Red eyes

[mflavin]

For as long as I can remember, my boxer (7 month old female) has had red eyes. Is this something i should be concerned about or can it be allergies? My vet has never expressed concern, so I hadn't been. But this am at the dog park another boxer owner asked me why her eyes were so red.

Any expert BW advice out there?

 

[gmacleod]

No, it's nothing to be concerned about. I had a look in your gallery, and your girl has unpigmented haws (third eyelids). That's what causes her eyes to look red, and it will happen whenever she's excited or has been running round a lot - basically anytime her blood is pumping hard. They usually get very red during teething too.

It probably technically happens to dogs with pigmented haws too - it's just that with dark haws, you won't notice. Here's a page that illustrates well unpigmented haws and you can see how the upigmented eye in the illustration will look red when the dog is excited, while the eye with the pigmented haw will not. You need to scroll down to about 3/4 of the way down the page to where it says "unpigmented third eyelids" http://www.worldwideboxer.com/PAGE6.html

 

[Lucymom]

Lucy has the same thing. I never thought anything of it, so thanks for asking the question. I learn something new everyday!

 

[CondoPup]

This is great information, my sister's male has a red eye and we always wondered what that was about. Thanks!