The Tail of Sir's Dental....

Today's vet visit was one that we left both feeling happy and wanting to go on a headhunt.

Stinky Sir the ancient Chi got to go in for a dental today. He lost 6 of his 8 teeth, but overall did well. He's home, getting LOTS of extra cuddles and enjoying a dinner of pureed Edgar rice.

If you just want the happy part, stop here.
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We had x-rays done that revealed some really shocking things about Sir, and his history. The last set of x-rays we had done revealed Sir's formerly broken jaw and the missing part of his lower jaw bone. Those were taken with him laying on his back.

This set were taken laying on his side, and we found that he's lost quite a bit more jawbone over the two years since his last set of films. A portion of his remaining jaw may need to be removed if the bone doesn't fill back in a bit.

That wasn't the most ?!?!! worthy part of the film. At some point before he came to live with us Sir suffered a severely fractured skull (the fractures appear on both sides of his head, clustered on the side of his skull with extension to the ocular socket on one side), separation of his spinal column just below his skull and a break in his neck at the C6 and C7 vertebrae, resulting in those vertebrae fusing together. Everything is long since healed, except the separation, and none of it slows him down. We'll have to be careful of his jaw and the spinal separation though... Both could break easily and in a very bad way.

The worst part? Someone had to have done it to him somehow, intentionally or through negligence. The skull fractures are the result of pressure being applied to both sides of the skull. Being hit by a car in a manner that would have created those injures would have killed him. It makes me wish I knew who his previous owners were so I could..... discuss....... the issue with them.

Our vet's comment? "I really don't see how he's alive and thriving... but he's one of your dogs, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

Mr. Sir... you may have had a hard life, but we hope we're making up for it now

Roses for Rescue

Our medical fund is almost completely depleted after a rough end to 2014 and a rough beginning to 2015. 

At the end of 2014 we had two mass removals on two of our younger senior pugs. 

Then to begin 2015 we had two of our very old Chihuahuas hospitalized. Mr. Tibbs was hospitalized over New Years, and passed away on the 2nd of January. Frances was hospitalized the 16th of January and passed away the next day.

 Going into the end of January we are now looking at two "must get done" dentals for two of our other very old Chihuahuas and a mass removal on one of our relatively young mixed breeds.

And so, as we're all coming up to Valentine's day, we invite you to join Pug Hollow Sanctuary for a fun crafting afternoon. Learn to make beautiful paper roses that you can keep or give to someone special, and help us put some coins back in the puggy bank!

Click on the flyer to register via pay-pal, or email us with the color rose you would like to make, and pay at the door.  Seats are limited to 18 attendees so register quickly! They're filling up fast!

Frances

Frances left us today.

She was scheduled to be spayed on Wednesday but got sick and started not wanting to eat. Thursday we made an emergency vet visit with her because her abdomen was distended. Friday we diagnosed a uterine infection causing fluid build up in her abdomen and lungs, and a spay was scheduled for Monday to give us time to get some antibiotics in her before subjecting her to the stress of a surgery. 
Friday night we were back at the vet again after hours. Her cervix had closed and her condition had gotten exponentially worse.  We hospitalized her with plans to do surgery Saturday if she made it through the night..

She made it through the night but passed on before we could get her to surgery.

We deal with dogs crossing the bridge on a regular basis as a hospice, but ones like Francie and Tibbs are especially hard. There's always the feeling that, if you had caught it sooner, or if you had treated it more aggressively, you could have changed the outcome.  We act on the best judgement we can make but that doesn't preclude second guessing ourselves.


We will miss Francie-pants light in our lives, but we rejoice that she's free of pain and illness now.

We loved you Frances. Rest well.

The Pug Hollow Beyond the Bridge

Past the Rainbow Bridge, way down at the end of Wrinkle Road, in the Snoring Hills near Curlytail Creek, lies a ranch called Pug Hollow. When you cross the gate, follow the lane on down through the rolling green hills and groves of trees until you see the house. It's a sprawling white house with a wrap-around porch and a big old tree shading the front steps.

The temperature is always perfect, and the door is always open (as evidenced by the pugs and other dogs going in and out and in and out and...). We have sun, rain, snow or fog depending on how we feel that day, but it's never muddy and there aren't any fleas, ticks or mosquitoes around. The house is self cleaning; the beds infinitely expandable and there's always food in the cupboard and biscuits in the cookie jar. (Just remember, everyone gets 2!)

Watch before you sit down or take a step, all our dogs are as spry and healthy as a dog should be and you never know where one might turn up. Especially if you have something tasty in hand.

Now don't think that Pug Hollow is the only house you can find at the end of Snoring Road. There are lots of folk around here. Depending on the time of day and the way we feel, we're within walking distance of them all... or we're not as the case may be.

So build yourself a house in the Wrinkle Hills and join the rest of us who intend to retire to Pug Hollow.

picture by Joel Abroad. taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/40295335@N00/8710357251/

Mr. Tibbs "aka Admiral Tibbitz" 1999-2015

We let Tibbs go today. He travels on across the Bridge with all the love we could wrap around him, to be met by Edgar and the rest of the Horde who have gone on before. They'll take him to the Hollow beyond the Bridge and we'll join him there when our own journey is done.

He rallied yesterday with aggressive fluid therapy and antibiotics, but his kidneys continued to fail.

This morning his creatinine was pushing the upper limits of the reference range, his BUN was so high that the vet's equipment could no longer read the value and his phosphorus was over three times the normal. His white blood cell count had climbed as well from 30,000 to over 45,000 (Normal upper level is around 15,000).  It was obvious when we visited him that he was growing weaker, and that without the narcotics he would be in great pain. It was obviously time to let him go, and we held him while he went.

We love you, you crusty old Chihuahua. The house is emptier without you.

To those who donated to his vet care, we give our deepest thanks. Your help meant that the only thing left to cover was the cost of helping him across the bridge and his cremation.

Mr. Tibbs "aka Admiral Tibbitz" 1999-2015