He is asleep in the sun, it is the first of the month, and you have five minutes. That is all this takes, and it is how you catch an eye problem while it is still small.
Quick answer: Once a month, take five minutes for six steps: compare both eyes in daylight, do the torch shine test in a dim room, run the tracking and menace tests, check the corners for discharge, answer five behaviour questions, and write it down. Most eye problems in senior dogs are easier and cheaper to treat when they are caught at this stage. A red, painful, swollen or suddenly cloudy eye skips the checklist: same-day vet.
How to check your dog's eyes at home in 5 minutes
Step 1: The daylight look (60 seconds)
Sit him facing a window and compare the two eyes side by side. Are they the same size, the same colour and clarity, with pupils the same size? Is the white of the eye white, or pink and veiny? Is the surface glossy and wet, or dull? Is brown pigment or a red vessel creeping across the clear front of the eye?
Any difference between the eyes is a note for the vet. A sudden difference is a call today.
Step 2: The torch shine test (60 seconds)
In a dim room, shine a phone torch at each eye from about a metre away and look for the reflective glow from the back of the eye. A clear glow behind a soft bluish haze is the normal aging lens. A dull, patchy or blocked glow, or a white crystal-like spot, suggests a cataract. One eye glowing and the other not is a vet visit this week.
Take a photo from the same spot each month. The camera often catches the change before you do.
Step 3: Tracking and menace (60 seconds)
Silently move a treat across his view at nose height, left to right and back. Both eyes and his head should follow it. Repeat in dim light.
Then cover one eye with your hand and move your other hand, flat, quickly toward the open eye without touching the whiskers or making a breeze. A sighted eye blinks. Swap sides. Finish by dropping a cotton ball silently in front of him, once in good light and once in dim light, and watch whether his eyes follow it down.
Step 4: The corners (30 seconds)
A little clear or grey crust in the morning is normal. Thick yellow or green discharge that comes back within hours of wiping points to dry eye or infection. Tear staining that has suddenly increased can mean the eye is watering from irritation or a blocked duct. Gently lift the lower lid: the inside should be pink, not red or pale.
Step 5: Five behaviour questions (60 seconds)
- Has he started hesitating at dusk, in dark rooms or at the top of the stairs?
- Has he bumped into anything, missed a thrown treat, or startled when touched?
- Is he squinting, blinking more, pawing at his face or rubbing it on furniture?
- Has he become clingy, anxious at night, or reluctant to jump on or off things?
- Is he quieter, off his food or head-shy? That can be eye pain.
Step 6: Write it down (30 seconds)
The date, what you saw in each eye, the answers to the five questions, and one photo per eye. Take the notes to every vet visit. The value of a monthly check is the trend line, not any single day.
The checklist to print
- Date: ______
- Daylight look: same size, colour, clarity and pupils? Whites white? Surface glossy?
- Shine test: clear glow in both eyes? Any white spot?
- Tracking, menace, cotton ball: both eyes follow and blink, in good and dim light?
- Corners: clear crust only? Lower lid pink?
- Behaviour: any yes to the five questions?
- Photo taken: left eye, right eye
What is normal in an older dog's eyes?
Normal from about seven: a soft, matching blue-grey haze deep in both pupils (nuclear sclerosis), a little clear crust in the morning, and slower confidence in dim light. Nuclear sclerosis vs cataracts explains the haze.
Not normal at any age: redness, thick coloured discharge, a white or chalky opacity, a difference between the two eyes, signs of pain, or any sudden change. If the shine test points to a cataract, skip the drops sold to dissolve it and read do cataract eye drops work for dogs before you spend anything.
Signs that mean same-day vet
- A red eye with squinting, pawing or pain
- A swollen, bulging or enlarged eye
- Cloudiness that appeared over hours or days, or in one eye only
- A pupil stuck wide, or pupils of different sizes
- Heavy green or yellow discharge
- Sudden bumping into things
Glaucoma, ulcers and a slipped lens (lens luxation) can cost sight in days. Glaucoma in dogs explains the red, cloudy, painful eye.
Between checks
- Keep the face clean and the hair around the eyes trimmed.
- Keep the floor plan fixed and add night lights along the bed-to-water route.
- Book an eye exam at every senior visit, every six months from age seven.
- Ask for a tear test and a pressure check if your breed is on the list in dog breeds prone to eye problems. Each takes about a minute.
Feed his eyes every day, not just once a month
The check tells you what is changing. Nutrition is the part you can do every day. His eyes run on a few nutrients his body cannot make: the pigment that shields the retina from glare, the antioxidant that cleans up daily wear, the fat that keeps the eye wet. The only way in is through his food. OcuLabs Vision Support Bites carry them in a chicken chew, given with breakfast.
- Retina support in bright light. Lutein 6 mg per two chews concentrates in the retina and helps filter blue light.
- Back-up for aging eye cells. Astaxanthin 1 mg gives antioxidant support where the daily wear happens.
- Comfortable, moist eyes. Omega-3 DHA 100 mg supports the tear film and eye moisture.
- Normal eye health, every day. Beta-carotene 1.5 mg adds antioxidant protection.
Give 2 to 4 chews a day depending on your dog's weight (the chart is on the jar and the product page), and let your monthly notes show you how dusk walks and the stairs are going over 90 days. It supports aging eyes; it is not a treatment for anything on the same-day list. Weighing a chew against a liquid topper? See Vision Support Bites vs Canine Drops ClearVision.
Your first jar is covered for 90 days. Not happy, email support@ocupetlabs.com for a full refund of the product price, even if the jar is empty.
Keep reading
- 12 signs your senior dog is losing vision
- Cloudy eyes in dogs: 7 causes and when to worry
- Best eye supplements for dogs: evidence, ingredients and how to choose
- Vision Support Bites vs Canine Drops ClearVision
- Cataract eye drops for dogs: do NAC and lanosterol drops work?
Frequently asked questions
How can I check my dog's eyes at home?
In daylight, compare both eyes for size, colour, redness and discharge. In a dim room, shine a phone torch from about a metre away and look for a clear shine from the back of the eye behind any haze. Move a treat silently across his view and check both eyes follow it. Write it down monthly so changes stand out.
What is normal in an older dog's eyes?
A soft, matching bluish-grey haze deep in both pupils from about age seven (nuclear sclerosis), a little clear or grey crust in the corners in the morning, and slower confidence in dim light. Redness, thick coloured discharge, a white opacity, a difference between the two eyes, pain or sudden change are not normal.
When should a dog's eye be seen the same day?
Redness with squinting or pain, a swollen or bulging eye, a cloudy eye that changed over hours or days, a pupil that stays wide or differs from the other, heavy green or yellow discharge, or a dog who suddenly bumps into things. Glaucoma, ulcers and a slipped lens can cost sight in days.
How often should I check my senior dog's eyes?
Monthly at home from age seven, with a vet eye exam every six months, plus a tear test and pressure check for at-risk breeds. Any day something looks different, check again, and call the vet if it is still there.
What can I do for my dog's eyes between checks?
Keep his face clean, trim the hair around his eyes, keep the home layout stable with night lights, and feed the retina and tear film daily. OcuLabs Vision Support Bites deliver lutein, astaxanthin, beta-carotene and omega-3 DHA in a chicken chew for dogs 7 and up.
General information for dog parents, not veterinary advice. If your dog's eye looks red, swollen or painful, or anything changes suddenly, see your vet today.