Prevalences of Known and Presumed Inherited Eye Diseases in Pugs in Germany

The aim of this retrospective study was to describe the prevalence and distribution of presumed inherited eye diseases in pugs in Germany and to evaluate potential risk factors for selected diseases. Therefore, ophthalmic findings from 294 pugs provided by the German panel of the European Eye Scheme programme were analyzed retrospectively. Associations between diseases and age and sex were assessed using multivariable linear probability models and correlation analyses and prevalences with 95% confidence intervals were reported. Entropion was the most frequent diagnosis (72.4%), followed by pigmentary keratopathy (36.7%), macroblepharon (24.8%), distichiasis (20.1%) and non-congenital hereditary cataract (12.2%). Based on anatomic location, 81.3% of pugs had at least one adnexal disorder and 41.5% at least one corneal disorder. Increasing age was significantly associated with a higher probability of pigmentary keratopathy, keratoconjunctivitis sicca and hereditary cataract. No significant association with sex was identified. Pugs in this German population were commonly affected by adnexal and corneal diseases. Further ophthalmic screening and prospective studies are warranted to better characterize presumed hereditary eye diseases of this breed, clarify inheritance patterns, and improve ocular welfare in pugs.