I write my articles either on the basis of inspiration or a request. The later is definitely true for diabetes.

Eye discharges are one of the most common problems. Whenever I see my clients with concerns about their dogs or cats eyes, the first question I ask is what they’re concerned about the most. Most people reply that they’re concerned about infection and their worries make me realize that I need to write a blog to clarify some of these misconceptions.

First, I’m not planning to rediscover the universe here, neither am I eager to make things more complex because I do not need a PhD. What I would like to do today is to bring more clarity into what you may call conjunctivitis, eye discharges, redness or an eye infection.

The anatomy of an eye

Most of the problem conditions that are seen in daily practice relate to the conjunctiva, eyelids and cornea. Conjunctiva is, in fact, the layer of tissue on the inside of the eyelids that connects directly to the cornea, the clear layer covering the eye itself.

The inner structures of the eye are a little more complex. The sequence of the parts of the eye are as follows: cornea, anterior chamber (the space in front of the lens), the iris, the lens that is attached to the eye by a very sophisticated focusing system, called a irido-corneal muscle, then there is the posterior chamber filled with the clear translucent mass called vitreous body and beyond is the retina, the canvas of the eye that is connected to the optic nerve conducting the visual images to the brain’s visual center and the cortex.

The functions of the eye

Most people see the eye as an organ of vision but there is another important function – cleansing. In fact many openings of the body including the eye serve as cleansing and detoxification areas. If the body needs to get rid of impurities it does it really well through the eyes, ears, feces, urine, lungs and the saliva.

This cleansing process is usually manifested by increased local inflammation and redness that is often misperceived as an infection. In fact most of the cases that my clients consider an eye infection would in fact be cleansing reactions of the body and nothing to do with bacteria and infections.

This fact is often ignored and the most common conventional prescription for eye redness are, yes, you guessed right, antibiotics and steroids.  It may also  surprise you that for majority of cases this medication is unnecessary or even contraindicated. (more…)