Why do Dogs get Eye Boogers? 9 Causes-Prevention

Dogs owners often observe the irritating problems on many occasions. Dog’s eye boogers are among the irritating health issues in the canine world. Some icky problems will be normal and temporally, but some eyes condition will indicate a potential risk of an underlying medical condition. Why do dogs get eye boogers?

Our experts have designed this article in such a way that will help you to understand the complete guide about Dog’s eye discharge, commonly known as Dog’s eye boogers. You can use the table of content for smooth navigation.

Why do Dogs get Eye Boogers?

Tears are natural eye cleaner, which keeps a key role in the vision health of humans and pets. The tear glands are responsible for creating tears to save the eyes, lubricate the corneas and clean eyes from any dust or irritating bodies. Any disorder in this natural process leads a canine to annoying eyes condition.

First, lets us know what exactly boogers are? Usually, Dog eye boogers are considered the growth of dried tears accompanied by dust particles or pollen. 

Are eye boogers normal for dogs? Boogers are among the canine eye illnesses that need to be properly treated. To better understand the answer to the questions, Are eye boogers normal for dogs? Why do dogs get eye boogers? Let’s deep dive into the types and causes of eyes boogers in dogs.

Types of Dog Eye Boogers:

1. Goop or Crust Boogers:

You may have often observed reddish-brown, yellowish, or white goops or crust in your pooch eyes, especially in the morning after a long nap or after an outside walk.

This reddish-brown Goop or Crust is usually made out in the canine eyes from dust, pollen, dried tears, and mucus and is consider normal. These boogers can be easily removed with a damp cloth or a dog’s eyes wipes.

Look for other symptoms, and if you notice symptoms of eye discomfort like eye redness, excessive rubbing, or squinting, contact your vet.

2. Reddish-Brown Boogers (Porphyrin):

Tears contain a special type of pigment known as porphyrin. Sometimes in certain dog breeds, you may have observed a Reddish-Brown discoloration in the inners corners of dogs eyes. This is actually the porphyrin that usually turns reddish-brown with prolonged exposure to air.

3. Watery eyes Boogers (Epiphora):

Excessive watery eyes are a common health condition among canines and humans. In medical terms, this condition is known as epiphora.

According to pet experts and vets, the causes of watery eyes boogers in puppies include allergies, blocked tears ducts, presence of duct or pollen, fall of foreign bodies, eye ulcer, cornea disorders, Anatomical abnormalities, and Glaucoma, etc.

4. White-Gray Mucus Boogers:

This type of eye discharge occurs in a canine when your canine is suffering from dry eyes illness known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca or KCS.

In the keratoconjunctivitis sicca or KCS, the pup eyes ducts become compromised and are unable to produce the normal amount of teras. As a result, the eyes make mucus instead of tears to keeps the eyes lubricated.

The mucus didn’t work like tears and led the furry friend to painful and irritating eyes condition such as eye ulcers and abnormal corneal pigmentation.

Properly and timely treatment is most important. Left the illness untreated, keratoconjunctivitis sicca or KCS leads to severe discomfort and even blindness.

5. Yellow  Discharge Boogers:

The yellow or green dog’s eyes discharge with eyes redness, and severe irritation and discomfort indicate that your canine eyes are suffering from a corneal infection.

Yellow or green discharge from the pooch eyes is considered a primary problem which means that the infection may be the result of other health issues such as keratoconjunctivitis sicca or KCS, eyes ulcers, or wounds, etc.

Proper and timely treatment is most important for any eye infection.

Causes of Dog Eye Boogers:

Several reasons can lead your pooch to irritating and nasty boogers. Some reasons are considered normal and can be treated easily, while some dog’s eyes discharge needs proper medical attention for the treatment. Below are some of the possible causes of Dog Eye Boogers

1. Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS):

Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) is commonly known as dry eyes. In Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) canine tears gland are unable to produce the normal amounts of tears which cause inflammation in the cornea.

