My cavalier king charles spaniel has developed a funny eye and wondered if anyone has had a similar problem.  He seems to half open his eye and the third eyelid at the bottom of his eye is red.   There is no discharge or watery tears from his eye.  I am wondering whether I should take him to the vet or just see how he goes and perhaps bathe the eye with water.  Any advice would be appreciated.

Off to the vet as soon as possible is my advice

Definitely the vet. Cavaliers with their large eyes are prone to eye injuries, it can happen so easily, and a small scratch on the surface cannot be seen by the naked eye but could hurt the dog a lot and cause potential major problems if not treated.

My Papillon puppy was scrateched in the eye by a cat. You could tell his eye hurt (a LOT!) but there was no discharge and nothing obvious that you could see. We rushed him to the vet and after 3 vets had examined him it was found the cat's claw had punctured the eyeball really deeply.It was touch and go for weeks whether he'd keep the eye or not, thankfully he did. :)

Take him to the vet asap, i'd hate anything wrong with my eyes.

Susan

My guess is 'Cherry Eye', but you must get the advice of a vet as the others have said.

Dawn R.

Cherry eye is possible but when my Yankee got that there was a definite lump where the gland had popped out from behind the eye, and the OP doesn't mention this. Bathe in very weak salt water and take to the vet if he doesn't show any improvement after a day would be my suggestion - my Cav sometimes looks a little red and squinty in one eye or the other, and a frequent bathing seems to clear it up. If it's more serious than just a little redness than yes, go straight to the vet!

Definitely off to the vets a.s.a.p. My friend has a Cavalier and she has 'dry eye' and needs drops every day. It's probably not that and it could be a myriad of things like a foreign body, an infection or an ingrowing eyelash that needs removing.  It's not worth taking a risk where eyes are concerned as they are very delicate and your dog could end up blind in a very short space of time.