Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Caption This #201

Looking forward to your comments in the captions.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

A Story of Aging

As many loyal readers know, the boys each turned 9 years old earlier this year. Obviously, being a week apart in age, they did not come from the same genetic line. Not unless that pug mama had one heck of a labor!

It is clear that the boys are not blood brothers. There are many things that make the boys alike and many that make them different. Benjamin has been a spitfire his whole life. Henry, well, he has been more laid back. As time moves on, this is starting to reverse. We are starting to see the years of running hard and fast taking its toll on Baby Benny. Henry, while still relatively mellow, now takes the lead on walks and other events. It is sort of like watching the extended version of the tortoise & the hare.

Benny is simply slowing down at a more rapid pace than Henry. I can only compare it to what Solsey must have been like a few years before we got her. Benny's hearing is not as sharp as it once was, he walks considerably slower, he is not eager to go outside for his final potty of the night even though it always garners him a treat. He is as lovey as ever, handsome with adorable wrinkles, precious with his needy whine and irresistible with his appreciate kisses. He is just getting old.

He really is getting to be more & more like Solsey. So much so that now we sometimes call him "Solsey Benny". This is a spin-off of the "Solsey Baby!" call we would yell out when we would be super excited at something funny or adorable Sol did. We feel so lucky to have had Sol and experienced her for as long as we did. And now it is like having another Sol. Only this time we get to be there for more of the onset of the aging process. We really feel truly special to have had 2 pugs age ever so gracefully. We are curious to see if Henry will age in such an accepting fashion.

While it is hard for us to think of what happens after "aging", for now, we are simply enjoying their golden years. They are no longer the shoe string eaters and crate poopers they once were as puppies. They are now fine mature gentlemen that stroll rather than run through the parks and on the beaches. They are finessing their senior moments to be most splendid. We have of course, signed them up for their AARP (American Association of Retired Pugs) membership so they can get discounted meals and services.

Nonetheless, while Benny is ripening quicker and Henry is comparatively more green, both boys are getting up there in age. They are both still our ultimate pleasure. We adore them young, old and in between. Can’t even imagine what Little Looney will be like when she hits 63 in dog years like her bros. Only time will tell.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Patches

In addition to her nose job, Luna also got a haircut last week.

They shaved a big spot on her back so they could inject dye for her CT Scan.

Overall, Luna is doing very well since her surgery. Her breathing is noticeably better. I am really surprised how much she already appears to have benefited from the breathing surgery.

Her shaky legs and troublesome neck appear to be about the same. It is hard to tell if the medicine is making much of a difference at this point. But, we are keeping a close eye on her so that we have lots to report to the neurologist when Luna goes back in a few weeks for her checkup.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Home & Resting

Looney Tunes is back home and resting well. We are so happy to have her home.

We learned a lot with our appointment with the neurologist. Luna will be meds for the next two weeks and we are to keep her activity to a minimum, however, she doesn't have to be on bed rest. Luna can go for a short walk each evening, which should help keep her from bouncing off the walls.

It will be a few days before Luna is a 100% percent but so far she is doing well.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Luna Update

Luna came through her breathing surgery with flying colors. The vet called and gave us an update at 5pm and told us that Luna was out of surgery and awake and looking around. She was alert and seemed to be in good spirits. Her only issue is that she had a noisy neighbor

During her breathing surgery they shortened her soft palate, widened her nostrils and removed her saccules.

We also received the results of her CAT Scan. The test revealed that Luna has a prolapsed disc in her neck and two prolapsed discs in back. Surgery is not recommended at this time and we meet with the neurologist tomorrow afternoon when we pickup Luna to go over a treatment plan. I'm not sure what the plan is going to be, but I sure do not want it to be 6 weeks of keeping Luna still. To me, that doesn't seem like a feasible option.

I will let you know more after we pickup Luna. I sure can't wait to have the little girl back home with us!

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Solsey Pouch renamed to The Luna Bag

As you open today’s OBP news, you may be asking, "Why is Luna in the Solsey pouch?!" Well, it is a long story, so readers, brace yourselves.

