Before we discuss why eye proptosis happens in Pekingese and how to avoid it, it’s essential to understand what proptosis is? When the eyeball is displaced out of the eye socket, it’s called proptosis. It can sometimes occur when your small Pekingese dog fights with a larger dog. Moreover, it can occur when dogs have trauma on the face or head.
Eye proptosis isn’t unusual in dog breeds like the Pekingese because they have short snouts, bulging eyes, and shallow eye sockets. Even mild play can also result in eye proptosis in this dog breed. Moreover, dog breeds with deep set-eyes and long noses can also suffer from proptosis.
Why Does Proptosis Happen in Pekingese?
If Pekingese’s eye pops out and you start wondering, why does it happen? There can be lots of reasons for it. Pekingese can suffer from proptosis because of fighting, trauma, scruff of the neck, and head injury.
Remember, trauma and skin stretching can result in proptosis in any dog breed, but dogs with shallow eye pockets are more prone to be affected by it. Dogs with bulging eyes and smushed faces usually have shallow eye sockets. Unfortunately, Pekingese is also one of them. Therefore, they can become a victim of proptosis even just by excessive pulling.
What Should You Do If the Eye of Your Pekingese Pops Out?
When the Pekingese eye pops out of the socket, you need to do the following things.
Protect the Injured Eye
Here you need to perform the following steps.
Use Saline Soaked Gauze Pad
Use a saline solution to rinse the eye. The best practice is to pour the saline solution on a gauze pad. In case saline isn’t available, you can use water. But it’s essential to soak the gauze pad. If you don’t do this, it can stick to their eye and worsen the condition. Now, move to the next step.
Use Eye Bandages
If you don’t want to worsen the condition, ensure that you wrap the eye. Moreover, the moist gauze pad should stay on the damaged eye. It will protect the eye from further damage until the vet looks at it. Remember, once you apply the bandage; don’t remove it without the vet’s instructions.
Some dogs won’t let you put a bandage on their eye. In this situation, call your vet and discuss the situation. They can suggest ways for transporting your dog safely to a vet clinic without an eye bandage.
Visit Your Nearest Vet
After following the first two steps, immediately take your dog to the nearest emergency vet clinic. Inform the vet why and how it happened. Ensure that your dog doesn’t scratch the injured eye. The best approach is to use a crate to take your pet to the vet.
How to Diagnose Proptosis in Dogs?
Sometimes you can look at your pet’s face and say that your pet has proptosis. But in most cases, you need to take your pet to the vet to diagnose and address the issue. So, when Pekingese eyes pop out of its socket, it means your dog has proptosis, and it should be addressed quickly.
How to Avoid Proptosis in Pekingese?
You can’t avoid proptosis in Pekingese altogether, but you can take some preventive measures. For example, breed your dog more diligently for traits that will minimize the chance of proptosis in brachycephalic breeds. As mentioned earlier, inadequate eyelids, bulging eyes, and shallow sockets can increase the risk of proptosis in dogs. Therefore, the only way to prevent proptosis in Pekingese is to breed your dog diligently – or get them from a responsible breeder that cares for the health of their dogs.
How to Treat Proptosis in Pekingese?
So, you tried to avoid proptosis in your canine companion, but you failed to do so. What will you do now? The best way to protect your dog’s eyesight is to immediately get a vets attention. For example, when the eyeballs remain out of the socket for a long time, getting them back into the place will become challenging.
Place a warm and damp cloth over the eyeball and gently press the eyeball inward. The best approach is to consult a vet for this task and don’t do this at home. The eyeball can surgically be returned to the socket and the vet will keep the eyelid closed for a week so that it stays in place. It will speed up the healing process.
Final Words
Pekingese eye can pop out due to various reasons. The biggest reason is that they belong to brachycephalic breeds. But the good news is you can avoid and treat proptosis in Pekingese and protect your dog’s eyesight.
* Banner photo by Marco Verch Professional Photographer (Some rights reserved). The dog does not have proptosis, but is very adorable!
