Unlike most dog breeds that have an elongated nose and relatively small eyes, pugs are renowned for their wrinkles, flattened noses, and large protruding eyes. Though they seem cute through their appearance, as it resembles more the human face, for this dog breed this facial structure implies the predisposition to a number of health diseases, including eye problems.
It is not necessarily a rule that all pugs experience different sorts of eye problems, however, the pug owners should give more attention to eye hygiene and take proper actions if their pets manifest any symptoms related to eye issues. If your pug tends to scratch his face or you notice redness in its eyes, then you should probably address the problem with a specialist. You may probably be asking what eye problems are most common in pugs and how to prevent or treat them. This article presents three of the most common pug eye problems that you should be aware of as a pug owner.
Dry Eye
Dry eye syndrome is a hereditary disease that is characterized by decreased tear production. It is basically the inflammation of the cornea and dry conjunctiva and mainly occurs when the watery part of the tears is not produced in adequate amounts, therefore the dog’s eye can become chronically inflamed, and in more severe cases it is conducive to decreased vision and even blindness.
What you should be paying attention to if your pug may be dealing with this disease? The most frequent signs are excessive blinking, chronic eye redness, a yellowish discharge usually in the morning, pain, and discomfort. How can dry eye be treated in pugs? This condition can be treated by constantly lubricating the eyes, or applying artificial tears that stimulate the lacrimal gland to produce enough tears to keep the eye moist.
Entropion
Due to their short muzzle, pugs are prone to develop entropion. This is another congenital condition that produces a lot of discomforts and it is generally produced by a layer of eyelashes that grows inwards, putting pressure on the cornea and leading to inflammation and irritations. In most pugs, entropion is a birth defect, but there are cases where it is earned through traumas and infections. Symptoms of this condition can be: irritated eyes causing excessive blinking and a tendency to scratch the affected areas, redness, and severe pain. How to treat entropion in pugs? It seems that the most effective way is through a minor surgery that aims at removing a small piece of skin from the eyelid.
Cherry Eye
Probably one of the most frequent eye problems, “cherry eye” is usually signaled by a red spot in the eye corner next to the nose, which is caused by inflammations and infections. Unlike humans, dogs have a “third eyelid” that has a tear gland and is located in the nasal corner of each eye. Under normal conditions, this gland is not visible and has an important role in the production of tears. For some reason, the gland of the third eyelid goes out of its normal position and becomes inflamed producing the condition known as “cherry eye”.
Some of the symptoms you may notice if your pug is dealing with this issue are reddish eyes, irritation, swollen eye corner, and abundant discharge, and consequently, you will have to take immediate action. If it’s in the initial stage of development, something that you can do at home is to apply some wet clothes to moist the area and reduce the redness, and also some anti-inflammatory pug eye drops.
But if this has already become serious, you should take him to a vet to see what treatment is the most suitable for it. In more severe cases, surgical intervention is required to put back in place the gland or remove it. These are just three of the most common pug eye problems and one thing that is important to note is that symptoms are quite similar and they need to be spotted on time and actioned upon in order to prevent any disease from getting worse.
