Sunday Nov 20, 2011 interesting cases

EYES
1. Pug with right eye perforated ulcer treated by me some months ago came in for annual vaccination. A young couple who remembered me as much as I remember them due to this serious eye injury drama as described in my case:


Ulcer healed very well but two very small green ulcers (fluorescein stain) seen to the 7 o'clock. Extraordinary amount of hairs clumped together on corneal surface when I cleaned it (see image). Dr Vanessa had applied the fluroescein strip and had flushed out the green dye. I took over while she checked another dog as the couple wanted to consult me.

Left eye - no ulcers but brown pigmentation covers 50$% of central area - friction from owner cleaning facial fold daily?

I advised facial fold excision as the hairs from the fold must have irritaed the corena (central area) and the pug must be rubbing the eye. "Alternative is to close the eyelids when cleaning the facial fold area," I said.

"Will the surgery affect the health of the pug?" the lady asked. "No," I said. Less itchiness and no more need to wipe the secretions off the facial fold. If irritation continues, the cornea will be seeded by brown black pigments over the years and the dog can't see clearly in front.

The owners would think about the surgery. Their other pug has no corneal ulceration problems. It is hard to foresee the future. "The facial fold is part of the pug's beauty but healthy is more important than beauty," I said.

2. CORNEAL DYSTROPHY
The miniature pinscher owner had texted to consult me yesterday to review the eye. She firmly believes that the circle of whiteness of the inside of the cornea had been reduced with the use of garasone eye drops daily with one small drop.

I will refer to the other picture I took some time ago and see. It seems that the circle has shrunk a bit and the edges are more firm. I need to review the old pic.


The left eye has some interesting developments when I view the images. The dog was fidgety and therefore no proper examination was possible. The owner did not want fluroescein eye stain test for the eyes and so I can't confirm whether the left eye still has ulcers in the upper half near the melanomas.
The pic traken toaday shows "crocodile skin" areound the eyelids. Must check previous pic soon.

CASE 3
A 13-year-old pug passed away after 11 pm yesterday. My assistant Min saw him alive and resting at 11 pm when he did his last checking.

"Why did you send a pug for grooming?" I asked the young couple who told me that the pug had never coughed once before going to the groomer two days ago (Friday). Then she coughed vigorously at home for a long time and so I was consulted on Saturday morning. The pug did not cough when I saw him. "The likely cause of coughing is due to kennel cough," I said as kennel cough is a common disease in places where dogs of various ages mix and it is a very contagious disease. The old dog had not been vaccinated forl many years. So, the primary diagnosis was kennel cough - a dry hacking cough.

I recommended to ward the old dog in a cage so she could rest. "Continuous coughing will result in blood vessel rupture in the lungs," I said to the young couple. Blood test was advised to check for infectious situation but the owners declined.

When the pug died, both her nostrils had red blood. Her tongue was cyanotic. So there was some respiratory damage and bleeding. "An independent post-mortem by the AVA will be needed to ascertain the cause of death," I said to the lady whom I phoned. "The dog is old and her immune system would be weak and she was not able to fight off the viruses and bacteria of kennel cough," I said. Cremation was arranged and the urn would be available in 2 days' time. It is one of the cases where old dogs without vaccination should not be exposed to other dogs. The pug was having her nails clipped and she panted at the pet shop. It was a sad Sunday for me as the pug had not shown any signs of impending death at the Surgery. In fact he had eaten some food after treatment with antibiotics and a drip. However, I had warned the owner of a possible death and the owners were understanding.