Shar-pei face

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Shar-pei puppy facial reconstruction
Shar-peis are renowned for having too much skin generally! A common problem for a shar-pei pup is to have too much skin about the face which results in the eyelids rolling inwards onto the cornea causing corneal ulceration (which is painful and can lead to blindness). At 10 weeks of age Bentley had never seen out of his right eye! The eyelids had been tacked back in an attempt to lift the facial fur away from the cornea but he was still in discomfort. It is more normal to wait until a pup in 5 - 6mo old before correcting entropion (in-turning eyelids) but Bentley's clearly needed a complete reconstruction of the right side of the face to remove the excess skin.

The first picture shows Bentley's face as we used a marker pen to plan just how much skin we needed to remove. (the following pictures are taken from the opposite side of the op. table so his face is upside down)

The excess skin is removed from around the eye and from the facial folds.
Construction sutures are placed to help work out the best way to draw the skin together.

Gradually working around the operation area the skin is closed.
It becomes clear that even more skin needs to be removed to make a neat closure.

The total area of skin removed.
Bentley made a good recovery and within 10 days could open his eye normally.
The corneal inflammation has settled down and he is a happy pup.