Shih tzu dog has sores in between her eyes?

Question

I recently rescued an older shih tzu dog. Ive taken her to the vet 3 different times for this problem specifically, within 2 months. She has wrinkles on her little tiny muzzle that go from her whiskers to the inside corner of her eyes. On one side she is fine. But on the other side shes getting sores that have a brown crispy build up. When there isnt a scab its constantly raw and open. Each time I take her to the vet he gives us meds (antibiotic pills) for a week or 2 and they help and it makes it go away for a few days but each time it comes back. Last time he gave me meds for her for 3 weeks and it did the same thing. I clean it out with a special eye cleaning liquid for dogs and I try to get all the brown stuff off each time, usually twice a day. It doesnt seem to be helping. Does anyone have any idea on what I can do to help her? It doesnt seem to be hurting very badly as she lets me touch it but I dont want her to get an infection and its unsightly. She has a rather short cut around her muzzle because the vet kept cutting it short each time, could her hair being so short be the problem? I'm letting it grow out butmaybe that wont be a good idea and it might just make it worse or incourage infection. Give me some advice please. Thank you!

Answer 1

You need to keep the area as dry as possible.  One way would be to ask your vet what is causing the constant tearing from that eye and find out if there is a surgery that could end the problem.  Sometimes a dog has tiny eyelashes that grow inwards, toward the eye, causing constant irritation.  Sometimes it is the structure of the eye itself, or the skin around it.  Unless the hair is rubbing the eyeball, there is no need to let it grow out.  It is better to keep it short so that it won't irritate the eyes.  You can get a tube of Terramycin antibiotic eye ointment, if the sores are Very close to the eye, and apply that to the sore area daily, to heal it up.  If the sores aren't so close that the ointment will get into the eye, you can use any antibiotic ointment, like Neosporin, to cover and heal the sores.  You can buy  Terramycin at K V VET (kvvet.com).  A flea comb can be used to comb eye gunk out of the hair.  Just comb Away from the eye.