Thursday, September 7, 2006
Well, we are all waiting with baited breath the results of Luna’s pathology report. It all began the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. We noticed Luna had a white, pimply bump on her right eyeball (the worse of her 2 eyes.) Knowing it was a holiday weekend and she probably needed to go to a specialist rather than the general emergency place, we tried to wait it out until Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning the specialist was called and they did not seem alarmed and said that they could take her on Thursday. Well, throughout the next day and a half, the bump progressed from a small white blemish to a growing, red bump. We opted to take her to the local emergency vet around 11 PM Tuesday night. They looked at her eye, gave her a little exam and said to go to her specialist first thing in the morning. They felt that it would not rupture through the night and that the specialist would squeeze her in knowing that Luna’s eye sore was worsening.
Though we barely got a wink of sleep due to worry, we were at the specialist’s office (about an hour away) before they even opened. They did, in fact, fit Luna into the schedule. She was even the first patient they saw.
They examined her eye and came to the conclusion that it is a tumor. They offered us 3 choices. The first was to simply change her medicine and pay close attention for any change. The second was to have them numb her eye and take a cell scraping of the troubled spot. The third choice was to do a biopsy on another day. Now, the first choice was not an option for us because that seemed like a hurry up and wait situation where time is of the essence. The debate then came between numbers 2 and 3. The thing is with the scrape, they may not actually get an accurate read and the biopsy would still be necessary to rule out cancer if the scrape came back negative for cancer. However, they couldn’t do a biopsy today and it would require another visit and local anesthesia.
Now it is an odd situation of what do you wish for? Do you want the scrape to come back as cancer? Of course not. But then you have to put Luna through a biopsy and you don’t want that either. If you do put her through a biopsy and it not cancerous, then it was all worth it and your glad you did but if it comes back negative then you feel terrible that you put her through a seemingly unnecessary procedure. However, we opted for the scrape.
When do the results come back? Up to 2 weeks from now. That seems like a terribly long time to wait. If there is cancer, Luna will likely lose her eye. Even if it is not cancer, there is a chance of that, as well. The main problem is that Luna’s system is trying to save her own eye which seems like a good thing. The problem is in doing so, she keeps producing cells (some normal and some abnormal) in abundance so much that it creates scarring and tumors. So, even if there is no cancer, she very well could continue to produce these little tumors all over her eye which isn’t healthy for her, either. She is fighting to be healthy and it is hurting her. It doesn’t seem fair.
In any event, we will keep you posted on her prognosis and hope that all you pug lovers keep little Luna in your thoughts & prayers. The silver lining is that none of this is life threatening and Luna doesn’t seem to be in any pain. Thank you all for your concern and support.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
This holiday weekend we had a family gathering with folks from far and near. There were many hands for petting at the party and all the animals took full advantage of the situation. Henry would sit and just wait for someone to pet him. Benjamin got into plenty of trouble as he tried to steal goodies from the table even accomplishing snagging a piece of cheese and a lick of icing off of a piece of cake. However, little Luna was the one most everyone raved about. Since she is so petite she does seem to attract most of the attention, not to mention that she was all dolled up in her sun-dress and pearl necklace. As the Labor Day bash was nearing an end and some of the relatives were about to leave, little Luna really poured it on thick, having to be pried from a young lady’s lap and then showing off so much that everyone felt compelled to dote on her as they tried to make their exit. One of the attendees commented that Luna reminded her of her dog, a long haired chihuahua named Lucy. I guess it is something about the tiny, feisty ones! One of the other guests, also a dog lover, just knew that that all the pups, hers included (a mixed breed named Haley) would get along all together like one big pack. It would have been an even livelier event had they brought their furry friends. Maybe next year! In any case, a fine time was had by all creatures great & small.
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Whenever the doorbell rings at our house, Benjamin, Henry and Luna all charge to the door. Luna does not bark, but Benjamin and Henry go nuts. The funny thing is that they don’t bark at the person at the door, they bark at each other! It seems to me that they argue over who is going to be the first to greet the new visitor. Crazy pugs? What about your pugs?
Friday, September 1, 2006
Well, I would feel like the blog would be incomplete if I didn’t also include a piece about Luna and the cat, Cupid. I know that we have only had Luna a short while, but she is not exempt from the nicknaming that goes on in the house. She started out as Lunatic, mostly because that is what everyone called us for wanting to get a 3rd pug. Then she went to Looney Toons, Tiny Toons and just plain Toons. Sometimes she is even Tuna. She thinks she is the Big Kahuna, though. She is a feisty little spitfire!
Cupid, the cat and honorary pug, is named such because we got her from the pound on Valentine’s Day. She is also affectionately called Cupie (like the Cupie doll). This is also abbreviated to QP. She has given herself the nickname Princess QP. She is the Princess around here, though Luna debates that title and tries to claim it for herself. So, we just tell Luna that she is the queen and the cat is her underling. (I hope the cat isn’t reading this!) This seems to keep them both happy as they both get to wear pink and prance around the house like they are the boss.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
This is it! Today is the last day to submit pictures to the Owned By Pugs 2007 Calendar Photo Contest. You have until midnight tonight, so if you haven’t done so already, get your pictures submitted. Also, please don’t forget about our good friends at Compassionate Pug Rescue. They have done so many wonderful things to help needy pugs and a donation of any size will go a long way.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Henry doesn’t have quite as many nicknames as Benjamin, but his nicknames are far more of a stretch back to his “proper” name. From Henry, we would call him Hank and from there, that evolved to Hankey, but that sounded too much like a tissue. From Hankey, that turned into Hank E. Doodle or Hankee Doodle like Yankee Doodle. Its funny, whenever we want him to come we always say, “Paging Mr. Doodle, Mr. Hank E. Doodle.” He has caught on and will come running whenever he gets paged.
When we are lazy, we’ll call him H. Doodle or when he is lazy, we call him “Dawdling Doody.” Sometimes he acts like the pokey little puppy. He does like to dawdle. The funniest thing about the nickname Hankee Doodle is that we sing Yankee Doodle to him and make the words fit his life. One day he heard Yankee Doodle on the TV, around the 4th of July, and as he listened, he cocked his head to the side as he was puzzled about why they would be singing about him on TV. So, little ol’ Henry is also known as Doodle or more formally H. Doodle.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
In our family, it seems that everyone has a nickname. Not just our pets, but family members as well. It seems we are just nickname people. I’m curious to know if your pug has any special nicknames.
