Third eyelid/vision issue

Hello vets,   My girl is 5 years old, spayed in October of 2022 with no prior health issues. Have any of you ever seen third eyelids do this? Should I be concerned? I have asked my veterinarian about it but I’m not convinced that everything “looks fine”. This doesn’t look normal to me. I’ve noticed it a while back and thought maybe her eyes were irritated by allergies but they haven’t retracted any…the eyelid still seems like it’s overexposed. Advice on what could cause this? This time last year, it was not present.

Hello - I think you're referring to the third eyelid being slightly drawn across the eye on both sides.  I have not examined your dog (the picture is also small on my screen) and have no experience of what that looks like for them, so am in no position to comment on your dogs' case.  Speaking generally however, third eyelids can enroach on the eye for a host of reasons. Damage or pain to the eye or tear-film is a common reason.  Another can be general ill-health or dehydration.  Another would be neurological, whereby the nerve supplying that portion of the eye becomes inflamed or damaged somewhere along its length and therefore works less effectively.  There is a syndrome (a syndrome is a group of symptoms that occur together) called Horners.  The signs of Horners are Miosis (a small pupil), ptsosis (a sl droopy eyelid) and endopthalmus (a sunken eye).  For genetic reasons, this is exceptionally common in golden retreivers.

Another thing to mention is that just occasionally, such eye changes can be seen in hypothyroidism (they might therefore correspond to weight gain or lethargy).  I think that it would be hard to tell the reason for a slightly closed third eyelid from the outside, although your vet might  check for Horners / dry eye / neurological concerns / hypothyroidism if they were concerned.  Its not clear whdn you were last seen, but if this is persisting, then a value judgement may need to be made by your vet as to whether ot not this particular case requires further investigation / work-up.

Hi! Thanks for the response and yes I am referring to that! I actually took her to another vet yesterday and they examined her and within 10 minutes they believe they found the answer. A fractured tooth on the same side as the worsening side as far as the eyelid goes. They plan to extract it on the 9th of August, soonest available time they had. Until then, she is on anti inflammatory medication with a steroid/antibiotic eye ointment. If extracting the tooth does help alleviate the issue, ophthalmologist will follow shortly.