Jazmine presented to VREC when her owner realized she had a proptosed eye. Proptosis is a medical condition which causes a dog’s eye to move forward. While her owners were at work and didn’t witness what caused the proptosis, it is typically from some kind of head trauma. Traumatic proptosis can occur in any breed and in both dogs and cats, but brachycephalic breeds (short-snouted; popular breeds include Pugs, English/French Bulldogs, Boxers, Pekingese) with large, prominent globes are predisposed to this type of eye injury.
After our emergency clinicians examined Jazmine, they felt the eye was only minimally damaged and were confident it could be saved. To save the eye, it was decided that Jasmine have a temporary tarsorraphy – a surgical procedure in which the eyelids are temporarily joined to protect the cornea during healing. This procedure helps speed recovery while protecting the eye from elements that could hinder healing, such as debris or bacteria. The procedure was a success and Jazmine will visit her veterinary team periodically until it is time to remove the sutures.