As we’ve been reporting, Luna’s eyes have been through a lot. This is the most recent photo of Luna’s “good eye.” Her right eye. As you can see, the scar tissue is completely healed and there is no evidence of a tumor or anything else. (Well, there is a little of her “eye muck” lingering, but hey, that’s not too bad!) We finally got a terrific report from the eye specialist late last week and she is to stay on the same medicine schedule as she has been on for the last couple of months. (That has never happened! Every time we go to the vet, the medicine changes and we have to create a spreadsheet just to keep track of it all.) But we are on a schedule now and even have the schedule committed to memory! It’s a really good routine. We are very pleased. We don’t have to go back to the vet until October! And if that visit is good, then we won’t have to go back until April! (Just in time to leave our tax refund with them for the year!)
As you may of read in the previous post, we are recapping some of Luna’s eye issues. She just received a favorable report from the ophthalmologist but when we asked the vet for some of the pictures that they took of Luna’s eyes, it stirred up a lot of history. We talked about her “good eye” in the last post.
Well, here we have Luna’s left eye. Her “bad eye.” This eye has other issues, including the chronic dry eye syndrome. This eye has developed water under the cornea. (I don’t know if they ever told us the name of the condition. If so, I have long since forgotten it.) But basically, the condition stems from trying to fight off scar tissue from the chronic dry eye condition. As you can see in the “close up” that there is the blue discoloration under the surface of the eyeball. That is the water that has accumulated under there. It is hard to see in regular lighting, which is why I hadn’t noticed until a walk one day in the afternoon when the sun had hit her eye in just the right light. Then, paranoid, I would shine a flashlight in her eye every hour until I got an appointment to take her to the vet. The vet confirmed my suspicions that something wasn’t right.
This new malady would be another chronic issue for the baby girl. This issue needed to be tended to not by eye drops but by ointment applied to her upper or lower lid twice a day. The catch with this medicine was that it couldn’t be applied within an hour of any of her other 4 medications. That is pretty tricky. The other catch is that for best application, it takes the two of us to get the right dosage in that little wiggle worm!
Both of her eyes have limited vision. The vet says she can see light & shapes but barely any detail. We have noticed that her hearing is getting more & more keen in order to make up for what she is missing in sight. I guess that is why she thinks she is just gorgeous! She can’t really see herself in the mirror! She doesn’t know that she’s missing fur, going a gray mustache and beard and has a scraggly smile! She just knows that she is a little girl that is made of sugar & spice & everything nice.
Beware, that the photos below may not be for the faint of heart. The next couple of blogs will be about Luna and her eyes. You see, we recently went to the eye specialist and this was the first time that Luna’s medication stayed the same as it has been for the last few months. The news was the best it has ever been! Luna’s eyes are as healthy as we could ever expect them to be! The vet was thrilled. (As were we, of course!)
I explained to the ophthalmologist that we do a website about pugs and write stories detailing Benjamin, Henry & Luna’s adventures. I asked if they could possibly email some of the photos that they have taken of her eye over the last year and a half. I explained that we would like to share the photos with our readers and do whatever we could to help our readers learn a little bit about eye issues, especially in pugs since they are so common.
But I must say, when the email came, I was taken a little aback because the photos sure are an up close and personal look at Luna’s eyes in various stages of healthiness (or unhealthiness, if you will.) When we got Luna, we knew that she had dry eye. We definitely felt that that was a condition that we could easily manage. Unfortunately, her eye issues developed further and she developed a tumor on her eye. As you can see from the photo, the bright red bulbous spot was unsightly. I am quite sure it was very uncomfortable, as well. (Initially, there was some concern as to whether or not it was cancerous, too, but fortunately, when all was said and done, Luna had a super prognosis.)
Luna went in for surgery and had the tumor removed.
The vet said it wasn’t too bad and that she would be fine in no time. (What made it so unfortunate was that while we knew that Luna had not really been taken care of very well and was used mostly for breeding, that her overall unhealthiness was a result of moderate neglect and could have been prevented with reasonable care.) It was just the tip of the iceberg for us because while we knew that she would have some health issues, it just seemed to be one thing after the other. Our bubble would be repeatedly burst each time a new issue would come up. We just kept thinking that we could make her well. We would just feed her right, medicate her properly and love her to pieces and she would be 100% sometime soon. Well, the reality of it is that she had been taken for granted for too long before we rescued her. There would be no amount of love, kindness and special treatment that would make her medicine free for the rest of her life.
This photo is the “after” shot of Luna’s eye following her tumor surgery. As you can see, she there is a scar on the eyeball. It has healed nicely. This is her right eye. Her “good eye.” This eye has chronic dry eye and doesn’t close all the way since it is so poorly lubricated. The vet says that since there is so much scar tissue, she doesn’t have the sensation to know if her own eye is open or closed. It’s a shame. As sad as it, though, she truly doesn’t seem to know the difference. She never feels sorry for herself. She never doubts that she a beautiful princess! She really is a princess. Inside & out!
