Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
Hello! Your eyes - and working dogs' eyes - are fantastic. They produce tears all day long to protect the surface from drying out, and from particles in the air. This cannot be replicated by putting artificial drops into the eyes occasionally. Even if you do it eight times a day. the false 'tears' quickly drain away and need to be reapplied again and distributed well across the eye's surface. A working lacrymal gland is therefore what is needed.
It is also achievable in most cases: the veterinary products that are available work to help the lacrymal gland to function, so producing its own tears. This is not perfect but generally leads to a much better quality of life and much lower chances of an animal going blind. We would urge you to see the vet - although the proper, veterinary drops are considerable more expensive than some of the brands you name, they are vastly superior in function. Only a tiny amount is needed each day, so a tube stretches a long way, and they do make a huge difference.
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