cornea problems

[kwhel]

After having my puppy 1 1/2 months and numerous visits to the vets and practically non-stop antibiotic treatment for an eye problem which the breeder left out telling us about but manage to put it down as a serious health problem in our paperwork after we signed the paperwork. The breeder put down that she had a corneal scratch. Well needless to say this was after I told her I wanted a healthy dog since our last dog of 12 years was sickly and it was painful to go through.
We bought her on a Friday and had 72 hours to have her examined by a vet, our vet wasn't in til Monday which was more than 72 hours later. When we got home with our pup we noticed something wrong with her eye and since our vet wasn't in that Saturday we went back to the breeder and she gave us some unknown antibiotic. When we brought her to our vet on Monday and showed her the medicine she said you can't give this to her, you don't even know what it is.
Well anyhow after all these visit to the vet we decided to let the vet put her to sleep to find out what keeps causing her eye infections. She was calm and didn't need to be sedated so the vet was able to observed her. Bad news!
She said she didn't think this was a scratch at all, they had done eye stains in the past. She thinks it might be a cogenital cornea defect. She suggested we take her to an eye specialist which there are none in our area. She said our pup will need eye care all her life and possible surgery maybe even removal of the eye. I just don't want my puppy being in pain, the vet says she is but I think and hope it is more of an discomfort since she playful and eats well.
What I would like to know is if anyone else had dealt with this kind of problem and dealt with it maybe with alternative care. She seems to have dry eye since she get eye infections alot, we are trying liquid tears. The vet said it also looks like her eyelid turns and her eye is much smaller than the other one showing it is not growing properly.
The vet suggested we call the breeder and tell we got a defective dog which I think I will, but I won't bring her back because she is a family member now and we love her no matter what. But I don't want her to suffer and specialized care maybe out of the question.
Any suggestions.

[linnie]

First I would go to another vet for a second opinion.
Also dogs dont show their pain like we do so it is hard to tell if she would be in pain or not.
If she does need to have her eye removed then she will still have a great life.
I am so sorry that you have a pup with a problem but hang in there I am sure you will find an answer to your problem

Keep us posted
Hugs for your baby from linnie

[Shadowkins]

I'm so sorry you have to go through this and am grateful your pup has you to help him.
Linnie is right! a second opinion never hurt and may offer alternate choices. I wish you well.

[Pugdawg1]

Second opinions are invaluable. If it comes to the pup losing it's eye... it's not the end of the world. I have pugs, a breed prone to eye issues.. and there are many many one eyed pugs out there, and I know two with no eyes at all... they adapt. I am not saying to not try and save the eye, I'm just saying there is life for a one eyed dog. A perfectly normal life, if it comes down to that.

[kwhel]

I seem to get more info from other dog owners than from the vets.
Do you know how a congential cornea defect which causes the eyeball not to grow might be treated? Is surgery really necessary, I would rather not put my puppy through that if not absolutely necessary. What about the turned up eyelid, is surgery necessary for that? I can treat dry eye with eye drops. Like I said there are no canine eye specialist near me. I want the best for my dog and want to keep her out of pain, if that means surgery I would have to go to Baton Rouge, LA to a learning hospital, but I'm hoping to avoid that if possible. It seems through my own observation, I around my dog more than the vet is, that she isn't in a lot of pain. I know her eye is causing her discomfort but it doesn't seem real bad.
Thanks for any info.