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This may sound strange but I'm not sure about it... this morning I noticed my Shih Tzu had a bit of black gooey stuff coming from one of her eyes.. then about an hour later she's now holding her eye shut? When I lift open her eyelid.. I can only see white... her pupil is down below the 'third eyelid'.. I can't get her to the vet until Friday ... what can I do until then? Any ideas... I have some eye wash stuff for washing the discharge under the eyes.. should I try this... It doesn't really say if you can put it on the actual eye or not.. I usually just wipe around her nose and stuff... it's says it soothes?? This is what the label says.... "blueberry.. lightly astrigent and anti-flammatory.... "Ingredients : surface-active agent mild sodium borate, blueberry water 10%, rose water, aqueous excipient" ... Does this sound like something I can use to actually put on a cotton ball and gently rub over her eye?? I did try to call the vet to ask them but they are closed due to having no power from the storm yesterday!"
Please help, thanks....

You can always call another clinic to ask if the wash you have is safe, we always use Polysporine for eyes and ears, it's super safe and tends to help things keep clean.
Meaghan/DragonRider

I wouldn't.
I would do what I did when one of my children had a sore eye and had to wait to get to doctor app.
Warm water- on a cotton ball -wiping gently from corner of eye to outside only once and throw away.
I used a clean cotton ball each time and did that 2 - 3 times to clean or if they were rubbing at their eye.
It worked with them-helped til we saw doctor. This is what i would do if Kobe had a sore eye and we had to wait.
Any better advice is appreciated.

I would be verrryyy careful about what you put on it, and i would try to get to the vets as soon as possible. Like suggested maybe call another clinic for some advice. Our jazz did the same thing, had the black gooey stuff and she was scratching at her eye and then was holding it shut for awhile, we put some polysporen on it, it helped for a bit and then she was holding it shut the whole next day so we took her up to the vet the next day.. so like 2 days after we originally saw it and she ended up ? bursting a tear duct ?.. (question marks because i dont remeber exactally what it was.. it was a bursted something in her eye). We had to get surgery for her, which was around $500 and she had to wear an eye patch for a few weeks after and a collar.

Just be very careful. The vet told us if we had of got there sooner they could have gave her an injection to stop it from bursting, but us having waited so long (didn't think much was wrong since her eye was closed for only a few hours the first day) it bursted on its own. Kinda like a human and appendix i guess. once you feel the pain there, you gotta go so it dont burst on ya.. lol

I called the vet about an hour ago and their power is back on although the vet wasn't in... Luckily for me, they had called to cancel all their appointments for tomorrow because they weren't expecting the power to be back on already.. so, they are going to see her in the morning.. wish us luck.. she seems really sad, kinda laying around with one eye closed tight and the other big beady eye staring at me so I'm glad they could see her first thing tomorrow...
Thanks for the help, I'll let you know how it goes.....

I agree with Debi's method if you plan on doing anything. I used that when Lindy had a bit of conjunctivitis (it happened when her eyelashes got too long and the cottonwood was just starting to fall - they got all green and goopy). Then when we saw the vet she needed prescription eye drops to clear up the infection even though the outside of her eyes were clean and clear they were still infected on the inside, which can happen from something small like a piece of dust or a dog licking her eye (which regularly happens with puppies at the dog park).

Just remember not to treat her any differently or coddle her or she will make a bigger deal about it! I know this is a big deal to you, but you need to remember to stay calm and try to treat her them same as you normally would so that she doesn't get nervous, scared or have anxiety about the issue. I know it's hard, but our issues and emotions can often end up being put on our dogs in situations like this.

Good luck and keep us updated!

long time after the fact.. but it turns out that the vet thinks it's an allergy to the food... she has been bothered with ear infections but now with the eye swelling the vet says it's definately a food allergy... we've since changed her food and soo far so good... however, last night we made chicken on the bbq... my wonderful well behaved (LOL) kitty jumped up on the table and grabbed a piece of chicken and ran with it.. we thought we had picked it all up but later found Scrappy chewing on a lovely chunk of chicken (boneless thankfully)... well, this morning when she got up, both eyes were swollen very badly... and as the day progressed she is now scratching like a madman... she's had diarrhea twice so far so I'm hoping it's passing... I gave her a bit of Benadryl but it really doesn't see to be doing anything.. if she's not any better in the morning I'll call the vet as I must not be giving her enough Benadryl?! I was told 1mg per pound .. so I crushed about 1/4 of a 25 mg pill as I was worried to give her too much.... she's 10lbs.. hopefully tonite will bring relief to her itching and diarrhea...

Glad it wasn't too serious.
Both eyes that must be alittle discerning. She got better last time-she will again.
I have allergies and it takes time for them to work. Mine has the mg amt on the label and 1 pill is 10 mg.
wish I had seen this earlier- lot of help this is now.
Now that you know what it is -you can control it.

I went back to reread and I think you knew what you were doing with 1/4 of 25mg pill. Sometimes I miss really reading stuff cause I read fast-and doesn't register

OMG... it was a long night.. she sleeps in a crate on the floor beside my bed and she was up circling all night long... she threw up once around midnight and again at 3:30am... she was really restless, I'm assuming from an upset tummy... this morning we got up around 6 and I brought her for a very short walk (figured she'd be weak) and she seems okay now.. the eye swelling is completely gone, although she is still scratching her belly... she hasn't eaten anything yet... I've been giving her water and so far so good.... Does vomiting and diarrhea usually occur with an allergic reaction? Any suggestions with when to start feeding her again... should I wait? Thanks.