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Charitable Org

       Curly Tail Pug Rescue
501(c)3 Non Profit Organization
  Donations are Tax-Deductible
We are an all volunteer network
    Located in NY, NJ, CT & RI

Butter's Beautiful Eyes



Butter Success

A happy adopted Butter shaking up the Halloween Extravaganza with his lively rendition of Michael Phelps!



Meet Butter

Update 5/25/09:  Butter is the happiest puppy around, especially considering what his 1st few months of life have been like.  He is super smart and always a little trouble maker.....a textbook puppy!!!

He is fully recovered from his surgeries and in the process of getting UTD on all of his puppy shots ans basic care.  (All of those items had been put on hold while we focused on his eyes.) 

His remaining eye, while visual and healing, has developed Pigmentary Keratitis.   Pigmentary Keratitis is a build up of dark scar tissue on the surface of the eye. It appears as a brown pigment that may gradually cover the eye over time, typically starting in the inner corners of the eye. PK can be caused by numerous things, and can sometimes be caused by nothing. Most often, this is a symptom of some other problem, either dry eye, entropion, or ulcers. It can also be caused by overexposure to the elements. Treatment is the use of Cyclosporine or Tacrolimus eyedrops given once to three times daily to try to remove the pigment. (Surgery on the eye can help if the scar tissue is being cause by entropion.)  He will remain on Optimune/Cyclosporine drops and/or Genteal (OTC) Eye Drops for the rest of his life to keep the PK at bay.  This is not an uncommon response to an eye that has undergone such trauma.
 
Update 4/24/09:  Butter's eye is still doing well!  His pupil is very small but he has vision!  His stitches were removed from his eye removal surgery.  We are eliminating the atropine (dilating medication) for another week long trial to make sure that the pupil remains functional without the use of medication. 

He will remain on Genteal (OTC) Eye Drops.  We use this product for our pugs to help lubricate & protect the eye.  The Genteal Severe Dry Eye Formula is preservative free, provides long lasting lubrication and protection of the cornea.  It can be purchased n your local Duane Reade, CVS or other similar stores.  It is a great product for all pugs' eyes and keeps them clean, lubricated and free of debris!  (We want to make sure Butter's eye is fully lubricated b/c we suspect a low tear production.)

We will now start getting Butter UTD on his regular medical needs and neuter. 

Update 4/17/09:  We have been to see Dr. van der Woerdt at the AMC (Animal Medical Center) 2x this week.  The 1st visit was disheartening b/c once again the graft is successfully healing but a secondary issue developed - Butter's pupil was shrinking!  He was losing what little vision he had left.  The doctor decided to treat him medically by aggresively increasing his Atropine doses. Good news -  2 days later we returned for a quick check up and the pupil is back to normal!!  We can drop the Atropine doses back down slightly and go back for a check up next week.  Yasmin & the doctor have been incredible in doing whatever they can to help Butter & Curly Tail! 

Sad news......Update 4/9/09:  Butter lost the eye we had performed surgery on 2x.  We had to enucleate his eye on Wed, 4/8/09. The conjunctival graft was healing perfectly but the eye suffered too much trauma, developed glaucoma and was no longer visual. The pressure in that eye was soaring higher by the hour.


Even more so, his remaining eye (which had a superficial ulcer but was originally healing) ruptured that morning and then 3 more times that same night.   We rushed to the AMC emergency medical center but were not able to receive care on site.  We were beyond lucky that Yasmin who has been working with us on Dr. van der Woerdt's team) was there to help.  She helped contact every possible ophthalmologist in the tri-state area and was prepared TO FLY to North Carolina to help Butter. 
 
Yasmin was able to reach Dr. La Croix of the VMCLI who was on call and came in from home to see Butter.  We hopped in Yasmin's car and were in West Islip in the middle of the night.
 
So while we were performing surgery on the newly ruptured eye, we enucleated the other eye suffering from glaucoma.  For the surgery on the remaining eye, Dr. La Croix chose to perform a corneal conjunctival graft where she plugged the ruptured site with a piece of his cornea.  This is a more aggressive form of graft.  He has pulled through his 3rd surgery successfully...and now we wait.  We are doing everything we possibly can to try and retain some vision for this amazing little 14 week old puppy. 


More to come when he comes home from the hospital....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 







Update 4/2/09:  Butter's eye is healing.  We do not know if it is visual yet but we hope to know after out visit with Dr. van der Woerdt at the AMC next week. 
 
Update 3/22/09:  Butter had his 2nd surgery at the AMC and seems to be doing well.  We do not know if he eye will be visual but we are hopeful.  They reattached the conjunctival graft and applied reinforced suture method.  They also pulled up the 3rd lid and sutured it to his upper eyelid - protecting his delicate cornea underneath. 
 
He looks like a little franken-pup right now but the swelling is already going down and he is happy & is playful as ever!  I will be posting pictures of this little one and hopefully his youth will help him heal through this safely and with almost full vision.

