Staining eyes in general practice

Why should all veterinarians be informed about ocular surface staining? Applying diagnostic dyes to a patient’s eyes can help assess their condition and identify an injury or disease that requires treatment.

In a dvm360 interview recorded at the 2025 Fetch dvm360 conference in Kansas City, Missouri, Shelby Bossler, DVM, discusses the prevalence of corneal ulcers, dry eye, and other ocular conditions that general practitioners typically see. Bossler is a technical services veterinarian with Dômes Pharma, developer of premade fluorescein drops (Fluodrop) for ophthalmologic exams.

The following is an edited transcript of the video:

Shelby Bossler, DVM: Corneal ulcers are very common in general practice. It kind of does depend on what area of the country you live in. I feel like I've heard other [general practitioner] veterinarians from the southeast say they see ulcers all day, every day. They definitely have 1 [or] maybe a handful a week, and they seem to be worse than in other geographies.

I practice sometimes in Ohio, and we don't see a severe [amount] of ulcers, but it is something that every general practitioner will see at some point. We see dry eye disease. We have all kinds of issues where we're going to be staining the eyes pretty frequently. Also, if you have any emergency traumas, you're going to be staining the eyes, too. And as general practitioners, we [definitely] see that. Ophthalmologists stain [pretty much] every single eye that comes into their practice. They do a complete ophthalmic exam; that's their specialty. So they are doing all the tests, including staining...with ulcers. I mean, we all see them, but ophthalmologists are [probably] going to see them more frequently than general practitioners.

A lot of us can manage them and are comfortable managing them. A lot of veterinarians didn't have a lot of ophthalmology training, and a lot do get referred. So one thing that we are really passionate about at Dômes Pharma is education. We have a lot of resources available, [like] staining guides...[and] some treatment guides. We try to get [continuing education] out there with ophthalmologists to try to make it more accessible and really help general practitioners feel more confident.

For more coverage of the Fetch Kansas City conference, visit the dvm360 conference news page. You can also learn more and register for the 2026 Fetch dvm360 conference in Kansas City here.