eye infection help!

Question
I have a 10 year old toy poodle. A couple of days ago, I noticed that she had a little bit of white "goo" or discharge in the corners of her eyes. I wiped it out with a warm moist cotton ball, and it went away for the rest of the day. Then at night before I put her in her bed, I noticed she had more of the discharge. I again cleaned her eye. The next morning, some of the discharge was in her other eye, so I wiped both of them. I usually wipe them twice a day and her eyes are usually clear. Should I keep doing this? Or should I take her to a vet? She isn't experiencing any pain. she just sometimes paws at her eyes. I'm a little worried because she is really old and I'm not sure if her body is "shutting down" like my sister told me. Thank you for your time!

Answer
Hi Sandy.

10 years old isn't especially old for a miniature poodle, they can easily live for 14 years, or longer.

Eye infections can crop up on their own, or when something lodges in the eye. They can also occur if the surface of the eye, called the cornea, gets scratched. A telltale sign of infection is the appearance of the discharge.
Sometimes in older pets their eyes become naturally become drier. This makes it easy for the outer portion of the eye to get irritated and inflamed, which can result in a sticky discharge on the surface of the eyeball.

These conditions are easily treated, but they do require a trip to the vet.

Best of luck,
Patti