Monday, September 20, 2010
Over the last year, I have noticed that the top of Henry's nose is very dry and has even started to crack. Concerned that it might be a sign of a more serious issue, I talked to the vet about it during Henry's last checkup. He assured me it was nothing to be worried about and gave us KeraSolv Gel. Our instructions were to apply it to his nose once daily for the first 10 days and then as needed. Today is the one week mark and I am impressed with how quickly the gel seems to be working.
Above is a before and after closeup of Henry's nose. After a few days, the dry bits of Henry's nose actually started to fall off (gross). He isn't 100% back to normal, but a lot of the buildup has started to come off and I'm sure the rest will continue to come off over the next several days.
I'm not sure if you need a prescription for the KeraSolv gel. Ours came from our vet with a prescription sticker on it with application instructions.
Friday, September 17, 2010
After Benny was done being poked and prodded on the exam table it was Henry's turn. Henry got a little fussy when they were drawing his blood, but other than that he did OK.
My main concern with Henry was his eyes. I have noticed that he is missing a lot of treats when we play our treat toss game. I know that he has the beginnings of cataracts in both of his eyes, but it is extremely early in the process.
The vet took a look and said that it looks like the cataracts are getting a bit bigger, but again it is still early. At this point we should just keep monitoring him to see if we can pick up on any type of vision changes.
Not great news, but it certainly could be worse.
The vet also checked Henry's hips and knee to checkup on his arthritis. Henry has had a bit of arthritis in his hips since he was about a year old. The arthritis has been attributed to his hip dysplasia, but we have done a pretty good job managing it. As he gets older, we do our best to keep an eye on it because the problem is certainly not going to get better as Henry ages. The arthritis might be a tad worse than last year, but all in all Henry is doing great in that department. Henry was also down a pound which I was thrilled about. Keeping Henry at a healthy weight is pretty much the only thing we can do to help his hips and arthritis.
Another small item on Henry's list was his dry nose. Henry's nose has gotten to be extremely dry and cracked. I wasn't sure if this was a sign of some other problem, so I jotted it down on my list of things to ask the vet. The vet said that all is well and that a dry nose is just a part of aging. He gave me a gel to put on his nose to help put a little moisture back into his nose and by golly does that stuff work. Henry is almost back to his puppy nose!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
At his checkup last Friday, we found out that Benny has an ear infection in his left ear. Since Benny just started shaking his head a few days before, I was expecting the diagnosis. The infection isn't too serious, so we have to flush and add some drops to his ears for the next 10 days. He is handling his new morning ear routine better than I expected so that is making things a lot easier.
Our other chief concern was his hiatal hernia which makes him have a little coughing episode anywhere from 3 to 6 times a day. We were prescribed a new medicine that works great in some dogs and not at all in others. We are trying it out for the next month to see what kind of effect it has on Benny. The first two days he was on it, he had no coughing episodes, which had me on cloud 9. However, since then he has had at least one coughing episode per day. So, they are less, but not completely gone. But, I'm not sure if we will keep him on the medicine because the main side effect is jitteriness. Benjamin is naturally hyper enough, so once the medicine got into his system he was bouncing off the walls. Although, he seems to have calmed down a bit the last few days.
With the two big items out of the way, Benny got his shots and the rest of his exam. The scar on his chest from his mast cell removal has healed wonderfully. Other than his teeth, he got a good report. His teeth don't need a cleaning now, but probably will in about 6 months. As much as we try to brush his teeth, he still needs to get cleanings. The vet attributes this to the arrangement of his teeth in his mouth. His teeth are packed in there which makes it very hard to get them cleaned. Henry is on the same tooth brushing routine as Benny and he got a stellar report on his teeth.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
When we thought of the idea to have Grammy paint a picture of Sol to raffle off, we had one condition for Grammy. She must paint two pictures. We knew once we saw the finished painting we would never be able to part with it. So, we doubled Grammy's workload. Lucky, for us she was more than willing to paint two portraits.
The photo above show's Solsey's painting hanging in our living room.
Also, I updated the original raffle post to note that the painting size is 12" x 12".
You can enter the raffle to win the painting of Sol here.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
We asked Solsey's talented Grammy is she would be kind enough to paint a picture of Sol that we could raffle off to benefit the Sol Sunshine Memorial Fund. Grammy happily complied and I am very happy to announce the raffle for this one of a kind Solsey painting (pictured above).
Here's how the raffle works:
- Raffle tickets are $5 per ticket or you can purchase 3 tickets for $12.
- You can purchase tickets by making a donation directly to Central Florida Pug Rescue via PayPal for your ticket amount using the PayPal form below. You do not need a PayPal account to purchase a ticket.
- After you make your donation via PayPal, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) a copy of the donation receipt sent to you by PayPal.
- Shortly after receiving your receipt, I will email you your raffle ticket numbers. If you do not hear from me within 48 hours send me another email to make sure I received your receipt. If you still do not hear from me leave a comment on this post.
- The raffle winner will be drawn on Friday, October 1, 2010. I will notify the winner via email and once I have gotten in touch with the winner I will announce the winner on the Pug Blog and also share how much money was raised for the Sol Sunshine Memorial Fund.
- If you are outside the US or Canada please contact me via email (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) prior to purchasing tickets to make sure we can ship to your location.
- The painting size is 12" x 12"
And incase you were wondering here is a little bit about the artist of the painting.
Artist Sheryl Pascal Gormley currently works in both watercolor and acrylics. Her awards include numerous cash prizes as well as ribbons. She is also an accomplished photographer and writer. 'Almost Scared to Death', her current novel, is nearing completion. The illustrations for her four children's books are in the final stages. As President of Ormond Writers' League she was largely responsible for getting the members to complete an anthology. Her cover photograph was taken on Daytona Beach, Florida. The paperback book, 'Peanut Butter and Jellyfish', is a collection of diverse short stories, published in 2003, available from InfinityPublishing.com
Purchase Raffle Tickets
If you have any questions, let me know.
Thank you for your continued support!
Monday, September 13, 2010
On Friday, the boys had an appointment for their annual checkups. It was actually pretty good timing because the day we made the appointment, Benjamin started shaking his head. It didn't take us long to figure out that something was up with his left ear. So, I added Benjamin's ear to the list of things to discuss with the vet.
Overall, the visit went well. I will give the specifics for each one of the boys later in the week. Each has little things that are common for their age that we will need to keep an eye on, but to summarize we have two 8 1/2 year old pugs that are "looking good". The thing I can't believe is that the boys are 8 1/2 years old.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Just a reminder, the 2011 Calendar Contest closes to submissions on September 12, 2010. So round up your cute pug pictures and get them submitted. Also, don't forget to tell your friends.
And remember, $5 from each calendar sale will be donated to the pug rescue group of the purchaser's choice from our list of eligible pug rescue groups when a calendar is bought. If you don't see your favorite pug rescue group on the list, contact them and tell them to send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Have a great weekend!
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