Tell me about PK

Edgar went into the vet yesterday for a recheck of his eyes. We came home with a referral for the eye doctor. He will be going on Friday afternoon. The vet is worried because his eyes have rapidly progressing pigmentation and she suggested PK as a diagnosis. So....until I have a real answer on Friday, tell me what everyone knows about PK.

PK is basically a film that develops over the eye eventually causing blindness. It can be the result of dry eyes, eye lashes rubbing on the eyeball, nose rolls touching the eyes or it just forms. My female Chyna has PK but has not progressed much in 4 yrs. She has great tear production and no factors causing the PK to form. The eye specialist has her on Tacrolimus eye drops which also comes in an ointment form, but I prefer the drops. Depending on where you get the medicine, I have seen it priced anywhere from $25-$88. If your eye specialist charges on the higher end, you could have your regular vet write a prescription and there is an online pharmacy that is great. It is www.roadrunnerpharmacy.com My vet when we lived in Illinois ordered her eye meds from them and told me about it because my pug's eye doctor charged $88 for the med, and Road Runner charged $42 which included delivery. They are also very fast about getting the medicine to you

You can actually see the film very easily if you turn off the lights and shine a flashlight towards the eye. If it is severe enough, you can also see easily in the daylight

Bummer, Cathy! I think the most important thing is catching it early (which you've done) and treating it so it affects them as little as possible. I would definitely seek out the opinion of a veterinary ophthalmologist. Good wishes!

Cathy--here's a link on it: http://www.datsplat.com/pigmentary-keratitis/

What I can say is that almost every pug I've ever had had it to some degree--some more than others. A lot depends on where the pigmentation is showing up. Some of the pugs I've had had a lot of pigmentation on the sclera but not on the actual cornea so it was less worrisome. He's young for having PK so I'd wonder about entropion or distichia. Possibly dry eye. I'd definitely get a tear test done if you haven't already.

For what it's worth, when Otto had his corneal ulcer a few summers ago, the eye specialist told me to use lubricating eye drops a few times a day for the rest of his life. He said he tells that to every pug owner, as well as owners of other dogs with bulbous eyes. He said that, in his opinion, it would prevent many problems from starting or from progressing.

We use Refresh or Genteal, and it's just part of our daily routine now. Otto knows he'll get a small treat when I put the drops in, so as soon as he sees me go for the eye drop bottle, he runs over, sits down and holds his head up. Thank goodness pugs are so food-oriented!