Natural Remedies for Conjunctivitis in Dogs and Cats

My 7 yr old doberman has conjunctivitis; not sure how he got it but its in the left eye, which swelled up on top to the size of a golf ball. When I opened the swollen lids, the inner tissue appeared to be swollen, but no redness on the whites of his eyes. Flushed his eye with saline solution and took him to the vet. Vet poked around and used ultraviolet light to determine no corneal trauma and no foreign object. She prescribed eyedrops. Basically, its neomycin and polymyxin--the same stuff in generic antobiotic ointment you can get at Target or Walmart for $3. So I used the $35 eyedrops religiously for a week and the swelling and discharge went away.

But less than a week later, the swelling and discharge came back. I clean my boy's face everyday with babywipes and now I flush his eyes with sterile saline solution, so whatever foreign object might have irritated his eye to begin with was not an issue the second time his eye swelled up. Hmmm.

This time tried Refrigerated organic ACV on a cotton ball, saturated the back of his neck and wiped his eye. He seemed to like the cool sensation on his eye. Plus put a little generic antiobiotic gel on the corners of his eye. Swelling went away in less than 24 hours. I will keep this up for a week just to make sure it doesn't come back.

I know vets mean well but in today's grim economy why stick it to people with expensive pharma when there are inexpensive home remedies that are just as if not more effective. I have three dogs and three cats and I would have more if I could afford them. Maybe I could if vets would stop purchasing their vacation homes with unnecessary scripts for our furkids. Yeah, that sounds rather cynical but I have paid my share of unnecessary vet expenses over the years and finally wised up. Its great that we love our furkids, people, but please do your research first before making a vet appt. So much stuff is unnecessary if not downright harmful for your pet but most vets don't care, they just want your money. This website is a great start.

My poor cat Irma developed a weepy eye, and once it affected her other eye too, I knew it was conjunctivitis. Looking for a home made remedy I found Earth Clinic. It took a few days, but rubbing a solution of half ACV and half H2O with a cotton ball between her shoulder blades 3 to 4 times a day had her clear eyed and back to her old self within a week! I kept up the process for an extra day, just to be on the safe side, but she didn't need it. Hurray for Irma! And thank you to all the contributors that convinced me to give it a try.

Hi, I tried the ACV treatment on my dog Hailey, 8 1/2 month old lab cross. She has had reoccuring eye infections. Instead of the antibiotic drops, I tried the ACV placed on the back of her neck with a cotton ball. I held it in place for 30 seconds or so, gave a squeeze. After 2 treatments her eyes are so much better. I was having to wipe them every hour at least, big gobs of gook. I also added about a tsp/capful to her drinking water, she didn't seem to mind it. I used organic Omega ACV, unfiltered, with the mother. I'll certainly be telling everyone about this miraculous cure. Thanks so much.

This stuff is a miracle!

My 10-year old Shih Tzu has had eye issues for years. The vet says he is 75% blind (not sure I believe that from the testing I have done at home) due to leakage from his corneas to lubricate his eyes. They have always been leaking nasty yellowish stuff that literally glues his left eye shut in the morning. And the whites of his eyes are bright red. He's had oodles of antibiotics and gunk that costs $84 for a tube the size of my pinky - and about 10% of that farts out air the first time you use it - that I have to use 3 times a day. I've spent over $1000 on vet visits and medicines to control it.

SO, I read this thread. Cleaned his eyes (AGAIN! - it's my second profession - if I got paid for it I'd be rich - or at least able to pay vet bills... ) with boric acid (1 tsp to 1 cup water, then I use cosmetic pads to wipe them well). Then I doused the back of his neck with 1/2 water and 1/2 apple cider vinegar from a spray bottle.

Holy $%^&!! He woke up the next morning with nothing! Nada! I couldn't believe it and kept checking his eyes for days. It's been almost a week and I douse the back of his neck before I shower every morning (so I can wash off the smell - yuck! ) and his eyes are 95% better. Next to no discharge.

This forum has saved my dog. The vet wanted $800 to remove his eye. He came very close to being put down and my sons would have been completely heartbroken. This wonderful but (formerly) miserable dog acts like a puppy again!! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!

Ain't Google grand? :>)

I'm not usually one for reviewing products/methods but this time I just have to. As an herbalist I'm quite open to experimenting with natural remedies on myself but have always been a bit hesitant when it comes to trying things on my cats. However, my elder male, Mr. Fitch, turned up with some variation of conjunctivitis this week that rapidly progressed to the point of gluing his eyes shut. Not having any eye ointment on hand and, as others here have mentioned, being very tight on finances I did some research and found the apple cider vinegar remedy here. Along with gently swabbing his eyes with a cloth soaked with warm water as frequently as possible without completely alienating him, I soaked the back of Mr. Fitch's neck with full strength organic apple cider vinegar twice, 3 hours apart, last night. I applied none during the day today prefering to see how he reacted to last night's dosing.

