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Best way to give eye ointment?

post #1 of 17
12/28/10 at 5:18pm
Thread Starter 
I took Walter to the vet today for his eye and the vet said that he has Conjunctivitis, could be from Herpes, could not. He gave me some Neo-poly-dex ointment, that I give 1-2 drops to both eyes twice each day. I need to call them tomorrow b/c I just realized that they didn't indicate for how long I need to give them. He did say that the Lysine is great for him either way, and seemed impressed that I knew to give it to him. lol Thanks to you!

How exactly would be the best way to give these? Should I wrap him up and have DH help hold his head? Do I need to hold his eye open or can I just put it in the corner of his eye when it's closed? (I just ask b/c with babies you can just put drops in the inner corner of their eye when it's closed, and when they open their eye again the drop just goes right in on its own...no need to pry the eye open.)
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post #2 of 17
12/28/10 at 5:21pm
Is it eye drops or an ointment? If it's drops you should be able to just put it in the corner of his eye. If it's ointment, it works best to have the eye open at least a little way. You can also warm the ointment slightly to make it really runny and it will work more like drops.
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post #3 of 17
12/28/10 at 5:26pm
Thread Starter 
It's definitely an ointment. Thanks!
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post #4 of 17
12/28/10 at 5:29pm
I know it sounds weird, but if you pull back gently on his ears his eye will open enough for you to get the ointment in. A lot easier than trying to pry his eyelids open. Good luck.
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post #5 of 17
12/28/10 at 5:51pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks!!! I did not know that, I'm glad you told me!
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post #6 of 17
12/28/10 at 6:03pm
Corner inside going out
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post #7 of 17
12/28/10 at 7:15pm
This is good to know, b/c I occasionally have eye issues in my household. Thanks!!!!
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post #8 of 17
12/28/10 at 8:02pm
Thread Starter 
Well, we attempted to wrap him in a towel (he was not a fan, so we didn't do it very well) and DH held him in his lap. I did the ear trick, and got the two drops in very easily in each eye. It took about 30 seconds, if that. Tomorrow morning is going to be fun, trying to do it on my own. Wish me luck with that. Thanks for the tips!
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post #9 of 17
12/28/10 at 8:06pm
I've never heard of an eye ointment before. I thought drops were the only form of eye medicine. How are you supposed to rub ointment on an eyeball? Or do all ointments recommend heating until liquidy and using as a drop, like GoldyCat said?
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post #10 of 17
12/28/10 at 8:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldyCat View Post
I know it sounds weird, but if you pull back gently on his ears his eye will open enough for you to get the ointment in. A lot easier than trying to pry his eyelids open. Good luck.
What a brilliant tip!! I would have never figured that one out, but it makes perfect sense!
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post #11 of 17
12/28/10 at 10:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rad65 View Post
I've never heard of an eye ointment before. I thought drops were the only form of eye medicine. How are you supposed to rub ointment on an eyeball? Or do all ointments recommend heating until liquidy and using as a drop, like GoldyCat said?
Usually ointment is given for something around the eye or the lid but like Goldie said not to hard to get a dab in the eye...
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post #12 of 17
12/29/10 at 7:54am
Eye ointments are extremely common. The medicine is suspended in a petroleum jelly base. The jelly holds the medicine to the eye, plus moisturizes it.

I have dry eyes myself and use a plain (no meds) ointment every night to keep my eyes from becoming painfully dry through the night.

Hope this helps.

C
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post #13 of 17
12/29/10 at 9:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rad65 View Post
I've never heard of an eye ointment before. I thought drops were the only form of eye medicine. How are you supposed to rub ointment on an eyeball? Or do all ointments recommend heating until liquidy and using as a drop, like GoldyCat said?
We did warm it up in our hands before giving it, but the drops fell on his eyeball, and then he closed his eye and I rubbed it gently to get it all around.

Is it common for these type of drops to make his eyes even more red than they were to begin with??
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post #14 of 17
12/29/10 at 10:33am
Good luck, when it comes to any meds with Midnight, we have to bring him to the vet, because he fights us so much. He had an eye ointment we didn't even dare try it ourselves, we'd have poked his eye out with the way he fights us
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post #15 of 17
12/29/10 at 10:48am
Thread Starter 
He does pretty good. He HATES being wrapped up (which leads me to believe that he's been wrapped up before) but once you get him wrapped and in your lap he goes limp. I was able to do it by myself this morning without a problem. I wrapped him while I was holding him (put the towel against my body before I picked him up) and that was A LOT easier than trying to put him on the floor to wrap him. He certainly doesn't like having it done, and he holds a grudge for a bit afterward, but he's not terrible about it. I've never had to give medication to a cat before (neither Nora or Gus have/had ever been sick) so this is definitely a learning experience. Thanks for everyone's help!

What I think is funny/weird is that the person that runs the rescue told the vet tech yesterday that he had problems with his eyes when he was a little baby. Why hasn't he been seen for this before now, especially since he was in 3 foster homes before he came to me?
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post #16 of 17
12/29/10 at 1:56pm
Glad the tips helped. As far as warming the ointment, just putting it your pocket for a while to get it to body temperature is enough. You don't want to really heat it up and chance burning the eyes.
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post #17 of 17
12/29/10 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldyCat View Post
As far as warming the ointment, just putting it your pocket for a while to get it to body temperature is enough. You don't want to really heat it up and chance burning the eyes.
We just held in in our hands for a couple minutes.
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