Keratitis and Current Treatment Methods in Pets

Keratitis is defined as infectious and non-infectious eye disease in human medicine and ulcerative and non-ulcerative disease in veterinary medicine. The corneal epithelium is the transparent anterior part of the eye that covers the iris and pupil. It acts as a transparent membrane that allows light to pass through the eye. A healthy cornea pre-vents bacteria invasion of the eye via anatomical, mechanical, immunological, and microbiological mechanisms. Failure of these defenses and trauma, immunosuppression, and neurological or iatrogenic factors predispose the cornea to ulcerative keratitis and bacterial eye infections. Inadequate tear secretion and eyelid dysfunction lead to insufficient corneal protection, and the combination of these reasons with endogenous causes triggers excessive epithelial dam-age.