Friday, May 30, 2008
The Schedule
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Schedule
I had a few people ask about Luna’s eye drop schedule so I thought I would post about what seems to be the never ending cycle of drops. So here we go:
- Tacrolimus: Luna gets Tacrolimus in both eyes twice a day. If I can catch her before she heads back to sleep after breakfast I give her her first round of drops for the day. If I don’t get a chance to give it to her after breakfast, I give it to her about mid-morning. I give her the second dose shortly before dinner.
- Cyclosporin: Luna gets one drop of Cyclosporin in her left eye. I usually give her this drop when I take my lunch.
- NeoPolyDex: Luna gets one NeoPolyDex drop in each eye every other day. If it is a NeoPolyDex day, I usually give her these drops in the afternoon around 3pm when I have a little pick-me-up snack. The hardest thing with the NeoPolyDex is remembering if it is NeoPolyDex day or not. I have this one marked on my calendar as my days tend to blur together.
- Muro Ointment: Luna gets one little strip of Muro ointment in her left eye each day. I usually do this right before bed.
- OptixCare Ointment: Luna can get this ointment up to 3 times a day in her right eye. It is a lubricant and its main purpose is to keep her eye moist. I always give her this before bed and only if her eye is looking really dry during the day. I prefer to use the Genteal drops during the day as they are easier to administer, but she has been doing a good job and I haven’t had to give her many moistening drops during the day.
Luckily, the drop schedule remained the same with our last visit to the eye doc. The hardest part is getting down a new schedule. It can get quite confusing as to which drop goes in which eye and how many times a day and all that stuff. When her drop schedule changes, I usually have to make a spreadsheet so that I can make sure I get it right and learn the correct routine. It takes me a good week, to get a new routine down. Luckily, we have this routine down to a science as she has been on it for several months.
If your pug is on any eye medications, I would love to hear your schedule.
Update:
I was also asked and forgot to mention the name of Luna’s eye doctor. Luna sees Dr. Denis, who we really like, at Animal Eye Associates in Maitland, FL
22 Comments
Charlie’s schedule is a little easier… now that his tear production has (greatly) improved:
Each instillation is 1 drop/ both eyes…
Tacrolimus: once daily (evening). Previously twice a day.
Systane: two- three times a day…Dr Wolf suggested instilling the systane 5 min before the tacrolimus. As a matter of fact, Dr Wolf suggested using the lubricating drops frequently during the day.
Puralube (or genteel) ointment: twice a day… the puralube is warmed (NOT HOT) slightly to make instillation easier. This is done last.
Charlie is so compliant and accepting of this routine. I’m sure that his eyes feel so much better now that they are lubricated. Both eyes even look better… no longer dull and dry in appearance.
Dr Wolf explained that PK is like “going muddin’ with your windshield wipers broken”. We are trying to save the vision that remains.
*Side note* (I’m an ophthalmic nurse… for humans) you should wait 5 minutes before instilling each eye drop to insure that the subsequent drops do not roll out of the eye, therefor becoming ineffective. We use this time as our “lovin’ on Charlie” time!
God’s Blessings!
Thanks so much for sharing Miss Luna’s routine with us. Would you mind sharing what the purpose of the Tacrolimus, NeoPolyDex and Muro Ointment are?
My Baxter gets cyclosporin in both eyes twice daily. I supplement with a tear relacement when his eyes look extra dry…He still has times that he gets green gookie in his eyes though, which is why I am thinking what we are on is not enough.
Thanks again for sharing with us. I’m so happy Luna has found success with her current regimine! Love the picture!
Judi - Wow that is some schedule. It is great that Charile is such a good boy at taking his drops. It certainly does make things a lot easier.
Heather - Sure thing. I’ll add an update over the weekend for what each drop does.
Wow, seeing that Luna and Charlie are on such multi-faceted regimines is really making me nervous now…
Thank you so much for the extra info…I really do appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge with me (Do you have a name? LOL We don’t know Henry, Benjamin and Luna’s parents as anything other than “OBP”).
Thanks again and happy weekend to all!!
For all of you who have pugs with eye problems, thank goodness your puggies found good mommas to take such good care of them. God bless you and your pugs!
For those of us fortunate enough to have no eye issues, is there anything we should be doing to preserve eye health? I’ve never realized it was such a common problem.
I just want to say that that is a BEAUTIFUL photo! Was it professionally done? Really really nice…
Heather… it’s truly not as confusing as it looks. Once you actually start the schedule, it becomes routine.
And… the results are WELL worth the effort. Just knowing that Charlie’s eye are less painful (dry eyes can be quite uncomfortable)is a big incentive to continue the treatment. Saving his limited vision is the “icing on the cake”!