Due to the lack of tears, the eyes produce a mucus-type liquid to keep the eye lubricated. This mucus sustains in the form of eye bogger.

Causes of Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) in Dogs:

Treatment of Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) in Dogs:

How is Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) treated in dogs? According to Vcahospitals There are two ways to treated Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) in dogs

1. To stimulate Tear production
2. To replace tear Film

To stimulate tear production, there are certain medications that can be used, such as cyclosporine and tacrolimus. These medicines can be easily administrated in a dog’s eyes as directed by the veterinarian or twice a day.

Tear film replacement depends on the severity of the illness. Tear film replacement treatment and tear production stimulant both are used combined with the treatment procedure. For most dogs, this is a must to receive tears replacement every two to six hours a day.

Some antibiotics or anti-inflammatory medications can also be used for the treatment.

2. Corneal Ulcers:

Corneal ulcers are Erosion of the eye’s epithelium. In the Corneal ulcers, the fluids from the tears are absorbed into the eye’s stroma that leads the dog’s eyes to a cloudy appearance.  The worse stage of Corneal ulcers is known as Descemetocele.

In the descemetocele, the chances of Descemet’s membrane ruptures increase, and if it occurs, the liquid inside the eyeball leaks out, and untreatable damage occurs to the eyes.

Causes of corneal ulcers in Dogs:

Treatment of corneal ulcers in Dogs:

Some causes of canine corneal ulcers, such as corneal abrasion or descemetocele, can be treated with topical and oral medication such as ophthalmic antibiotic drops, Antibiotic drops, and a dog’s may heal from the illness within some days.

The treatment of the worse stage of the corneal ulcers known as descemetocele can be done with a proper procedure and care. A series of surgeries may require in the worse stages.

3. Canine Conjunctivitis:

If you observe that your dog is suffering from water eye discharge and notice mucus and pus in the eyes along with excessive eyes blinking, eyes rubbing, and eyes redness, it could be a sign that your puppy is suffering from Canine Conjunctivitis.

Conjunctivitis is the inflammation of the conjunctiva membrane of the eyes. Conjunctiva is a layer of epithelial cells with mucus-secreting cells that covers the eyeball and line the eyelids. Canine Conjunctivitis is among the main causes of dog’s eyes boogers.

Conjunctivitis may also lead your canine to nasal discharge, sneezing, or coughing.

Causes of Conjunctivitis Dogs:

Treatment of Conjunctivitis Dogs:

The treatment procedure of conjunctivitis in dogs may be done with both topical and oral medications.

Topical medications include the use of gentamicin, ciprofloxacin tobramycin, chloramphenicol, oxytetracycline, and triple-antibiotic ophthalmic ointments and solutions.

Oral medication includes anti-inflammatory agents such as ophthalmic prednisolone or dexamethasone etc.

4. Epiphora (Excessive Tearing of the Eyes):

In medical terms, Epiphora means irregular tears from the eyes. Epiphora is not a disease but consider a symptoms most commonly associated with insufficient drainage of the tear film from the variety of eye diseases.

Causes of Epiphora in Dogs:

Treatment of Epiphora in Dogs:

The treatment of canine Epiphora depends on the cause of the condition. The leading cause of the Epiphora in dogs is the blockage of the nasolacrimal duct. 

If your canine is suspected of nasolacrimal duct blockage, the vet will use a specific procedure by using some instrument to flush out the stuck particle after anesthetizing your canine. This procedure also helps when the ducts become narrow due to allergies or infection.

In many dogs, the lacrimal puncta failed to open during the dog’s developmental stage and remains blocked. A surgical procedure is required to open the closed ducts.

Any other condition that can cause Epiphoria will be treated after diagnosing the actual cause. Medication and surgery could be the treatment option.

5. Glaucoma:

Glaucoma is a prevalent affliction in dogs, but treatable. In some cases few problems related to glaucoma are not visible and can have some severe implications.

