Wednesday, June 9, 2010
For the last few months we have been noticing a trend with Luna. Specifically, that you have to drag Luna out of bed in the morning. She has no interest in anything going on around the house that happens before 10am. And why is Luna so tired in the morning? Because she stays up all night chewing!
Well, not all night because we take her bone away from her when we go to bed, but from 9pm to 11:30ish each night, you can find Luna chewing one of her bones.
The boys are usually sawing logs by 8:30pm, but little Luna, she is just getting started at that time of night. You can even see Henry sleeping in the foreground of the picture while Luna steady chews.
Whoever named Luna could not have picked a better name her because after dark she is the only one stirring around here.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
A Caption This from the puppy files. Benjamin is just a little over a year in this photo. Looking forward to your captions in the comments.
Monday, June 7, 2010
When we took Benny to the vet for his cough a few weeks ago we talked with our vet about breathing issues in pugs and ways to deal with the hot weather here in FL. Our vet had a few good tips for us. For example, he suggested that we swap our evening walks for early morning walks. Morning walks would be a bit better for the pugs since the pavement would be cooler in the earlier part of the day. Clearly something I should have realized, but I think my disdain for all things morning got in the way.
Another thing he mentioned was keeping the pugs as trim as possible. Keeping them at an ideal weight not only helps them deal with the heat, but also helps with breathing issues that chronically plague pugs.
Our vet also pointed out that Benny was up a pound from his last visit in September 2009. At our recent visit, Benny weighed in at 25.4 pounds.
The truth is that we have become very relaxed with our treats and table scraps rules. When the boys were younger, we were very diligent in making sure the boys stayed fit and trim. Our main motivation was Henry and his hips. When Henry was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, we were told the best thing we could do for him was to keep him at a healthy weight.
So the boys grew up on carrots for treats and very rarely ever got a scrap from the table. But, over the years we gradually started giving them a little bite of dinner or breakfast and then dinner and breakfast. Heck, for about 15 months they got a little bowl of spaghetti each week. (But no one has had any spaghetti since Solsey passed. I just haven't been able to bring myself to make it.)
So, we are making a few lifestyle changes around here. Table scraps are being cut way back and I stocked the fridge with carrots. The difficult thing so far is that Luna does not like carrots. So it is a real pain to give the boys carrots and Luna something else. Especially, when I have not been able to come up with a healthy something else that Luna likes.
Our goal is to have the boys lose 3-4 pounds and Luna to lose around a pound. The weight has slowly crept on the pugs so our approach is to have it slowly creep off. We are in no rush and are not making any drastic changes so hopefully over the next year or so we can get the pugs in a bit better shape. The downside is that the FL heat is in full force now and the pugs usually gain a bit of weight during the summer months because their walks and any other outdoor activity is severely limited if not totally eliminated by the heat.
So, our short term, summer goal is to be more mindful of extra curricular eating and not have the pugs gain any it's too hot to even move weight. And remember, the camera adds 10 pounds 
Friday, June 4, 2010
One day, when we were out and about, we spotted these sun and moon garden stakes. Of course they reminded us of Luna and Sol. And since we are always looking for ways to spruce up the garden, we bought them and couldn't wait to get home and find a perfect spot for them in the garden. Luna enjoyed posing by her moon and the sun is a perfect reminder of Sol.
I also wanted to share with you the garden flag that Sue VDB had made for us. It could not have been a more perfect gift and when we get home from our walks in the evening I always make sure to say hi to Solsey Baby. Thanks so much, Sue!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The shaved patches on Benny's front paws from his surgery keep reminding me of wristbands. Which for some reason has the song "Physical" by Olivia Newton John stuck in my head.
Don't ask me how I made the leap but for the last few days all I have been singing is "Let's get physical, physical,..."
In other news, Benjamin had his stitches taken out and his incision is healing very nicely. I am very happy to see him on the mend and getting back to being his spunky little self.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
I know I talk a lot about Luna's eye drops and how I need a spreadsheet to keep track of them all, but I don't think I have shared a recent rundown of all the eye medicines she takes. But before I list all of her medicines, I think it would be helpful to list what ails her.
Diagnoses Right Eye
Diagnoses Left Eye
And to combat the above issues Luna is on the following drops:
- Tacrolimis 0.03%: 1 drop in the left eye, 2 times a day
- Cyclosporine 1%: 1 drop in both eyes, 2 times a day
- Pilocarpine 0.2%: 1 drop in the right eye, 2 times a day
- KCS Solution/NPD: 1 drop in the left eye every other day, 1 drop in the right eye 2 times a day
- Genteal Gel: As needed
Once I learn the routine, keeping track of the number of times each day she gets a drop is not a problem. I mainly get confused in determing if it is an "every" or an "other" day. I used to make a spreadsheet but that got too tedious. Then I tried marking things on a calendar, but frequently I forgot to mark down the days so that plan didn't work too well. So, I came up with something that has been working well for about 4 months now.
I took a regular piece of paper, folded it in half and created three boxes by drawing lines. The first, and largest box, is labeled "NEEDS". The second box is labeled "ONCE" and the third box is labeled "FINISHED". Inside the finished box, I have an area labeled "NOT TOMORROW".
At the beginning of each day, I move all the appropriate drops to the "NEEDS" section. Then as I give her a drop during the day, I either move it to the "ONCE" section or the "FINISHED" section depending on if she gets the drop once or twice a day. If it is an "every other" medicine and it is done for the day, I move it to the "NOT TOMORROW" section. That way I know not to put that eye drop in the "NEEDS" section the next day. Instead, the next morning, I move it to the "FINISHED" section so I will give it to her the next day. It is hard system to explain, but it has worked very well for us so far.
I have also color coded all the drops so I can figure out if they go in the left eye, the right eye or both.
A few people have asked me why Luna is on Tacrolimus & Cyclosporine in her left eye. To be perfectly honest with you I don't know. I asked the eye vet and she gave me a perfectly reasonable answer, however, I can't recall what it is.
On paper, it seems like I am sticking a drop in Luna's eye every hour of the day, and I probably come close to it, but Luna is an absolute trooper about taking her drops. She sees me coming with a bottle of drops and she just sits down and waits for me to plop it in her eye. I think she doesn't mind the drops because ultimately they make her more comfortable. A chronically dry eye is irritating and can become very painful. But the drops keep her eyes moist and make her more comfortable. And if you miss a few drops a day it is amazing how dry her eyes can get. Luna sees the drops as a good thing, not as a bad thing.
Cost wise, the drop regime adds up quickly. The KCS Solution and Tacrolimus are each $48.00 a bottle. The Cyclosporine is $42.00. The cheapest is the Pilocarpine at $22.00 a bottle. Luckily we can get the Genteal over the counter for about $9.00.
But seeing the difference they make in little Luna's eyes makes the cost and the crazy systems all worth it.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Getting the pathology results on Friday helped us enjoy the holiday weekend. Benny started feeling better and was almost back to himself and after just one day of Luna's new eye drop, we started to see an improvement in her eye. Both of those things were very relieving and helped make for a relaxing weekend.
Good news, good friends, family and fun. Those were the ingredients of our much needed and much enjoyed holiday weekend.
