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Do Pug Eyes Fall Out?

Portrait of a pug with its eyes wide open

Those big brown eyes, are the same ones that melt your heart and convince you to take the Pug home or to forgive it for something it did wrong. They are beautiful eyes and they can be used to pull at your heartstrings.

As beautiful as those eyes are, they do come with a very disturbing problem. They can fall out. The reason they can is that Pugs suffer from Ocular Proptosis which means they have a very shallow eye socket.

What that means is that if you apply the wrong type of pressure to your pug’s head, those eyeballs can pop out and harm your pet. What is interesting about this phenomenon is that many humans suffer from the same ailment.

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What Causes A Dog’s Eye To Fall Out

Pugs, like other Brachycephalic Breeds, suffer from ocular proptosis or a shallow eye socket. But this ailment is only the setup cause for this phenomenon to take place.

The other causes are things like trauma, fighting, head injuries, even too much scratching, and at least a dozen other sources. When it comes to scratching, the Pug’s eyes can get irritated by cigarette smoke, hair, pollen, dust, or mold.

When those elements are present and bothering your dog’s eyes, the eyes become itching and your Pug starts to scratch. However, your Pug can scratch too hard and pop that eyeball out.

It is not a fun situation to be in for either the dog or its master. Infections can also cause your Pug to scratch its eyes out. There are a variety of ways this can happen but if you are careful, then your dog may not suffer from this problem at any time throughout its life.

What Do I Do If My Pug’s Eye Pops Out?

Close up of a pugs eye

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The good news here is that there are some things you can do to protect your Pug’s eye and make sure it is not damaged.

  1. Do not try to shove the eye back into its socket. Let the skilled and trained vet do that work for you.
  2. Do not disinfect the area. Instead, put a protective collar around your dog’s head so they cannot scratch it further and cause more damage
  3. Keep the area clean and free from dirt. Make sure to wash your hands first before trying to clean the area. Use a sterile eye wash not water or any other liquid.
  4. Cover the area with a sterile gauze.
  5. Take your Pug to the nearest vet as quickly as you can. If the problem is considered mild, then the vet will pop the eye back into its socket and provide some medication to prevent infection.

If it is a severe injury, then your vet will take matters to the next level and often surgery is required. If you are careful when you first see the eye out of its socket, chances are the recovery will be complete and your dog will return to normal.

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Will My Pug Go Blind When Its Eye Pops Out?

Vet examining a pug's eye

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This is hard to say as there are many influential factors that will determine what happens to your Pug’s eye. The biggest influential factors will be how serious the injury was and how quickly you got your Pug help.

The sight of your dog’s eye will also depend on the severity of the damage to the eyeball, the eye socket, or the tissue surrounding the eye. If you can put some saline solution on a sterile gauze bandage, and then quickly cover the eye and the socket you are doing everything you can to save your dog’s sight.

Do not remove the gauze until the vet does it in his office or exam room. The key is to keep the eye moist without letting any dirt, etc. Get to it. So you may need help as you go to the vet to keep that eye moist.

Make sure to go to the nearest emergency vet care in your area. Time is of the essence and you will want to get your Pug helps as quickly as possible.

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Some Final Words

Close up of a pug's face

When you see your pug’s eye popping out of its socket, do not panic. That emotion will only make things worse. Learn everything you can about what you can do in this situation so you can act calmly and quickly.

Getting your pug help as quickly as possible is the best thing you can do for it.

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