Glaucoma is often hard to detect. Sometimes dog having glaucoma could end up with an eye infection, brain damage, heart disease, respiratory failure, etc.

If your dog is experiencing any glaucoma symptoms, you should take him to the vet immediately. If you wait until your dog develops the disease, the risks are higher and will be even more dangerous.

Causes of Glaucoma In Dogs:

Treatment of primary Glaucoma:

Treatment of primary Glaucoma includes intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. If surgery is performed, the vet will have to remove a portion of the retina and replace it with an IOL.

Also, the dog will be treated for blood clotting problems and possible bleeding.

Treatment of secondary Glaucoma:

The treatment of secondary Glaucoma is difficult. Even if the IOL was surgically placed, the retina might not stop shrinking, and growth might begin in the other eye.

6. Allergies :

According to vets and pet experts, Allergies are among the leading causes of boogers in the canine eyes. Eyes allergies usually develop when your canine immune system has an inappropriate response to the environmental dust, pollens, and other contaminations.

Due to the lack of immune system response, the dog’s eyes start developing excessive fluids to eliminate the contamination from the eyes and to keep the eyes lubricated. This is a natural process.

7. Lack of Grooming Habits:

Proper and routine grooming is most important to keep your canine good-looking and healthy. Sometimes the eye’s side hairs around the face and eyes became so long and often fallen down to the pet eyes that make the eyes irritating and sometimes injured.

To give some relief, the pup starts excessively rubbing the eyes that leads to boogers and sometimes other eye illnesses. To prevent canine eye boogers, maintain a proper grooming and hygiene regimen for your pet.

8. Dogs breeds Factors:

Excessive eye discharge sometimes occurs due to the face structure of your puppy. Some dogs’ faces are structured so that the hairs surround their eyes, and hairs often touch the eyes that lead to the boogers.

Also, dogs with very deep-set eyes, such as Labradors, often have a chronic low-grade daily discharge that leads them to the wyes boogers.

Many other bug-eyed’ dogs, such as Pugs and Boston Terriers, often have some degree of chronic discharge because the anatomy of their drainage system doesn’t always line up well, which leads them to excessive eyes discharge.

9. Foreign Bodies:

Eyes allergies and fallen off foreign bodies in the eyes are among the leading causes of getting eye boogers in dogs. Delaying the treatment may lead your canine to the above-mentioned eye illnesses.

How do I get rid of my dogs eye boogers?

How to clean Dog Eye Boogers?

Canine Eye boogers lead a dog to irritating behaviors and sometimes severe burns and pain in the eyes. Cleaning of the eye boogers helps your canine to get rid of this uncomfortable situation. How to clean dog eye boogers?

Cleaning a dog’s eyes discharge needs some proper techniques. To clean your pet eyes properly, you first need to know what type of boogers your pup eyes have.

Before going into the cleaning procedure, first, learn about some general rules:

Generally, the cleaning of eyes boogers is categorized into three types.

1. Soft Eye Boogers:

Soft eyes boogers are referred to the spot, yellowish, and mucus type eyes discharge that often hang from the eyes or with the eyelids.

To clean the soft Eye boogers, follow the below steps:

2. Crusty Eyes Boogers:

Crusty Eyes boogers are the hard and sticky form of soft boogers. These boogers are often founding in the corner of the dog’s eyes. When the soft booger remains for a long time, it becomes crusty and hard. Crusty Eyes boogers are not easy to be removed. 

Follow the below techniques to remove the Crusty Eyes Boogers.

3. Inside Eye Boogers:

Inside Eye, Boogers lead a canine to a very irritating and uncomfortable eyes problem. It feels like some foreign bodies are inside the eyes. To comfort your dogs in this kind of health issue, follow the below technique. 

What is the best eye wash for dogs?

Using the best eye wash helps your pet’s eyes from many eye illnesses. What is the best eye wash for dogs? We recommend this product on Amazon.