a prolapsed nictitating membrane. Whenever the third eyelid of your French Bulldog is prolapsed or protruding from the eye, you will see a cherry-red bulge in the corner of your Frenchies eye.
Even though the cherry eye looks like a nasty red lump in the inner corner of the eyes of your Frenchie, the condition doesn’t cause discomfort but can disrupt normal tear production.
Cherry eye happens when the tear-causing gland enlarges or protrudes from its lid as a red, bulbous mass. When this gland protrudes, the typically moist skin is exposed to the environment and other irritations. This may cause the blood source to the gland to be interrupted.
Your Frenchie cherry eye can be treated with medication, or they may need surgery. Now and then, the cherry eye will correct itself if you don’t do anything, though that isn’t always the situation.
Topical medication may reduce inflammation and help stop or fix infections that are usually associated with the condition. The best approach used by your vet in treating cherry eye is to remove
the tear gland is a fairly simple and quick operation.
Conclusion
It is challenging for you to diagnose the exact problem your Frenchie is suffering from with eye diseases. Many of the symptoms linked to red or bloodshot eyes are similar.
The recommendation is to contact your vet, explain the symptoms and then take their advice on the matter.