Pug with Boxer Ulcer

[JenP333]

I have a 5 year old pug who recently scratched her cornea.  When we first took her to the vet, he thought it was a regular cornea ulcer, so he treated with atropine sulfate and gentamicin sulfate and told us to come back in a week.  When we returned, the scratch was still there, he performed a test with a Q-tip and said she was kind of on the border of having a normal cornea ulcer and a boxer ulcer.  He continued her on the medication, but after two weeks her eye is still red and she is still squinting.  My question is, should we go to another vet for a second opinion and maybe a more aggressive treatment (I don't know how serious this is), or should we play this out and see if it gets better and return for our follow-up.  We have another pug that has scratched his cornea a couple of times and I know his eye took forever to heal on its own because of the pug eyes, so maybe she just needs more time?  Thanks for your help!

[JenP333]

Thank you so much for the advice!  We took her to the vet, and when they put the stain in the eye, only about 30% was left of the original scratch!  So it turns out it is just taking a little extra time to heal, probably because she's a pug!  Thanks again!

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Dogs with bulgy eyes do tend to have more eye issue, they also tend to have dry eye which in itself can cause irritation.  After 2 weeks there should have been some inprovement so I do believe more agressive treatment might be a good idea.  I would not go to just a regular vet, but I recommend that you take your dog directly to a veterinary opthalmologist.  Most referral or veterinary teaching hospitals , or veterinary schools have veterinary opthalmolgists.  Ask your vet for a referral to one in your area.  Don't be afraid, just explain to him that you do not want to happen with your other pug to happen to her.  If are still uncomfortable with this you can search your self online at: American College of Veterinary Opthalmologists, or the American Society of Veterinary Opthalmologists (http://www.asvo.org/).  Good Luck!