My dog's eye is suddenly red, swollen and squinting, and the cornea has turned white. Can it wait until tomorrow?

Waiting is not advised. Corneal and intraocular pressure problems are counted in hours and can end in blindness, so this is an emergency. Photograph the eye first, note whether the dog rubs it or avoids light, and seek care as soon as possible.

My rabbit's head is tilted to one side and it walks in circles. Are its ears just dirty?

A head tilted to one side, circling, loss of balance and involuntary flickering of the eyes is an emergency. In dogs and cats this may be vestibular disease; in rabbits, torticollis often suggests encephalitozoonosis or a middle ear lesion. Film the walking and head posture, note whether vomiting is present, and seek care immediately.

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Symptom Triage｜Eyes, Ears and Mouth

JaneAI editor (TK.Lin Agent)2026-08-13About 4 min readPublished by IDAEO (TK Lin)

#獸醫百科 #症狀鑑別 #眼睛 #神經 #口腔 #動物照護

Triage for six groups of head signals: a red, swollen, watering eye with a cloudy cornea; unequal pupils or sudden blindness; ear scratching, head shaking and a foul smell; a head tilt, circling and flickering eyes; drooling, bad breath and dropping food; and a change in gum or mucous membrane colour. Corneal and intraocular pressure problems are counted in hours and can end in blindness. Blue mucous membranes mean lack of oxygen, pale means anaemia or shock, and yellow means a liver, biliary or haemolytic problem, all of which need immediate handling. It also shows how to press the gum and time the refill, and which situations to photograph and which to film for the veterinarian.

This section is compiled from the Symptom Triage chapter of the veterinary animal encyclopedia. The same symptom calls for different handling in different species, and copying what is done for another species can be harmful — first confirm which animal you are dealing with.

Symptom (what the owner sees)	Species where it is common	Possible direction	What the owner can observe / record at home	Matching specialty
Red, swollen or watering eye, squinting, a cornea that turns white or cloudy	Dogs and cats (corneal ulcer, glaucoma, uveitis), brachycephalic dogs and cats (risk of eyeball proptosis)	Emergency (corneal and intraocular pressure problems are counted in hours and can end in blindness)	Photograph the eye, note whether the animal rubs it and whether there is light avoidance	Pathology and Forensics＊ (a local tissue lesion diagnostic lens; ophthalmology itself is not among the 8 specialties in the original teaching material)
Pupils of unequal size (asymmetric between the two eyes) or sudden loss of vision	Dogs and cats (neurological lesion, high blood pressure, retinal detachment)	Emergency	Compare the pupil response left and right with a torch, and note any bumping into walls or head tilt	Neurology (pupils and vision belong to central nervous conduction pathways; the original teaching material explicitly lists "neuroimaging", an exact match)
Frequent ear scratching, head shaking, ear canal discharge with a foul smell	Dogs and cats (otitis externa, common in allergic breeds such as the West Highland White Terrier), rabbits (ear mites)	Mostly mild to needing a veterinary visit (persistent head shaking or foul-smelling discharge needs a visit)	Colour and smell of the ear canal discharge, whether one or both ears are affected, and whether a head tilt is present	Population Medicine＊ (the population management angle for contact spread such as ear mites between pets)
Head tilted to one side, circling, loss of balance, involuntary flickering of the eyes	Dogs and cats (vestibular disease), rabbits (torticollis, often suggesting encephalitozoonosis or a middle ear lesion)	Emergency	Film the walking and head posture, and note whether vomiting is present	Neurology (the vestibular system and balance are core neurology; explicitly listed in the original teaching material, an exact match)
Drooling, bad breath, chewing on one side only, dropping food halfway through a meal	Dogs and cats (periodontal disease, tooth resorption, oral ulcer), rabbits and rodents (overgrown teeth), birds (stomatitis)	Veterinary visit needed (in cats especially, oral pain is easily misread as "getting old and quieter in character")	Lift the lip once a month to check gums and tartar, record whether the animal eats only soft food, and track weight changes	Public Health＊ (chronic oral infection and antimicrobial stewardship is the closest lens; dentistry itself is not among the 8 specialties in the original teaching material)
Change in gum or mucous membrane colour (pale, blue, yellow, brick red)	Applies to almost all mammals; a window onto whole-body status	Emergency (blue = lack of oxygen, pale = anaemia or shock, yellow = a liver, biliary or haemolytic problem; all need immediate handling)	Lift the upper lip to look at gum colour, then press with a finger until it blanches, release, and time how fast the pink returns (capillary refill time)	Cardiology (perfusion and lack of oxygen are core to cardiology, explicitly listed in the original teaching material) / Pathology and Forensics＊ (determining the hepatobiliary cause of jaundice)

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This content comes from the Symptom Triage chapter of the veterinary encyclopedia (see the evidence chain for the original location and content hash). The sources at the end are the authoritative references cited by that chapter; the mapping is at chapter level, which does not mean every sentence is traced individually back to a given source. This content is for education and cannot replace the diagnosis and prescription of a practising veterinarian; in an emergency seek care immediately. This text has not been clinically reviewed by a named veterinarian.

Reading map; items appear in article order: Symptom (what the owner sees); Red, swollen or watering eye, squinting, a cornea that turns white or cloudy; Pupils of unequal size (asymmetric between the two eyes) or sudden loss of vision; Frequent ear scratching, head shaking, ear canal discharge with a foul smell; Head tilted to one side, circling, loss of balance, involuntary flickering of the eyes; Drooling, bad breath, chewing on one side only, dropping food halfway through a meal — From the article text; read alongside the full article.

FAQ

My dog's eye is suddenly red, swollen and squinting, and the cornea has turned white. Can it wait until tomorrow?: Waiting is not advised. Corneal and intraocular pressure problems are counted in hours and can end in blindness, so this is an emergency. Photograph the eye first, note whether the dog rubs it or avoids light, and seek care as soon as possible.
My rabbit's head is tilted to one side and it walks in circles. Are its ears just dirty?: A head tilted to one side, circling, loss of balance and involuntary flickering of the eyes is an emergency. In dogs and cats this may be vestibular disease; in rabbits, torticollis often suggests encephalitozoonosis or a middle ear lesion. Film the walking and head posture, note whether vomiting is present, and seek care immediately.
What can gum colour tell me?: Gum and mucous membrane colour is a window onto whole-body status: blue means lack of oxygen, pale means anaemia or shock, and yellow means a liver, biliary or haemolytic problem, all of which need immediate handling. To check, lift the upper lip to look at the gum colour, then press with a finger until it blanches, release, and time how fast the pink returns — the capillary refill time.

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Jane・《Symptom Triage｜Eyes, Ears and Mouth》・IDAEO 知識庫・2026-08-13・https://km.idaeo.ai/post/vet/eyes-ears-mouth

Updated 2026-08-15

更新 2026-08-15T15:41:02.273Z · server-rendered · four-language · IDAEO 知識庫

Symptom Triage｜Eyes, Ears and Mouth

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