Thank you to everyone who has been so incredibly supportive!  We cannot thank Dr. van der Woerdt and Yasmin from the AMC enough...they have helped Butter & Curly Tail so very much!!!
















 

Butter & the Gang in NYC

 
Update 3/18/09
4:30pm:  Long story, short.....We simply cannot afford to have Butter's Corneal Transplant at the NYC Veterinary Specialists at this time.   We are too new of an organization and just do not have the funds.  Over 75% of the dogs in our care are medical cases and require extensive treatment....we are trying to do the best for every one of them.  Everyone at the facility has been wonderful and supportive....we are truly so very grateful.  He is getting around the clock care, medication and above all love & attention. 
 












 
 
We are transporting him back to the AMAZING team at the AMC (Animal Medical Center) 1st thing tomorrow morning.  We will need to wait until Dr. van der Woerdt examines him again tomorrow to see if we have another chance at saving his eye or vision.  We will then proceed with whatever course of action she deems necessary (and we are able).  Yasmin, of the opthmology team, has been incredibly supportive and was emailing w/ me all through the night about Butter's condition, orchestrated us getting to the NYC Veterinary Specialists in the middle of the night and now back to the AMC tomorrow....we can't thank her enough for going WAY beyond the call of duty and helping us care for Butter.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
We can't believe how many people have been so amazing and there for Butter & the rescue.  Curly Tail is commited to doing everything possible to save Butter's eye and still hope to retain vision....I will be on my way to pick up Butter from the  NYC Veterinary Specialists shortly.
 
12pm: I spoke with the Opthomologist who saw Butter 1st thing this morning.  He needs to have another surgery.  This time they are recommending a Corneal Transplant b/c the damage to his cornea is so severe.  He is at the last possible layer of tissue prior to rupture.  Curly Tail is commited to doing everything possible to save Butter's eye and still hoping to retain vision.
 
The Dr. wants to perform a corneal transplant this time b/c the cloudy haze in his ulceraeted eye is quite severe and filled with fluid.  This fluid is making it very difficult to hold the sutures in place from the initial graft.  His leap from my lap was not good but that type of bump (with his cone on) should probably not have resulted in the dislodging of the graft.  The Dr feels that a corneal graft is necessary so that the eye can hold tight to the sutures and heal.  With all of the fluid currently built up in his cornea, simply reattaching the initially grafted skin could land us back in the same place in another few days.  They will also apply a 3rd flap to protect the eye even further for when he returns home.  Butter is hopefully going in for surgery this afteroon....the 2nd time in just a week.  So much medical for such a tiny puppy. (Waiting on an estimate.)
 
Update 3/17/09:  At approx 10:30pm last night, Butter was sleeping peacefully on my lap.  He popped up at signs of the other foster pups playing, jumped right off and landed on the side of his head.  Of course, it was the side that he had just had surgery.  The graft had become 90% dislodged and was protruding from his eye.  I raced to the ER at the AMC (totally devestated) and by midnight, the amazing staff was networking (from home....Yasmin!!!!!) to have him seen immediately and locate an opthomologist on call at another facility in NYC. (The AMC considered this a post surgical visit and we were not charged at this location)
 
The Opthomologist, on call at the 2nd facility, had talked w/ the team at the AMC and they were ready & waiting for our arrival.  At approx. 12:00am we were being seen by the team at the NYC Veterinary Specialists - another 24 hr Care Facility. 
 
At approx 2am, I was learning even more about the eye, ulcers & the various medications and their effects on the ulcerated eye.  ($591 for this 2nd ER visit, ICU nursing care, medication and overnight stay)
 
Update 3/17/09:  The grafted area is healing well.  He was a picture perfect example of a post-op graft!!  His visit at the AMC reported positive with hopes of saving Butter's eye and possibly some vision in the severaly ulcerated eye.  His left eye is healing moderately with no signs of the surface ulcer progressing at this stage.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Update 3/13/09:  After his recheck at the AMC Friday morning, the doctors recommended not releasing him and to do surgery immediatly.  The ulcer in his eye had not responded positively to the topical medicine & progressed to the last possible layer of tissue just before rupture.
 
We decided to proceed w/ a surgical graft that takes existing tissue in the eye.  This tissue is pulled over & atached to the ulcerated area to faciliate healing. 
 
We also discovered at surface ulcer on his left eye and began topical treatment of that eye as well. ($1585 in care & medication for this surgery)
 
These are images of Butter right after his surgical graft.
















 
 
 
 

Update 3/9/08: This is image is after a  trip to the ER (prior to surgery).  We tried to heal his ulcer with medication 1st.  We went to the ER on Sunday morning when his eye inititally ulcerated.  Then we went to see the Specialists at the AMC Tuesday morning for a follow up & decided to avoid surgery and try a stronger topical treatment. 
($539 in care for these 2 visits & medication)

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