So, it has been about a year and a half now that Luna has been with us. While she did come to us with some issues, the biggest one has been her chronic eye problems. She has dry eye. She also has another issue where water congregates near her cornea. (If they ever gave this condition a name, well, I wasn’t paying attention and/or probably couldn’t pronounce it anyway.) So, Luna has a very diligent schedule for eye medications. The medications have been changed a few times and the schedule numerous amounts of times. It seems like as soon as we remember the routine, it changes again. Usually after a trip to the eye specialist, we will have to create a new spreadsheet to keep track of her medication schedule. We will have to go back in 2 weeks for a recheck, but currently, her medication schedule is as follows:
Muro ointment first thing in the morning every day (left eye only)
Cyclosporin at lunch time and dinner time every day (left eye only)
Neopolydex at lunch time every day 5 minutes after the Cyclosporin (both eyes)
Tacrolimus mid afternoon every other day (left eye only)
Muro ointment again at dinner time every day (left eye only)
Cylcosporin again at bedtime (left eye only)
See why the need for a spreadsheet? It can be a little daunting when the routine changes but there’s still always a routine. The last time we went to the vet she asked if Luna gets a treat for taking her meds. I told her heck no because on a schedule like that she’d weigh 500 pounds! Fortunately, the vet was supportive and told us that if Luna was good about taking her meds, then no treat was necessary anyway. We are very thankful because Luna does do a super job when she gets her meds. There are no problems when she gets drops, but on a rare occasion, she will get a little wiggly when it comes time for the ointment. We can’t really blame her, though, she puts up with an awful lot. She is a really good girl. It’s almost like she knows how much they help her. It’s a real shame, though because no matter what we do, her vision still deteriorates slowly. She does better in the daytime but nighttime is another story. She doesn’t seem any worse for the wear, though. She’s our little trooper.
We had so much fun making the Pug Love video that we decided to make one for each of the pugs. Luna was up first, of course, since she is the little diva of the house. So we hope you enjoy little Luna’s solo debut. Stay tuned for Ben & Henry’s videos which will be coming soon.
Since we adopted Luna a little over a year ago, her physical appearance has changed tremendously. When we adopted her, we knew that Luna had issues. Her main issues were a severe case of dry eyes and a very bad skin condition as a result of an untreated case of mange. When we adopted Luna we were informed that while she was on drops for her eyes and she had seen the dermatologist for her skin, she was by in no means cured and we would have to continue to monitor and work on these issues. We were fine with this and couldn’t wait to meet Luna, the little pug that we heard so much about. The day we met Luna, she was as cute as a button, but it was plain to see that she had suffered from a lot of neglect in her former life. But, we took it as a challenge and vowed to make her life from this point forward as happy as it could possibly be.
It was hard for us to notice the changes in her that were taking place during her first few months with us, but friends, neighbors and Luna’s veterinarians all commented about how much better she looked. It always made me feel good to hear these encouraging words.
As we were going through our pictures and putting together the Pug Love video, I came across a few photos that really showed how much Luna’s physical appearance has changed since she has been with us.
The one main thing I noticed was her weight.
As you can see in the photo, when Luna came to us she was a scrawny little thing. In the photo you can see how her stomach drops right after her ribs. Helping her put on weight was one of the easiest things to do. She has the typical pug appetite and she loves her home cooked meals. She started putting on weight almost immediately. Today, the vet says she is at a healthy weight (but she is on the heavy side of healthy, so we will need to keep an eye on that)
The other big difference you can see in Luna is her fur. When we adopted her, her fur was very patchy on her back and head and her belly and chest was almost completely bald. This was because of an untreated case of mange. When we first took Luna to the dermatologist, we found out that Luna had a lot of scars on her back and that she would most likely never grow fur back in many of the places on her back. The cause of these scars remains a mystery, but the dermatologist doubts they are from mange. Nonetheless, Luna’s coat has dramatically improved.
She hasn’t really grown fur back in the scarred areas on her back, but her coat has grown longer so that many of the bald spots are hidden by the longer hairs. Most of the fur on the top of her head has grown back and she has a lot of new fur growth on her chest and belly.
The dermatologist has said that if her fur never grows back she is no worse for the wear and so far she has not had any skin problems. Most people that meet her don’t even realize that she is missing fur, they just think she is an odd colored pug. It isn’t until they pet her that they realize she is missing fur.
Another huge improvement is Luna’s eyes. She currently get 5 different eye drops a day and she will be on eye drops for the rest of her life, but we are maintaining the little bit of vision that Luna has left. She has a lot of scar tissue on her eyes as the result of untreated dry eye and this impairs her vision. The ophthalmologist compares her vision to looking out a frosted car windshield. She mainly sees shadows. She gets around wonderfully during the day and the only time her vision is ever really a problem is at night.
All in all, Luna is doing well. When you look at her you can tell that she has led a rough life in the past, but you would never tell based on her personality. She acts like she as been spoiled since she was born.
The boys and Luna usually always snuggle together, but sometimes they just make me laugh. Henry was still snoozing in bed, when I was trying to make it the other morning, so I put him in the little dog bed in the living room. Before I knew it Benjamin joined Henry in the dog bed. Luna didn’t want to be left out so she squeezed herself in as well.
The expression on her face is just priceless. She seems to be saying, “Geez…having brothers is nice, but you would think they could leave a little bit more room for their lil’ sis!”