This photo was taken on the same day that Benny was in the Solsey Mobile. Last Monday night Benjamin dislocated his shoulder and we went to the emergency vet that night. Well, Tuesday was a pre-planned visit for Luna to go to AVS (Affiliated Veterinary Specialists) in Maitland about 50 miles from our home.

Luna has been in need of what they affectionately call the “nose package” which is the same surgery that Benjamin had done about a year or so ago. It is when they remove some soft tissue from the back of the throat, widen the nasal passages, and remove the air satchels all in the efforts to assist with breathing and respiratory challenges.

Additionally, over the last year, we have been noticing some other small but recently increasing concerns with Luna’s gait. During breaks on walks (like while waiting for her brothers to go potty) she stands still but her rear leg or legs will tremble. She is no longer confident jumping up on the sofa or bed and she has simply just fallen over for no apparent reason twice.

When her legs first started to twitch or shake we didn’t really think much of it. In the beginning, as it would usually happen towards the end of long walks we figured she was just tired (like a marathon runner whose legs are like cooked spaghetti noodles at the end of a race). Since she has to take about 3-4 steps for every human step and a step or 2 for each of her brothers then her pace was always quicker in relation to her body size. Well, when we realized that Luna was hesitant to eat we knew there was a major issue. We sort of put the whole thing together when offering her food closer to her face she would gobble it down as usual. Luna was apparently hurting so badly when bending her neck to get to her food dish that she would just rather not eat than to have to put herself in that position to eat.

So, we took her to our usual vet and he put her on an anti-inflammatory medication in order to see if that would help by reduce any back/neck swelling. It is also a pain reducer (its like doggy Tylenol). This was a 2 week dose. And while it helped some, it did not work considerably well.

Over time, we worked on managing the problem in other ways, too. We created a raised food dish for her so that she doesn’t have to bend over so far to eat. That has seemed to help tremendously in the area of eating. We shortened her walks so that the condition wouldn’t continue to be exacerbated. And when all of these things were not correcting the problem sufficiently, we took her back to our vet who recommended x-rays and warned that while that was a good start, a CT scan and/or MRI would likely be necessary to see what the problem was truly.

So, you can fast forward (or rewind-depending on how you look at it) to Tuesday. Tuesday was the day that she had the appointment with the specialist to decide how to move forward with the nose package and the neck/back issues. The appointment was for 10 AM. This means leaving the house around 8:30 AM (and Luna had to fast for this appointment since at the specialist’s office they never know if they will have to sedate the patients to do testing). So, out we went.

We got to the specialist’s office and the internal medicine doctor consulted with the neurologist. X-rays were performed on a mildly sedated Luna. They showed a "lesion" on her vertebrae in her neck. We were reassured that it was not a tumor or cancer but more like an area of swelling or a slipped disc. In discussing the options for treating Luna, between us, the specialists and our own vet, we are all on the same page with the upcoming events. That is: today, Luna will go under the knife to get her nose package done. While under, they will perform the CT scan. If the CT scan shows something that needs to be surgically repaired, then they will do that surgery tomorrow. The specialists shared that two short episodes of anesthesia is better than one long episode. And hopefully, she will not need the second go ‘round. Hopefully, whatever the CT scan shows will be able to be treated some other way.

So, getting back to why is Luna in the Solsey pouch? Well, the specialists tell us to keep her "on bed rest" for 6 weeks (regardless of surgery or not but if neurosurgery could be even longer). This is no small feat! She is a wiggly, feisty, willful little alpha female pug that won’t be stopped! So, we are doing our darnedest to keep her still. This is why last night we took Benny out in the Solsey Mobile and Luna out in the Solsey pouch. Henry actually had to walk. Benny is on rest until the end of the week and Luna for 6 weeks.

We are definitely not sure how exactly we will accomplish all of this but we will make it work. Somehow we always do. And somehow the pugs always get with the program, too.

So, we will keep you posted with the details of today's surgery and what the C/T scan reveals about Luna's back.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Improvising

What do you do with a pug that has strict orders to take it easy, but is just itching to go for a walk? You take him for a ride in the Solsey mobile. A stroller that Solsey hated by the way. She much preferred to use her pouch.

The pugs also have something very special to look forward to this weekend. G-Ma is coming for a visit!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!