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Pugs are highly predisposed to corneal disorders, such as brachycephalic ocular syndrome (BOS), due to their disproportionate skull, reduced corneal sensitivity and eyelid anomalies such as distichiasis, entropion and lagophthalmos. The risk of corneal disorders which cause significant suffering is substantial, prompting calls for international efforts to reduce their prevalence. While these debilitating conditions are also likely to be common in pugs in Australia, their prevalence and risk factors have not been reported. The anonymised electronic patient records (EPRs) of 1318 pugs attending 139 primary care veterinary clinics participating in VetCompass Australia (VCA) in 2017 were used to investigate the prevalence of ophthalmological pathologies and associated demographic risk factors. Pugs were diagnosed with overweight/obesity (prevalence: 20.2%, 95% confidence interval {CI}: 18.1–22.4) ophthalmological abnormalities (14.5%, 95% CI: 12.6–16.3), particularly corneal disorders (12.4%, 95% CI: 12–15.7), and other conditions. The most prevalent ophthalmological disorders were corneal ulcers (5.5%, 95% CI: 4.4–6.9), corneal pigmentation (3.6%, 95% CI: 2.8–4.8) and keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) (3.3%, 95% CI: 2.5–4.5). The risk of all corneal disorders increased with age (odds ratio 1.11, 95% CI: 1.07–1.15), and corneal pigmentation, KCS and keratitis were more prevalent in older pugs (a median age of 7.6 years or older), while entropion, neovascularisation and ulcerative keratitis affected younger dogs (a median age of 3 years or under). The underlying BOS conformation defects, exophthalmos, lagophthalmos and distichiasis, and early signs of corneal damage should be identified through detailed examinations during primary care veterinary visits, and affected pugs should be removed from the breeding population and treated to reduce the severity and duration of their suffering. Full article

Brachycephalic breeds have increased in popularity despite growing awareness of their predisposition to a wide range of conformation-related diseases. The extreme facial conformation of many popular brachycephalic breeds compromises their ocular surface health, increasing the risk of painful corneal ulceration. Medial canthoplasty (MC) is a surgical procedure to address ocular abnormalities in brachycephalic dogs, which are collectively referred to as brachycephalic ocular syndrome (BOS). This study retrospectively reviewed the records of dogs recommended MC at a referral hospital between 2016 and 2021. A questionnaire was designed to identify owners’ perceptions pre- and post-operatively. From 271 brachycephalic dogs recommended MC, 43.5% (118/271) underwent surgery and 72.0% (85/118) were Pugs. The majority of dogs (73.7%, 87/118) that underwent surgery had current or historical corneal ulceration. Follow-up was available in 104 dogs, of which 5.7% (6/104) had corneal ulceration post-operatively. Sixty-four owners completed the questionnaire and reported post-operative corneal ulceration in 12.5% of dogs (8/64), reduced ocular discharge (70.8%, 34/48), reduced ocular irritation (67.7%, 21/31) and less periocular cleaning (52.5%, 32/61). Owners were satisfied with the clinical (85.9%, 55/64) and cosmetic (87.5%, 56/64) outcome. In conclusion, MC has high clinical relevance for the surgical management of BOS, restoring functional conformation and improving the quality of life of affected dogs. Full article