UPDATED: How to clean your Pugs Eyes and Nose Wrinkle

[hayganmiko]

hi, i live in the uk and my puglet is nearly two with terrible pigmentation seen specialist etc sadly never getting strait answers. what is the pre cleanser to hydrate? and best lubricant? if anybody knows uk names? or maybe i could buy and ship if not. he does sleep with eyes open allot! :(

[hayganmiko]

sorry and cornea protecter also :)

[Pinkles]

Squig suffers with his eyes a lot we had to take him to a specialist in the end. He has lacri-lube & optimmune daily and fucithalmic when his eyes flare up. you should really go back to your vet if your puggy is suffering with his eyes, you have to be extra careful with pug eyes. Pigmentation doesn't always mean he is having problems, post up some pics we like to see pics anyway :)

[hayganmiko]

thankyou lacrilube i use, pain to get in tho! hes not having problems but has pigmentation wich i think has restricted his vision a bit :( the last vet said it could be lots of factors that have caused it hard to determin but to use lubricant. but anything that may prevent it spreading is worth ago :)

[P@trick]

For those with problem wrinkles that never seem to stay clean or dry, you can get these pads from your vet called... Well, I just got up to look for them and can't find them, can't remember what they're called. But they look like the round acne wipes that people use. They're soaked with an antiseptic drying solution and they work really well.

[Julian]

Have just had a real nightmare with Bertie (the largest and naughtiest of our 2 twins). His brother recently accidentally caught him in the left eye with his paw and caused a small rip in the cornea. VERY luckily we have a fantastic vet in South London who recommended that we give him Exocin drops twice daily and it worked! It took over two weeks but he has made a complete recovery with no scarring of the cornea at all.

For your information Exocin is not normally available but vets will prescribe it if you know to ask for it.

[Yoshi'sMom]

Dear Friends,

Yoshi, my 10-week old little guy, and I are new here! So far, we've encountered what seem to be a very lovely set of people and animals! We're so glad to have found such an interesting, diverse, and supportive community!

Our question is about nose wrinkle cleaning, and the advice in this column has been very helpful so far... the problem is this: Yoshi HATES to have his very deep wrinkle cleaned. Whenever his dad or I get anywhere near it, he starts squirming like CRAZY and making awful, heart-wrenching sounds. We're tried letting him sniff the tissue/or Q-tip, spoken gently to him while petting him, wrapped him in a towel to help with the squirming... but all to no avail. He gets so anxious that he starts panting. It's just breaking our hearts.

We've only had him for a week, and we know that nose wrinkle cleaning is an essential part of pug care and maintenance... we're just not sure where to proceed. He's been absolutely blissful in every other way, we're just having a super hard time helping him feel comfortable with this. Any tips or advice from veteran pug owners would be trememdously welcome --- thank you so much in advance!! <3

Very Best,
Yoshi's Parents

[Pugpillow]

He's under a lot of stress right now because everything is new to him so go slowly. It depends on the pug as to how often the wrinkle needs to be cleaned. I had one girl that needed it done every day, another one that I did maybe once a year. Be sure that you are very, very gentle and until he gets used to the idea, you might just want to pretend to clean it with a tissue, not getting too deep. I get all my pugs used to being cradled in my arms like a baby, tummy up and then rubbing their tummies to get them to relax. You can gradually rub the chin and the ears and the top of the head and the cheeks and eventually the nose (without a tissue) so that he learns to trust you and enjoy it. Once he gets used to it, then you can add the tissue and clean the fold. This is also an ideal position to add eye drops. But be warned that Yoshi will probably never like having his nose wrinkle cleaned. My 12 year old Farnsworth, who loves lying in that position and is really good about having eye meds applied several times a day, will wriggle and protest when I do his nose. I have to combine it with other procedures as well as lots of tummy and ear rubbing and then go it quickly for the wrinkle. As long as he's so squirmy, I'd avoid using a Q-tip in case of poling him in the eye.

Finally, do it when he's the most sleepy - right before bedtime or after a meal.

[Shantcarr]

Good explanation. Thanks for the info!

[Hellas]

Dear Friends,

Yoshi, my 10-week old little guy, and I are new here! So far, we've encountered what seem to be a very lovely set of people and animals! We're so glad to have found such an interesting, diverse, and supportive community!

Our question is about nose wrinkle cleaning, and the advice in this column has been very helpful so far... the problem is this: Yoshi HATES to have his very deep wrinkle cleaned. Whenever his dad or I get anywhere near it, he starts squirming like CRAZY and making awful, heart-wrenching sounds. We're tried letting him sniff the tissue/or Q-tip, spoken gently to him while petting him, wrapped him in a towel to help with the squirming... but all to no avail. He gets so anxious that he starts panting. It's just breaking our hearts.

We've only had him for a week, and we know that nose wrinkle cleaning is an essential part of pug care and maintenance... we're just not sure where to proceed. He's been absolutely blissful in every other way, we're just having a super hard time helping him feel comfortable with this. Any tips or advice from veteran pug owners would be trememdously welcome --- thank you so much in advance!! <3

Very Best,
Yoshi's Parents

Our boy was the same way when he was little, but we simply insisted, very calmly and quietly that he accept it. My preferred method for wrinkle cleaning and also for administering eyedrops is to kneel down with the pug between my legs, facing away from me. The pug can sit or stand as it chooses. This position gives me some control so that the pug can't back away from me and also some control to the sides. I have found that pugs prefer not to see what they dislike, so using this method also seems to cause less protest.

Personally, I think it's important to keep the wrinkle clean and dry but also not to overdo it. You should never rub so intensely that you remove the small hairs inside the fold. If the hair disappears, you are sure to have a problem. We use cleaning pads that we buy at the vets, called Douxo. They are easy to use and work brilliantly to prevent problems. Since we started using them, both our pugs have perfectly healthy and non smelly wrinkles. We don't clean them every day, but perhaps twice a week.