“Help! What can I do if rubbing alcohol splashes in my dog’s eyes?” If this sounds like you, we’re here to help. If you used rubbing alcohol to clean up a small wound on your pup (which you should NEVER do) and got the toxic chemicals into their eyes, you must flush out your dog’s eyes immediately.
In this post, we’ll cover the toxicity of rubbing alcohol and whether it can cause eye damage to your pup. Keep reading to learn what to do if you get rubbing alcohol in a dog’s eye.
Before scrolling down this article “What Can I Do If Rubbing Alcohol Splashes In My Dog’s Eyes,” these guides could help answer your other questions: Dog Eye Bleeding – What Should I Do? and Lazy Eye in Dogs: What is it and How to Fix it?
What Can I Do If Rubbing Alcohol Splashes In My Dog’s Eyes?
The first thing you should do if rubbing alcohol gets in your dog’s eyes is flush the eyes out with a saline solution. Saline solution is the same liquid people use to keep their contact lenses clean. You may need to flush out the eyes for at least 15 minutes.
After flushing your dog’s eyes, you can also apply artificial tears. You should only perform four or five flushes, which should be enough to remove the irritation from your pup’s eyes.
However, rubbing alcohol can cause eye damage. For instance, if your pup keeps squinting, it may have suffered from corneal damage. If that happens, you should make an appointment with your veterinarian. They’ll most likely prescribe antibiotic eye medicine to fix the condition.
What Happens if a Dog Gets Rubbing Alcohol in Its Eye?
Rubbing alcohol, or isopropyl alcohol, tends to have serious toxicity levels for dogs. If a large amount of rubbing alcohol enters a dog’s eyes, the possible serious risks include:
- Unconsciousness
- Drowsiness
- Death
Other Risks of Rubbing Alcohol Include:
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Cramps
- Nausea and vomiting
- Gastrointestinal pain
- Diarrhea
If you get rubbing alcohol on a dog’s skin, the pup may experience redness, irritation, and pain in the affected area. Much like the skin, if you get rubbing alcohol in the eye, it may appear red and irritated.
Take your dog to the veterinarian immediately if your dog experiences any major symptoms of rubbing alcohol poisoning.
How Do You Flush a Dog’s Eye?
Flushing the eyes consists of cleaning them out using large amounts of water or another cleansing solution. To flush a dog’s eyes, you can get a special eye wash for dogs. Some come with a dropper that allows you to flush out each eye multiple times. Make sure the eyewash is made out of a saline solution.
Flushing the eye should help remove the irritants, chemicals, and any other debris from contact with rubbing alcohol. If your dog keeps squinting and its eyes look red and irritated after flushing, make an appointment with your veterinarian.
In general, it’s a great idea to flush your dog’s eyes regularly, especially if your pup often plays in dirt, grime, dust, debris, or water. Flushing out its eyes will also keep them clean and help your dog avoid irritation and infection.
Is Rubbing Alcohol Toxic to Dogs?
Has your dog gulped down large amounts of rubbing alcohol? If your dog has ingested any rubbing alcohol, otherwise known as isopropyl alcohol, the negative effects of poisoning will begin very quickly. Your dog will start showing symptoms in only about 30 minutes.
The Typical Symptoms of Rubbing Blcohol Poisoning are:
- Abnormal weakness
- Losing body control and general disorientation
- Violent vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Greater salivation and foaming at the mouth
- Lethargy
- Breathing problems
- Loss of consciousness
- Possible seizures
- Heart rhythm issues
Rubbing alcohol has extremely toxic effects on dogs, especially when a dog ingests large amounts of rubbing alcohol. For this reason, you should avoid ever using rubbing alcohol on or near your dog.
A dog can risk death after ingesting excess amounts of rubbing alcohol. If your dog consumes rubbing alcohol, you should call a veterinary hospital or contact the National Poison Control Help Line at 1-800-222-1222.
How Much Rubbing Alcohol Is Toxic to Dogs?
If you think of toxicity as a lethal amount of poison to a dog, then approximately 5.5 to 7.9 g/kg of 100 percent ethanol is considered toxic to dogs. One milliliter of ethanol is the same as 0.789 grams of ethanol. With that statistic, you can figure out that 6.97 milliliters of 100 percent ethanol are toxic and lethal for your dog.