Pug hugs!
Heather…one more thing. Our vet started Charlie on cyclosporin until we saw the vet ophthalmologist (Dr Wolf). I believe that tacrolimus can only be ordered by an ophthalmologist… Charlie stayed on cyclosporin (+ the tacrolimus) for about 3 months and then it was discontinued. Tacrolimus is quite expensive… it’s working for Charlie!
I agree with Martha—I am so blessed to have 2 pugs with no eye issues. And to those parents of pugs with eye problems, God bless you for spending the money and taking the time to do whatever you can to help your pugs and their eye sight.
I’m also interested to know if there are precautions we should take to preserve and maintain eye health. Since the eyes are the windows to the soul, I want to make sure my babies have the best! It would break my heart to have them lose their vision!
Hi Judi -
Thanks for the info. I’m not intimidated by the schedule at all..I’m very familiar with the routine and thank goodness Mr. Baxter tolerates it as well as he does, just like Charlie. They sure are troopers…A blessing for sure!
We do see a specialist, a dog opthalmologist and have since Bax first started with his eye problems way back when. Same animal hospital his neurologist is in. Yes, my pug has an opthalmologist AND a neaurologist. He had cervical spine surgery a few years ago. The things they can do nowadays…it’s truly amazing. We call him our bionic boy.
Blessings and prayers for all of the puggies.
What a babe!
ObP,
Was Luna a rescue from a puppy mill or just mean people?
Is it more common to see eye problems with pugs that have been mistreated or are pugs in general more susceptible to eye issues?
She is so tiny and cute, nice pose!
Linda,
Eye issues are common in pugs no matter where they come from…My two are AKC purebreds and one unfortunately has eye problems. Thankfully there are wonderful medicines and specialists available nowadays to help those with problems suffer as little as possible. Thank goodness for that!
Heather
Thank you, I am a worry wart in general so I am always afraid Brandy will have issues. But if it happens we will do what it takes so she will be comfortable, she is our child since our son and daughter grew up
Linda,
You’re talking to the Queen of Paranoia…especially when it comes to my boys so I totally understand. Hopefully your Brandy won’t have any issues, but if she does, know that there are always things that can be done to help the situation. The miracles of modern medicine…not just for humans anymore!
Off to play before bed time…Baxter and Riley send puggie snorts to all! Have a great weekend.
Wow, what a schedule. Oh, since you travel all of the way to maitland… You should go a little farther South and visit Friends of Fleet Peoples Park.
http://www.ffpp.org/
This is our favorite dog park to visit in Central Florida. I hope that your pugs get a chance to check it out.
whenever i read a bog with luna in it it makes me smile and laugh
and i have a wonderful day. i feel sorry for poor luna haing to take so many medications.
luna,if your reading this i speak for you
when i say when is enough enough.
Hi Heather and everyone!
I was referred to this site because my Baby Maru has severe dry eyes. He was on Optimmune for a year with no improvement. Then we started Tacrolimus and NeoPolyDex with some improvement. I saw an opthamologist last week, and here is our new eye treatment schedule:
Tacrolimus—both eyes twice a day.
NeoPolyDex—both eyes twice a day.
OptixCare—both eye EVERY HOUR.
The new ointment OptixCare has been working wonders thus far. His eyes are clearer and glassier. And for the first time in a LONG time, we can actually see the whites around his cornea.
The eye vet wants us to continue with this treatment for about 4 months. But in the meantime, she wants us to consider a surgery called Parotid Duct Transposition, wherein a salivary gland is directed to the eyes so that the saliva can assist with the eye lubrication. Do any of you have any expeirience with this procedure?
Thank you for any comments that you may have.
Wow! Hats off to you Teri O. and all of you who have “schedules”! Hourly eye medication definitely meets the above and beyond criteria! How on Earth do you manage? I admire you all!
Thanks Karen!
Fortunately, my husband’s work shedule allows for us to do the hourly treatment, except for 2 days during the week. And per the eye vet, this should be ok as long as we do as much as we can when one of us is home.
It actually wasn’t as hard as I thought. I started wearing my sports watch at home, which beeps every top of the hour. And Maru quickly learned that when he hears the beep, its ointment time, so he sits on the couch with his head up wainting for me to do the treatment. He’s such a good boy!
Teri O.-It probably feels good to have the soothing ointment in his eyes! That’s awesome that he knows his beep! The only beep C.J. and Toeby know is the beep when my alarm goes off in the am. If I hit the snooze, they settle back down, but when I hit the “long beep” that shuts off the alarm, they go wild. Their tummy alarms are connected, I guess, and they know it’s time for breakfast! LOL!
By the way, love the name Maru!