Dot has lost an eye :( advice needed please

[Nicole88]

Hi all, I'm new here. I'm looking for some advice on how to protect pug's fragile eyes. My sweet 2 yr old pug Dot had to have her left eye removed a few days ago.

Here's a bit of background: My husband and I have always been very careful with Dot's eyes. I know that they are vulnerable, so if we ever thought that they seemed the tiniest bit cloudy/she was pawing at them or there was anything out of the ordinary, we took her straight to the vet. That seemed to have worked for us so far - the most she had ever had is a superficial ulcer, which cleared up very quickly once we gave her the antibiotic eye drops. However the last month has just been awful!

Firstly, we came home from honeymoon about a month ago to find that the person who was looking after her hadn't noticed that she had scratched her right eye! There was actually a small dent right in the middle of her eye, she was squinting and the whites of her eye was red. We rushed her straight to the emergency vets to get it checked out. They said she had quite a bad ulcer, and gave us drops to put in, antibiotics, painkillers and it was monitored closely by the vet and us for a few weeks. It has completely cleared up now, but there is still a scar (almost a small divet) where the ulcer was.

Then, 2 few weeks ago when Dot was out with the dog walker and playing with another dog, her left eye prolapsed out of the socket. The dog walker got her to the vet asap and she had surgery to put it back in, but the vet said at the time, she appeared blind :(. It was stitched shut for 2 weeks and the poor wee soul has had steroids, painkillers and antibiotics. The vet took the stitches out 2 days ago and her eye was a mess :( the tissue surrounding it was still inflamed, and the eye itself looked terrible, and she couldn't see. They gave it 24 hours to see if it improved, but it didn't, and our only option was to remove it to prevent Dot any more suffering.

She seems to be doing absolutely fine so far with one eye, and she still has her cone of shame on, but I am now absolutely terrified of her losing or damaging her other eye! It already has a scar on it :(. Does anyone have any ideas/advice?

I have got rid of all bushes and plants in our garden that could scratch her eye, and she is not going out with the dog walker any more to play with other dogs. She sometimes paws at her face and her dew claws are very sharp (even after we get them trimmed) - that's how she scratched her eye the first time. Has anyone had dew claws removed for this reason? I have also heard from the dog walker that some of his other clients who have pugs have had their eyelids made smaller to prevent the eyes popping out. Has anyone had this done to their pug? I'm so reluctant to put her through any more surgeries, but if it will save her other eye from popping out or getting scratched it may be worth considering.

Any ideas, advice or support is very, very much appreciated. I just want to keep my little pug safe.

Here she is: http://imgur.com/nAXLp3y

[Tinker's mom]

Hello & to the village! I'm so sorry it's not under better circumstances but it sounds like you did everything right. Tinker has PK but that's as far as my experience goes. Hopefully others on here will give you some advice. Many have had pugs with one eye and they seem to adjust well. Glad to have you all here and congrats on your wedding.

[shaynapug]

I'm so sorry this happened!!!

I've learned (tho I sometimes forget!) To keep eyes well lubricated! It does help protect the eye!!!

My Ben has a graft as his eye almost melted! Had I not had the specialist...and care credit...He, too, would have lost an eye!!!!! Just got done treating an ulcer in one of his daughters eye......The specialist treats with plasma, antibiotics, pain meds, and over the counter lubricant!!! It, thankfully, healed nicely!!!

Your girl has joined the club of many many pugs!!!! Seeing her healing nicely....and that her remaining eye stays healthy too! If not, she'll join the club of those without eyes! There are many of those doing well also!!!

[Rugbysmom]

Hi & I'm sorry you are joining under these circumstances, but I'm glad you found us! You will find a lot of supportive, caring people on here who are always ready & willing with helpful tips & advice, & lots of support! I'm sorry that happened to Dot, but I know dogs do quite well with one eye. I hope she will do fine!

[PapayaThePug]