I have to say that we are not out of the woods yet, but the improvement between last night and tonight is quite noticeable and a relief, for me and him I believe. Mr. Fitch just received another ACV application a little while ago and Mr. Fitch willing I'm planning on two more tonight. He certainly doesn't seem to mind them very much. Here's hoping the improvement continues and he'll be clear again before the eye ointment I ordered arrives on monday.

At this point I'd say that, while certainly not guaranteed, this remedy is certainly worth a shot. Thank you Earth Clinic for making it available.

I've also had amazing results using Apple Cider Vinegar to treat my dog's eye infection! Last week my chow x Samoyed had green goop leaking out of his left eye so I swabbed it with a very weak salt and water solution directly around the eye. I then went on earth clinic and read everybody's results using the vinegar and decided to give it a try. On the first day I applied a dilution to the back of his neck about three times and kept cleaning his eye with the saline. The next day there was significantly less muck coming from his eye but it was still a bit red. He was also trying to scratch it now so I applied the vinegar to his paws also. On the third day he was back to normal! The white of his eye is clear again and there's a normal amount of dark eye discharge!! I could tell he felt better as soon as I got up in the morning, as he was happy and wanting to play again! Thanks so much everyone, this has saved me a huge amount in vet bills, and also saved us from using antibiotics for small ailments which I think is unnecessary in pets and humans!

Hi I used Apple Cider Vinegar on the back of my kitty's neck after I saw greenish/yellow eye boogies on one eye. I first wiped her eye with a warm wash cloth and then applied 1/2 water and half Apple Cider Vinegar solution with cotton ball on the back of her neck. Her eye discharged just a tiny bit a couple more times that nite and each time I wiped it clean. In the morning there was just a little brown eye speck and I repeated the procedure today. Looks like her eyes are getting better in just 24 hrs!!!! YAY

Yes, yes, yes, it worked overnight. I used straight acv. Twice at night and twice in the morning. Our pets have the most urgent need for gentle, safe, effective remedies as they cannot tell us where it hurts. My little pom started winking her eye and washing at it with her paws right after a bath, so l knew she had gotten shampoo in it. I tried a gentle saline rinse, which helped a little, but by bedtime, l came running to earthclinic. By ten this morning, her eye is open, though it needs another saline rinse to get the little overnight goo. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences to help me and my dogs.

One of my dogs came down with conj. as well, believing it started as a reaction to pesticides sprayed by a professional company to eradicate a flea infestation that came into my residence courtesy the neighbor's pets who are not flea-treated (note: yes, my dogs are flea-treated via vet Rx, and I will be speaking to said vet about it as that shouldn't have happened, right?).

In any event, I've 3 dogs, 2 JRTs which are fine but were sneezing for a bit after the pesticide treatment, with my Chow being even more sensitive--not only sneezing but also developing red eye, which has since developed into Conj. (irritated red eyes which he pawed at (itch), followed by tearing and soon a mucous discharge in both eyes). As this occurred over the weekend, I irrigated the eyes by flushing thoroughly with water, wiping the area clean with cotton pads soaked in a warm saline solution which seemed to bring my guy some relief. I continued this regimen overnight (about 12 hours), contacting the emergency vet by phone to explain what happened, and to check whether it was safe to use an antibiotic eye wash. They said "no" and suggested I bring him in immediately, saying it was likely a corneal ulceration and if so that antibiotic drops or creams would worsen the condition. This theory/diagnosis did not make sense to me, but I held off from using the wash/ointments just in case.

However, so far as both eyes (not just one) are affected and seem to be improving with simple irrigation and saline washes (which I was told can't hurt in any event), I also held off from rushing to emerg, believing it to be conj. (irritation/allergies and/or bacterial); obviously, to be confirmed by his regular vet on opening which I thought we could wait for, with emerg always being an option if needed.

That said, I've continued with the saline solution every couple of hours or so, it now being almost 48 hours since I first started the saline, and his eyes have continued to show improvement. Namely, they're no longer seriously bloodshot, nor seemingly itchy as he's no longer pawing at them (that said, I put an inflatable collar around his neck on starting his at-home treatment as a precautionary measure to prevent him from pawing/scratching at his eyes, which could just as easily explain that). He is otherwise in great health, acting normally and his eyes do not appear to be light sensitive either, such that I believe it's resolving on its own, with help from the irrigation and saline wash, and will continue to monitor him.

As such, I don't see any reason at this moment to take him to the vet, at least not at this time, thanks to this simple regimen (thanks). Should his condition change, I. E. , if I fail to see continued improvement or, should his condition take a turn and worsen, then off to the vet he shall go and I will report back. Otherwise, so far so good, and thanks also for giving me comfort. Cheers.

