Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Caption This #271

Looking forward to your captions in the comments.

Monday, February 18, 2013

One pug’s trash is another cat’s treasure

Remember the stroller we got for Sol that she ended up hating? We still have it and since none of the pugs love it it is parked out of the way in a room in the house. Before I leave for work each day, I always say goodbye to the cat. The other day, I could not find Cupid, so I set about the house to find her. I finally found her tucked away in the stroller purring up a storm.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Flashback Friday

Benjamin hanging out on the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD in April of 2003.

It was chillier than we expected that day, so we bought the boys toddler t-shirts from one of the shops on the boardwalk. Benjamin's was a little muscle tee that he loved! Henry hated his shirt because it had sleeves. He was willing to brave the elements rather than wear his shirt.

It was super windy that day and I will never forget chasing our lunch down the boardwalk with the pugs. We had ordered a pizza from the Dough Roller and were eating on a bench on the boardwalk (since dogs aren't allowed in the restaurant) when a huge gust of wind swept our pizza box down the boardwalk. The boys knew that pizza crusts were in their future so they happily chased that pizza box down with me. Luckily, the wind just swept the box and didn't topple it so when we caught up with our lunch it was in one piece.

I won't venture to guess how many miles we walked that day, but I remember we walked a lot. The boys kept up like it was nothing. When we hit the car and started the drive back home there was nothing but snores.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Gotcha Day Cupid!

Thirteen years ago, we sprung Cupid from the pound! She was 2 at the time, so today we are celebrating her 15th birthday. That is 105 in human years. Man, someone needs to get her on the Smuckers jar!

Happy Birthday Cupid!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Arachnoid Cyst

Benjamin's CT Scan last week revealed some interesting results. The CT Scan showed that Benjamin's spine and discs are in great shape, however, he has an intradural arachnoid cyst. I had never heard of an arachnoid cyst and the specialist informed me that it is actually a pretty rare condition. In the 13 years that our specialist has been practicing, she has seen this condition in less than 10 cases.

It's my understanding that arachnoid cysts are also hereditary. There is a good chance that Benny has had this condition since he was a puppy. It was probably so small at that time that it did not cause him any discomfort. Now that the cyst has grown in size, it is putting pressure on his spine and causing him a lot of pain.

Surgically removing the cyst is a possibility, but not our best option. The specialist informed us that arachnoid cysts are very slow growers. However, removing it surgically causes its growth rate to drastically increase. So, in the short term, surgery is a great option, but it is not the best in the long term.

Right now, Benny is on a course of steroids to help with the inflammation caused by the cyst. Hopefully, that will help him feel better and increase his mobility. However, staying on steroids is not a viable option either. So we need to figure out the smallest dose that keeps his inflammation to a minimum and most likely cycle him on and off that. This treatment with require a lot of trial and error to get the right dosage.

Right now, the first round of steroids has Benny feeling better. He is walking much better and is back to lifting his leg when he pees which is a great sign! Benny not lifting his leg to pee was definitely something that raised a red flag for us. The only thing that would be more out of the ordinary for him is not eating. And now that he has been on steroids for a few days his appetite is stronger than ever!

The other piece of news that has me very concerned is that a chest x-ray revealed that Benjamin has a collapsed trachea. When I spoke to the specialist she described it as more of a "narrowing", but when I read collapsed trachea on his diagnosis sheet I almost hit the floor. I learned all I need to know about collapsed tracheas from Sol and I can't imagine going through that again.

Right now we are adopting a wait and see approach to see how Benny responds to the steroids. I will keep you updated as we know more.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Caption This #270

Looking forward to your captions in the comments.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Almost Scared to Death

In addition to pug sitting almost every day, Grammy has been hard at work writing a book. The book is called Almost Scared to Death and it was just released last week. We ordered our copy and are anxiously awaiting its delivery.

While we haven't read the book yet, we are pretty sure it details Grammy's life experiences. And while I'm not 100% sure, I don't think the pugs make any guest appearances. It may be pugless but I am sure it is still interesting. If you are interested, you can order a copy of the book on Amazon.

Grammy also did the artwork for the book's cover. Grammy is way bigger than a one hit wonder. She is an awesome writer, a wonderful artist, a terrific mother and a super pug sitting Grammy.