NEWS from 2009: According to Sarah Enriquez, Lifemax Distributor in Orlando, her pet duck, Mingming, has made a miraculous recovery from an eye infection with the help of chia seeds! She says, "I noticed her right eye wasn't moving. It was shut close for a few days and when she finally opened it, it won't see a thing. It won't respond to any movements and it looked as though there was a clear film on it."
Sarah learned of the reports of ophthalmic uses of chia seeds among native Californians:
"...seeds were dropped into the eye, and rolled around or left in overnight. The Cahuilla tribe used chia seeds in this fashion to remove sand in the eyes acquired from sandstorms encountered after a long day of hunting . Seeds were sometimes mashed with a rock or hammer and placed in the eye overnight The film that resulted from the gelatinous seeds in either method absorbed any foreign body or irritant and helped to ease inflammation." (This is from a USDA document on Golden Chia)
So Sarah sprinkled some MILA (ground chia seed) on Mingming's eye and says, "the next morning, the clear film was gone. Her eye is still not as good as the one on the left but it really did get better with MILA. I will put more tomorrow so it will completely heal."
P.S. Sarah has also used MILA to heal her chick's broken leg!