Trichiasis is a condition of normal hairs lying on or irritating the globe. Examples of this would be very long facial hairs in long haired dogs and nasal folds in the Pekingese. Also tiny hairs at the nose side of the eye can act as a wick and cause tear spilling in Miniature Poodles and Persian cats. Distichiasis is the condition of an eyelash coming out of an abnormal position in the glands that are located along the eyelid edge. Districhiasis is more than 1 eyelash coming out of each of the gland openings.
Ectopic cilia are abnormal hairs that exit a hair follicle on the inside of the eyelid.
Ectopic cilia are very painful. The successful elimination of the offending hairs will require surgical freezing. Excessive facial folds are seen in the newborn Shar Pei at the time of eyelid opening. The most common treatment is the use of 'temporary tacking' using either sutures or staples to hold the eyelids away from the cornea to prevent damage. Lagophthalmos means 'rabbit eye' and is commonly seen in the Pekingese, Pug, Boston terrier, Lhasa Apso, Japanese Chin, Dandy Dinmont and Shih Tzu , and the Persian, Burmese, Exotic Shorthair and Himalayan breeds of cat.