Dog's eye rolling back into his head

[mcurtiss57]

My dog's eye was bloodshot a couple of weeks ago so I put some eyedrops in them a couple of times and it seemed to get better. Today we went out on a hike in a wooded area and this evening the same eye is rolling back into his head. I gave him a benadryl thinking it might be allergies but I need to know if anyone else has had this happen before. Some say it's because of a seizure but I've had a dog that had seizures and I haven't seen him have one. He is half Dalmatian, half Lab; weighs about 70 lbs. and is 7 years old.  

Please help!!!!

[tonyb286]

Hi. You really need a vet to offer you a diagnosis here. Epilepsy is certainly a possibility, and maybe even a likelihood. But there are other conditions with similar symptoms, so it's important to get a good diagnosis before treating the symptoms. At 13, your beagle is an older girl. Beagles can have specific and predisposed illnesses in later years, but not all beagles get these conditions. Your vet should certainly examine for hypothyroidism, spinal problems and - very definitely - idiopathic epilepsy. This should not be left untreated, as it could shorten her life substantially. Once diagnosed properly and a sound treatment plan is started, she should continue to enjoy a normal life. Tony x

[Carowing19]

My 13 year old beagle her eyes rolled back and loss of appetite and accidents on the floor.  I am scared what do I do.  I love her she is my lil girl.  

[Carowing19]

My beagle is 12 years old and both eyes rolled back and no appetite.  What could it be.  She has an loose stools and going in the house. What do I do.  

[m_ortiz]

I have a one year old golden retriever who has minor seizures.  It started when she was about four months old.  After an active day at the beach we had gone to bed.  She woke me up in the night and so I thought she needed to go potty.  We got to the door and I noticed her right eye was rolling back into her head and her head was swaying. It lasted a minute but her eye was blood shot.  The 2nd incident happened at 6the months of age.  It started with the right eye and then it was both. Its happened twice in the last six weeks.  We are treating her now with a low dose of phenobarbital as it appears that she has epilepsy.  

[tonyb286]

Great to hear your little man is getting back to normal. Just a quick word about Benadryl ... which is ordinarily an excellent and safe antihystamine for dogs. However, guard against using children's format benadryl, as it contains sodium, which is not good for dogs. the decongestant and cold version of benadryl is not suitable for dogs, only use the pure form containing Diphenhydramine as the only active ingredient. Getting the dosage right is very important. Dogs are categorized by three weight class categories; the med is taken 3 times daily, every 8 hours: 30 pounds and under pets: 10mg; 30-50 pound pets: 25 mg; 50 pounds and over pets: 50mg. Hoping this info helps. Tony

[Ghilly]

I'm glad to hear that it's mostly back to normal.  I didn't THINK that what you were seeing was actually the eye rolling back into his head because when something like that happens, it's almost always a bilateral thing, meaning BOTH eyes roll back, not just one.  And it would have been especially odd for one eye to appear normal and have the other one rolled back into the head.  When the third eyelid comes up it can look very much like the white part of the eye, so I figured that's what you were seeing.

Again, I'm really glad to hear that it has mostly straightened itself back out.  Thanks for the update!

Ghilly

[mcurtiss57]

I did read online that rolling eyes are a symptoms of seizures but as I stated before, I've had a dog that had them previously and could always tell when he was about to have one because of his behavior and his eyes so I'm not immune to not being able to detect one, even it's it not a tremor.

We do think it was allergies though because the benadryl I gave him last night made the other eye normal and the other one, that was red before, was still glazed over and not completely back in the right spot to where we could see the whole eye color. I gave him another benadryl this morning and his eye is back but still red a little.

Thank you for replying though, I really appreciate all the help I can get when it comes to things I don't know about. I just lost my other baby last August due to a mass in her pancreas and I'm trying to be very proactive with this one so I don't have to go through that again.

[mcurtiss57]

Ghilly - I'm not really sure as I have never seen anyone's, dog or human, eyes roll back into their head, but you could barely see the color of his eye and it did look like maybe the third eyelid you were talking about may have been what we actually saw. It was pretty scary though. I gave him a benadryl last night and his other eye was fine but the one that had been red previously was still glazed over and not completely right. I gave him another benadryl this morning and his eye is looking almost back to normal except it's just red a little.

Thank you for replying though, I do appreciate the help.

[mcurtiss57]

We think it was allergies because after I gave him the benadryl his eye got a little bit better; I gave him another one this morning and his eye is almost back to normal, just a little red.

Thank you for replying though, I really appreciate it....

[tonyb286]

Rolling eyes are a symptom of seizures, particularly from an epileptic attack. It is worth mentioning that mild seizures (known as Petit Mal seizures) are not always observable. There is often no tremor with these, though the dog may appear somewhat dazed and confused for a few minutes.

All that said, seizures do not produce just one rolling eye, so I don't think this is the cause of the symptom in your dog. I would suggest seeing a vet about this, as it clearly needs further investigation by a professional. Tony

[Ghilly]

Are you sure that the dog's eye is actually rolled back into his head, or is his nictitating membrane (third eyelid) up, giving the appearance of the eye being rolled back?

Ghilly

[ace_713]

take him to the vet. make sure to mention the eye-drops ad benadryl, might be an allergic reaction or dehydration.