How to Best Administer Eye Medications

When possible recruit a friend.  An extra set of hands can be very useful for holding or keeping your pet distracted/calm while you perform the task. We think tag teaming eye drops is easiest, but don’t worry we’ll go over how to administer eye drops if you’re alone too

#1 thing: Use treats or your pets favourite thing to make the experience a positive one! Remember to always end on a positive note, this teaches our pets that something worthwhile is in it for them!

#2 thing: Wash your hands before (and after) administering the eye medications, prevent contamination of the bottle and spread of infection

Once you have clean hands and treats (or belly rubs, or hair brush) are ready to go, get the eye drops ready, this will minimize restraint time. Remember to talk to your pet in a happy (high pitched) voice, offer treats throughout or immediately after application.

Dogs: find a spot where you can back their bum up into a corner, this way, they cannot back away from you; I tend to use the space in between my legs, but you can try the couch arm/back, something off of the ground is usually convenient. Make sure you your dog doesn’t try to jump or fall from anything dangerously high. I like to drape a towel over their shoulders, so that the towel ends “cover” their chest and front legs (this way if you’re working alone they can’t paw at you or their eyes).

Cats: sometimes it’s helpful to wrap the pet in a blanket or towel so just their head is sticking out (kitty burrito).

Picture provided by wikiHow, the original wikiHow article on How to Give a Cat Medicine https://www.wikihow.com/Give-a-Cat-Medicine. Content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons License.

I use my non dominant hand, palm side up to gently lift their chin up towards the ceiling, it’s easier to work from behind or the side). You may want to rest your hand on the top of your pet’s head for stability. Hold the bottle close to the eye but make sure you DO NOT touch the eye’s surface. Then squeeze the bottle to eject 1 to 2 drops into the indicated eye(s). Now go ahead and tell your doggy/kitty how good they did and give their treat immediately!

#3 thing:Remember to wait at least 5 minutes for the drops to be completely absorbed, before applying another eye medication

Your pet will blink, spreading the medication over the surface of the eye. It is common for them to blink or paw at the eye after administering the drops. If this persists or if the eye appears more inflamed or red after administration of the medication, consult with your veterinarian asap.

#4 thing: Keep e-collar on at all times as instructed! It just takes one second to undo all of your hard work