What is an ulcer?
The cornea is the transparent structure which makes up the front of the eyeball. The cornea is comprised of three layers. The outer layer is called the epithelium, the centre called the stroma and the deepest layer is descemet’s membrane. An ulcer is present if there is any loss of cells from the cornea. The depth of the loss of tissue determines how serious it is. Ulcers may be superficial and heal very quickly or may be very deep leading to potential rupture of the eye. Infections, ongoing trauma or incorrect drugs may cause an ulcer to get larger or deeper. How do you get corneal ulcers? Dogs: There are several causes of corneal ulcers. For dogs the most common is trauma such as rubbing at the eye, running into sticks or getting a foreign body under the eyelids such as a grass seed or from cat scratches. At times chemical burns occur if irritating shampoo gets in the eye. Conformational abnormalities may lead to corneal ulcers – for example the lids my roll inwards causing hair to r
