Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Caption This #98

At our last visit to Paw Park, Sol made friends with another wise gal like herself.  Looking forward to your captions in the comments.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Caption This #96

Sol, looking out the car window on the way to the beach.  Looking forward to your captions in the comments.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Beach Bums

On Sunday, we decided to make the most of an overcast day and we took the pugs to the beach.  We haven’t been to the beach since we adopted Sol, so I thought it would be fun to see what she thought of the sand and the salty air.  The whole trip could have bee a disaster (more to come on that), but we pulled it together and had a really good time.  The boys and Luna had fun as always and Sol really seemed to be having a good time as well.

Here are a few pics from the day.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Verrucous

As you may have read earlier, Sol went in Monday for what we believe to have been her first dental cleaning.  She also had the growth removed from her eye.  Additionally, she had a skin tag removed from her knee.  We were prepared for all of the little “extras” of the procedure.  However, we were somewhat surprised to learn that the vet discovered a tumor in her mouth during the routine dental procedure.  They removed the top piece of what they described as a “wart”.  Since this oral growth was of particular concern, a biopsy was performed.  The eye growth and the knee growth were not bothersome to the vet and those did not warrant a biopsy.  The vet tech described that these types of mouth warts are common in dogs and that while they can be cancerous, they generally are no big deal.  She told us to expect the results within 7-14 days.  Waiting a week to two weeks seemed like an eternity until today.  The results came quickly.  I would have waited the 2 weeks to find out this news because unfortunately, the results were not good.  It is Pappillary (verrucous) Squamous Cell Carcinoma.  Cancer. 

The good news is that it is considered a low grade malignancy.  While the vet referred us to a specialist, they mentioned a couple of options.  These were aggressive vs. non-aggressive treatments.

The aggressive would be to remove the tooth in front and behind the tumor and the entire tumor which would likely include a significant piece of the mandibular (jaw) tissue.  The “problem” with this is that this type of cancer will reoccur and even if we took care of it, it would come back.

The non-aggressive treatment would be to simply monitor her bloodwork every 6 months to see how her lymph nodes are functioning and perhaps the cancer is such a slow growing variety coupled with the fact that she is already 12 years old she would not really be affected for the rest of her relatively short remaining life expectancy.  The “problem” with this solution is that we feel like we are “doing nothing” because we would be doing next to nothing.

We will of course consult with the specialist and determine which treatment plan to follow.  The specialist is “conveniently” located adjacent to Luna’s eye vet.  So, at least we are familiar with the area and while it is not “close” (about 50 miles away) we are due to bring Luna, Sol & Henry to the eye doctor soon.  We’ll just double up the appointments on the same day.

There is a particularly sad irony to all of this.  It has been barely a year since Sol’s Grammy here in Florida was also diagnosed with oral cancer, received major surgery, had radiation and is just beginning to feel the benefits of being on the road to recovery.  As I sit here I am still in somewhat of a denial filled fog.  I just have to ask, “what are the odds that your mother and your dog both are diagnosed with oral cancer within a year’s time?”  The quick response to that when asked aloud was, “well, obviously better than winning the lottery”.  Too true. 

Needless to say, there were some tears shed in the OBP household tonight.  Between reflecting on the last year dealing with human cancer and imagining the upcoming year dealing with puggy cancer, the emotions got the better of us.  Albeit temporarily.  We have hope for a positive outcome.  We will grab that cancer bull by the horns and fix poor little Sol as best we can.  She made it our way for a reason.  The reason now is crystal clear.  We are here for her.  She has a forever home filled with love and support.

For the curious, here is a picture of Sol’s tumor.  They took it while she was under for her dental.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Caption This #95

Causing a ruckus at the door.  Looking forward to your captions in the comments.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Caption This #94

Sol sharing a secret with Luna.  Looking forward to your captions in the comments.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Spoiled Already

Well it sure didn’t take Sol long to become a spoiled little girl.  Here she is begging for some of the chicken I am carving.  It is pretty much a Sunday ritual.  We get the rotisserie chicken from Sam’s club each Sunday and carve it and use it in some form for our lunches that week.  Sol has been here for at least 3 Sundays when we do this and she knows what is coming.  The girl is quite fond of chicken!

Spoiled Already from obp on Vimeo.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Laps

Here is a nice little video of Benjamin running around the living room.  A couple things to note, in the beginning you will see Sol just watching Benny acting all crazed.  Look closely and you will also see the other old lady of the house, Cupid, watching and laughing at Benny.  And at the end you will see Henry chewing on the cat sack / cat bed that Sol likes so much.  One more thing, you might need to take some dramamine because I am all over the place in this video trying to keep at least one pug in the frame.  Sound is also recommended so you can hear Benny jingling about and panting.

Pugs Playing from obp on Vimeo.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Preferred

The Puff bed, preferred by 4 out of 4 pugs over all other dog beds in the house.