Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Eye staining differences in dogs with low tear production
By Saito, Akihiko et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2021·Triangle Animal Eye Clinic, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Punctate fluorescein staining scores in dogs with or without aqueous tear deficiency.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with watery eyes underwent tests to check for tear production and eye surface health. The study found that dogs with low tear production (aqueous tear deficiency) had worse scores on eye surface tests compared to those with normal tear production. Specifically, the dogs with tear deficiency showed more damage to the cornea and conjunctiva, indicating that their eyes were not as healthy. This suggests that if your dog has watery eyes, it could be a sign of tear production issues, and a vet can perform tests to assess the situation.
People also search for: dog watery eyes treatment · dog tear production test · signs of eye problems in dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare the superficial punctate fluorescein staining in dogs with and without aqueous tear deficiency. PROCEDURES: An eye from each client-owned dogs presented to Triangle Animal Eye Clinic between January and December 2018 underwent tear and ocular surface tests, which included the Schirmer tear test (STT), phenol red thread test (PRT), and strip meniscometry tube tear test (SMT). Punctate fluorescein staining of the cornea (PFS-C) and the upper palpebral conjunctiva (PFS-UPC) were also performed. Fifty-seven dogs with STT results of <15 mm/min had aqueous tear deficiency (AD); 31 dogs had <10 mm/min and 26 dogs had ≥10 mm/min. The 162 dogs with STT results of ≥15 mm/min did not have AD. The test results of the groups were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Steel-Dwass multiple comparison tests. RESULTS: Two hundred and nineteen eyes from 219 dogs were enrolled in this study. The PRT and SMT results, presented as mean ± SD, were significantly lower in the AD group than in the non-AD group (PRT: 29.5 ± 8.1 vs 36.9 ± 5.6 mm/15 s; SMT: 6.2 ± 3.8 vs 10.8 ± 2.8 mm/5 s). The PFS scores were significantly higher in the AD group than in the non-AD group (PFS-C: 4.4 ± 0.7 and 3.7 ± 0.8; PFS-UPC: 2.3 ± 0.5 and 1.7 ± 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that aqueous tear deficiency is not only reflected by PRT and SMT but also PFS-C and PFS-UPC.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32961030/