ACV for Eyes: I have a dog and 4 kittens that all came down with eye infections at the same time. My vet bills lately have been out of this world. Also, I live in the mountains so you have to travel quite a distance to get to the vets, then they charge a fortune because they are the only ones around. Anyway, I tried the Apple Cider Vinegar on the nap of the neck and to my joyus surprise the dogs eyes were cleared up the next day and the kittens were markdly improved and I believe within a day or two they should be good as new. Thanks for the tip and my pets thank you tooooo!

I've used this remedy twice now to cure "Pink Eye" in my Jack Russell Terrier. I soak a cotton ball with ACV (I use organic) and put it on the back of her neck. I try to hold it there for 5-10 minutes. I do this once or twice and always it goes away within an hour. It has saved me quite a bit in vet bills and my dog the aggravation of applying gooey stuff to her eye for a week or more. Highly recommended!

Just wanted to thank everyone for their posts. ACV really seems to hav worked for my lil girl Sheba. The first day I tried honey and tea bags for her infected eye with no luck. After finding this site and reading about ACV I'm a true believer. First I cleaned out her eye with a lil warm water to remove all the gunk. Also so she could open the eye. Then I used a tbsp of ACV in about a half cup of water. I applied it all around her neck and the paw she would use to clean the eye about every 2-3 hrs except at night and within a few applications I noticed the difference. By the 2nd morning I no longer needed to clean her eye out as much as the gunk build up went away and I was able to see her pretty eyes again. Now the swelling has gone down drastically. I'm gonna keep doing this for a 3rd day and hopefully by the end of that she will be back to normal. Thanks again for all the great advice!!!

I tried using the ACV-(_____s) I rubbed it into her neck, fed it to her everything until she stunk so bad. It did help greatly but would not kick the eye infection. Hers was green discharge, the whites of her eyes were red and her lower lids were swollen (she looked a mess). After two days I gave up on ACV and tried both a sterile saline and tea compress and also a few drops in each eye. Same thing as ACV, it helped but not a cure.

I kept looking online. I found a homeopathic remedy using Boric acid powder. I read people saying to use anywhere from 1/8 tsp. To 1 tbsp. In a cup of boiling water. I chose to use 1/2 tsp in a cup of boiled purified water. I wiped her eyes first thoroughly with the solution, then opened them and put a drop of two in each one. Saw very fast results and a day later she is completely cured. I repeated the treatment 3-4 times the first day. By the next she looked great and two more treatments the second day it was all gone. I have a golden retriever, about 50 lbs.

I tested the ACV for conjunctivitis on our 6 year old cat Marmite who had chronic conjunctivitis relating to cat flu. It worked amazingly fast and well, it took about 4 days applying it twice sometimes 3 times a day. I didn't do anything else other than the ACV and sometimes washing out her eyes with a saline mix.

Then our 11 year old cat Molly developed acute conjunctivitis last week - emergency vet visit last weekend - her eye looked like it had a ping pong ball under it so I didn't want to take any chances. The vet gave her 2 antibiotic injections and an anti-inflammatory injection and ointment. That brought the heavy swelling down - but her eyes were still watery the past week and she was waking up with them shut and sticky but I thought, the antibiotics must still be working and it would take time. 2 nights ago I noticed the other eye starting to really swell up large - and not wanting it to get to the size of the other one, I quickly swabbed her neck and back with ACV and overnight her eye came right down in size - the same speed as all the vet medication. I've been swabbing her about 6 times a day and it's nearly back to its normal size today after about 3 days.

Another cat Tilly always has one runny eye so last night I swabbed her too and this morning her eye looked clear for the first time in ages. I think this is an excellent remedy if the condition is mild, but I do think vet help and a second opinion is needed if the condition looked as serious as Molly's - it'd be terrible to risk an animal losing an eye. I don't know how this remedy works but definitely absolutely worth a try! I didn't use organic ACV but I will get some today in case it works even better than the ordinary kind.

Thank You so much! My cocker spaniel eye was swollen at the corner & very red & tear dropping. I took him 3 times to the Vet(2)this past year a good vet I might add & spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars. Yet they couldn't diagnose it & none of the medications worked, which were $35 ea. I went on line to see what it might be & came up with Conjunctivitis. A home remedy was to mix Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with equal parts of water and put on the neck? At this time I would try anything because I couldn't afford to keep going to the vet & didn't want to see my dog suffer any longer it's been a year. I can't BELIEVE how it's working. I been putting it on 3 to 4 times a day on his neck & around his eye for the last 4 days. The swelling in the corner of his eye is down the redness has lightened dramatically. I am going to continue to use it till it is completely gone. I am just so greatful to this website. I had been praying to God for a cure that wouldn't break me & he sent me to earth clinic. Thank you so Much!!!!