Hi and welcome to the Village. I'm sorry to read your Dot lost an eye at such a young age :( It's harder on us than it is on them, she will do perfectly fine as many other pirate pugs ;) I would recommend you find a veterinary ophthalmologist ASAP so her eye gets checked. The specialist can diagnose or discard common eye conditions in pugs like: Pigmentary Keratopathy, Trichiasis (eyelashes growing inward), Entropion, etc etc. There's so so SO many things that can go wrong with pug eyes, I recommend they see an eye specialist at least once a year. My 3 year old goes every six months, he has Pigmentary Keratopathy, with his Rx drops and eye lubricants he is doing great. My 12 weeks old will go to the ophthalmologist when he turns 6 months, just to make sure everything is ok. I'm a helicopter pug momma, I watch closely when they play with other dogs and with each other, I don't let them walk in long grass or too close to bushes or pointy plants. I'm always with them keeping a close eye. It's a good idea Dot is no longer going out with the dog walker and other dogs. Maybe you can find someone who can walk her and play just with her. Just know that no one will care and worry for your pug as you do. That's why mine have never been boarded/kenneled, I groom them myself and only trust my closest friends to pet sit them if needed (which doesn't happen often, maybe 3 times a year) in my house and no other dogs around.
I have heard of a surgery like the one you are talking about, but a canthoplasty was mentioned to me as a treatment of PK, so the eyelids are not pushing eyelashes into my older dog's eye. Your pug's eye doesn't look too protruding to me. But again, an eye specialist will be able to tell you everything you need to know about how to treat and care for her eye.
My pugs don't have declaws (breeder had them removed by a vet when they were days old) and I'm thankful for that since pugs touch their faces a lot specially first thing in the morning. You can keep the nails very short (I know it's hard with a pug) but is possible if you are constant, I dremel my boy's nails once a week. I've met a pug who had his declaws removed when he was 10 months and was under anesthesia to be neutered; it seems like a painful surgery once they are older than a few days old so I wouldn't recommend it unless your pug is absolutely obsessed with her face and touching her eye a lot. Anesthesia is not a thing to take lightly, if she HAS TO have the declaws removed I'd wait until a teeth cleaning or some other procedure that requires anesthesia.
You can start your pug on a regimen of eye drops, research the brands in your country that are ok for dogs. Once in the morning and once before going to bed, to prevent dry eye (pugs sometimes sleep with their eye half open), have with you, at home and in the car, eyedrops and saline solution (in case you need to rinse the eye), you can even get "doggles" if you are going to be in sand or windy places.
I hope Dot recovers fast from her surgery and that she is a happy healthy girl for many many years to come.
Good luck!

Stefanie

[Rugbysmom]

You have already been given great advice, so I'll only add that we got our 4 yr old little Heidi in Dec, & she has her dewclaws, also. I wish she didn't have them also because she occasionally uses them to scratch at her face & eyes, but I asked my vet about possibly removing them & she said she wouldn't recommend doing it on an older dog. She said it is best done on a pup that's only a few days old, because there is a bone in there, & once the dog is grown up, it would be like me having my thumb removed. I hope Dot will be just fine now! Please keep us posted!

[ChristinePugMom]

My boy Elvis lost his eye when he was young from an accident with a fence and a loose boxer. I was so upset and unsure how he would handle it. Well it is like he never had that eye, nothing stops my wild child who will be 4 later this year.
Like you I do worry a bit more about his other eye being injured but so far we have been lucky. It also makes me a bit more careful with our other boy Buddy D.

Just know he will adjust a lot faster than you. We had to go back for a 3rd surgery a year later due to them not getting all the tissue out the first time and the eye socket was poked out with fluid. Now it is nice and flat and the fur has grown over it.

[Snifter]

Get advice from a specialist veterinary ophthalmologist before considering whether surgery in the eye area is worth it or not.

Removing dew claws in an adult dog is a big operation - much bigger than you might think. Personally I would not, but I would keep an eagle eye on the claws to keep them as blunt as possible. Maybe try getting her used to you filing them? (You can get special battery operated pet nail files but they are pretty weedy and the best thing is a Dremel with a sanding attachment. However Dremels are not cheap and if she truly won't tolerate it then a Dremel is a big investment unless you can make use of it for other things too.)

The best thing you can do for the remaining eye is to lubricate it daily. Pugs have poor tear production and the most common cause of a scratch to the eye is grit which gets blown in and is not blinked safely away because of the poor tear production and inefficient blinking motion that pretty much all pugs suffer from. Personally I would give drops morning and just before bed, with a lubricating gel given just before a walk. Use Viscotears (get from the chemist) or Lubrithal (specifically for animals, obtained from vet or online, generally costlier that Viscotears and no better). You can also get eye lubricating gel from Specsavers, which is equally fine. If the day is particularly windy and the weather is dry (so that there could be lots of grit and dirt blowing around) then keep walks to a minimum. Or use doggles, but they don't suit everyone.

[LilyFayre]

Hi!

So sorry to hear about what happened to poor Dot.

I've no idea if these would work or not but you can get silicone claw caps for dogs and cats these days. I'd ask your vet about it to check if the supplied adhesive is safe to use or not. I believe there are also specialist wraps for dew claws made for hunting or coursing dogs which is a little odd since these breeds normally have the dew claws removed by a vet shortly after birth - my Cocker Spaniel didn't have dew claws when I bought her as a puppy. The wrap might be useful to put on for short periods of time when you can't keep a close watch on her but wouldn't seem a good idea to leave on all the time to me.

Really hoping that all goes well for Dot now

[Wonka & Nilla]

I'm so sorry this has happened. Sending best wishes for Dot for speedy healing.