the eyes

Question
My bichon puppy, her eye has turned red today and is a little swollen I have flushed it with water and it seems that the eye itself is not damaged I have not seen any scratches or anything on it, but there are scrathes around the eye and I have caght her scratching it.  i do have another dog, a bichon also they are friends, do you know what this could be?

thanks Kelly

Answer
Without examining her, I can not say for sure.  Your best be is a trip to the vet.  With any eye problem you do not want to wait and see.  If the redness is at the corner of the eye and the tissue is bulging, that is a cherry eye and usually needs surgery to correct.  If the whites of her eyes are red, this could be due to a corneal scratch which you can NOT see unless a special stain is put into the eye.  Or it could be due to allergies or some foreign matter in her eye.