Pug Welfare's very own Rachel, shares her journey with the very lovely Henry!
Captain Henry Blake came to us only 2 months after our first pug, Roxie, arrived (one is never enough after all). Henry had found himself advertised on a Gumtree, being sold off cheap because he only had one eye. It turned out Henry’s sister has trodden on him and damaged his eye causing a corneal ulcer. It was so severe his eye couldn’t be saved and was removed when he was just 7 weeks old. So, our pirate pug came to join us! Due to his impaired vision Henry was, and still is, very clumsy and sadly it wasn’t long before he had bumped into something and an ulcer appeared on his eye. Panic stations. It was bad. The cornea has three layers and this ulcer was through two of those layers. Henry was at serious risk of losing his only remaining eye. There followed almost 12 weeks of regularly applied antibiotic and Remend eye drops, initially applied every 2 hours, day and night. He had eye scrapes to remove dead cells, an operation to fit a protective contact lens (which lasted about 3 hours) and several rounds of serum drops made using his own blood. The ulcer improved slowly but surely, and I’m glad to say that we kicked the ulcer’s ass and Henry kept his eye. Sadly, he has been left with significant corneal scarring which means that he only has about 40% vision. This means he’s now a little limited, he isn’t very good at walking in a group, he gets confused and disoriented and can’t keep up with everyone. If another dog or a person approaches him on his blind side, it gives him a fright and he will shout out to let you know it! So, for group walks, Henry has a pram, which he loves. It is his safe space and he doesn’t miss out on seeing his pug friends.
At home, and when we are out just with Roxie, he does okay and follows her for guidance. He is the sweetest most gentle soul and is very much loved. He gets away with murder because, let’s face it, who could shout at him?!