However, you do not necessarily need to consider toxicity as the amount it takes to kill a dog. You don’t want to see your pup in pain and getting very sick. As such, you’ll want to keep your dog from ingesting any amount of rubbing alcohol.
A dog’s system absorbs alcohol almost immediately. The alcohol aggravates the gastric mucosa and causes a dog to begin vomiting. A dog’s nervous system can also go into shock. As such, any amount of rubbing alcohol is harmful to canines.
What Happens if My Dog Smells Rubbing Alcohol?
A dog can experience negative effects from rubbing alcohol merely by inhaling its fumes. Usually, dogs do not like the smell of rubbing alcohol.
Inhaling alcoholic substances can lead your dog to experience symptoms of toxicity or poisoning. Puppies are most at risk when it comes to inhaling alcoholic products since their small bodies and organs are still developing.
The severity of the alcohol toxicity will depend on how much and how long the pup spent smelling rubbing alcohol. Toxicity signs often include:
- Excitement at first
- Lack of coordination
- Depression and lethargy
- Vomiting
- Intense thirst and frequent urination
- Low body temperature
- Seizures
- Coma
As such, you will need to keep all bottles of rubbing alcohol in a secure location and ensure your dog stays far away.
What Is Isopropyl Alcohol (Isopropanol) Poisoning?
Isopropyl alcohol is a clear liquid that has an odor similar to acetone. You can find isopropanol in products like rubbing alcohol and hand sanitizers. Isopropyl alcohol is also found in cosmetics, medicines, and other household products. For Instance, you can find isopropanol in:
- Paint thinners
- Cleaning products
- Perfumes
- Alcohol swabs
Isopropyl alcohol absorption takes place quickly, with almost 80 percent of isopropanol being absorbed within 30 minutes of ingestion.
Your pup is likely to experience dizziness or disorientation, poor coordination, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, hypothermia, and even cardiac issues when exposed to isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol poisoning. Your dog may even experience unconsciousness or a coma.
It’s critical to keep all products in your house containing isopropanol locked up and far away from your dogs to prevent poisoning.
Isopropyl alcohol can be toxic if ingested, applied to the skin, or inhaled. If your dog does ingest isopropanol, get him to a veterinarian immediately. A veterinarian can assess what care your pet needs and promptly begin treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Below, you can learn all the answers to the most common questions about rubbing alcohol splashing into a dog’s eyes.
Rubbing alcohol is extremely harmful to dogs. It causes toxicity and lethality for all canines, especially puppies. Your dog may experience vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, disorientation, heart rhythm problems, and even a coma as a result of rubbing alcohol poisoning. Large amount of rubbing alcohol can even lead to death.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), getting rubbing alcohol in your eyes can cause significant damage and injury. Splashing or accidentally touching your dog’s eyes with rubbing alcohol can lead to considerable irritation and even injury to the eye’s surface. As such, you should keep all hand sanitizers and products with rubbing alcohol far away from your dog. Avoid touching your dog’s eyes after you use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
If you need to flush your dog’s eyes, you can use an eyewash made from a sterile solution. You can also use a simple saline solution to flush out your canine’s eye. You can even make a saline solution using a teaspoon of salt water and one cup of warm water. Ask your veterinarian about the best eyewashes made for dogs.
Rubbing Alcohol Splashes In Dog’s Eyes? Act Fast!
Rubbing alcohol can significantly harm your dog’s health. As such, keep it far away from your pet. If rubbing alcohol splashes into your dog’s eyes, the most important thing you can do is act quickly. Flush out your pup’s eyes and get them to a vet as soon as possible.
With the right veterinary care, your friendly pup will get back to playing and barking in no time.
If you find this guide, “What Can I Do If Rubbing Alcohol Splashes In My Dog’s Eyes” helpful, check out our other dog-related guides:
- Why Does My Dog Lick My Eyes?
- When Do Puppy’s Eyes Change Color?
- Do Dogs Open Their Eyes Underwater?
You can learn more about dog eyes by watching “My 3 Favorite Dog Eye Infection Home Remedies (Safe and Natural)” down below:
Garrett loves animals and is a huge advocate for all Doodle dog breeds. He owns his own Goldendoodle named Kona. In addition, he volunteers at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley, where he fosters dogs and helps animals. Garrett enjoys writing about Doodles and believes that dogs can teach humans more about how to live than humans can teach a dog.
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