Mabel - Running Free At the Bridge - April 28, 2008

As she zipped around in her cart, people marveled at her joie de vive and her snaggle toothed smile. She did not let her cart slow her down and she had no time for pity. She truly lived in the moment. She was all about what she could do, not what she couldn't do.

She showed all of us that you can't keep a good pug down. Anyone who met her (and many who never did) came away with a smile for the "Can Do" pug named Mabel.

Good bye, sweet Mabel.
Blanche

Mabel was a super star in every one�s eyes from being a television star or on the runway at all about pets or just zooming around in her cart. Everyone who met her or heard about her loved her and I will truly miss her company. She had a wonderful personality and some very strange little habits that only she could do and I fell in love with them. Imagine driving in your car and once the turn signal would turn on little Mabel would scream, never knew why nor did the Dunks but this was Mabel.

She was my first foster and it broke my heart to let her go however if every little pug has a tenth of her joy and spirit I will say god bless anyone that has them in their lives. It is truly an experience and I will never look back having her in my life though it was a short time she made a huge impact in my heart and soul. You will never be forgotten little Mabelina, she was such a little princes this is what I would call her at times.
Sigrid

Donations in memory of Mabel:
The Normans
Lesley Jensen & her husband Theo Caldwell
Carol McKenzie
Cynthia Costigane
Larry St. Aubin
Jemma Morrison

It is time to say goodbye to Mabel

Mabel is a hospice pug, there was always a slim hope that she would gain strength, health and live out the remaining years of her life within a forever home. But that is not to be. It was a difficult decision to make by Pugalug Pug Rescue. The drug therapy has not produced the release of the bladder sphincters, as had been the medical plan. Mabel's bladder continues to expand with urine causing a danger of it ruputuring while manually expressing it. There is also the danger of urine backing up into the kidneys.

During the past couple of weeks, Dr. Usher and Dr. McMullen have been removing the urine to give the drugs a chance to do their job. It has been 13 days now and, I'm sorry to say that it is not working.

Therefore, Foster Mom Sigrid, Blanche and I have made the decison to send Mabel to the Bridge. The long term quality of life for Mabel will be: constant Urinary Tract Infections an eventually build up of immunity to the anti-biotics urnine not being release as Nature intended discoloration, sickness and the ever possiblity of a painful death due to urine backup.

That is not the life we want for out little Mabel. Nor she she have to suffer through it.

The life that we did want for Mabel was there, in full bloosom, thanks to the dedication, love and nurturing of her Foster Mom - Sigrid. I cannot thank her enough for what she gave Mabel and the world around her. When the call went out to look after a hospice pug, it was Sigrid, a first time foster volunteer, who said "I will take her into my home and heart"

When the call went out for volunteers at All About Pets - it was Sigird who carried Mabel across 2 large parking lots - so Mabel could educate people on what it is like for a disability pug to scout around in a cart.

People finally understood that a disabled pug does NOT have to be euthanized - but can live an extra few months, a year - several years - bringing laughter to the people she meets.

And it is thanks to Sigrid that this was done. The life of a Foster is not an easy one, but Sigrid's was especially, emotionaly draining. Mabel was her first pug to foster and now she has to ease her suffering - assisting Mabel to pass from this life to the next.

So find it in your heart on Sunday, April 26, to send prayers, good thoughts, a quiet meditiation or a joyous song to both pug and human, Mabel and Sigrid - for the accomplisment that was done and the small miracle of life that we were all able to share.

Did you know?
Mabel's owners owned a pizza shop: Mabel's Gourmet Pizza.
They sold it but it is still going strong:
www.mabelsgourmetpizza.com

And, yes, they did name it after her.

Mabel's History

"We read your write up on the web site. You seemed to have missed the 10 years prior to the last 6 months of Mabels life. We loved and cared for her all that time and she was a very big part of our family. We and our vet worked through the first signs of her problems and we saved for half a year to have her chair made just for her. For 3 years before you met her we walked her and cared for her the way that you have the last 6 months. We took her to every event we could so people could see what a full life that a disabled dog could have. She visited old folks homes and was a big hit in the park. We worked with our vet and spent a great deal of money to keep her as well as we could.

Mabel went on almost every trip with us and attended every family event as part of our family. We tried to put off our move to the UK for as long as we could as we knew that we could not bring her. If we could of we would have but she could not pass the health test to get into the country and we did not feel she would survive the flight. Her failing health was devastating but my husband felt she had a little more time in her as you know how happy and full of life she was.
That's what brought him to contact you. The bond between Ben and Mabel was like no other.

In the end she had another 6 months of life that was full of love and caring and for that I am thankful and happy. Mabel has always been a special girl."

Foster Update April 12

On the positive side, her dental work went very well, the damaged teeth removed and an all around cleanup of the mouth. Her foster mom will be monitoring Mabel closely and will let us know of any new developments. Send good thoughts out to Mabel that she can make a healthy recovery.

Foster Update April 2

Foster Update March 18

She was going to go in for her dental work but Sigird is going to clear the UTI first. So she will be going in on April 8th for blood test and then April 10th for a complete dental.

Foster Update March 1

Well little Mabel has graced with her presence and cart at both Pug Claus and Pugintine, bringing smiles of joy and wonder to the pugaluggers in attendance. There was no stopping this girl from making the rounds. She shines a light wherever she goes and I know that her special person is out there, will see that unique light and offer to adopt her. In the meantime, her foster mom has been working with her health and sends us this report
Larry

Mabel has had several urine infections since she came into my care. In late January I noticed she had developed another infection by the smell of her urine. After bringing a sample to the vet, if was confirmed the infection was back. They provided me with a 14 day treament, however the infection was not cleared after the 14 days.

She is currently on another 14 day medication treatment. Dr. Usher feels this might be an ongoing issue for her. The extraction of her bladder is done on 5 time per day however the infection are still happening. I'm trying to give her a berry supplement during meal time. The supplement is called Berry Balance from Solid Gold and I am hoping this might prevent the infections from coming back. She is still quite attached to me and a joy to have around.

Vet Update, November 19

Vet Update, November 16

I'm excited to try the "proper" way of emptying her bladder, she probably filled 1/2 a cup of urine at the vets after going twice with me an hour prior to the visit. Her bladder has never been fully emptied in a while hence the infection.

She is has no feeling past her shoulders and the vet advised that she walks on all fours at times more on instinct then feeling. Isn't that amazing.

We are doing very well together and she had quite an outing at Petsmart. She still being quite the suck and I'm loving it:)

Foster Update, November 12

Her previous owners squeezed her belly for her to do her business in toilet and that seems to be going well today. We had a little accident in her bed, though I believe that was my fault for not waiting long enough when we were on the toilet. This will be a trial and error. This afternoon she let me know she needed to go my standing beside the toilet. I worked from home today so we will see how the remainder of the week goes.

Introducing Mabel - November 11th.

She is 10 years old and is in a cart as she suffers from Wobblers Syndrome (Spinal weakness resulting in partial paralysis of the hind end). Her owners are having to move out of the country and cannot take Mabel with them. They say she has a great appetite, along with a very positive and loving outlook. They contacted us in the hopes that we could provide a loving home rather than having to put her down.

The call went out to our foster volunteers about our hospice program and how Mabel will need to be in foster care for possibly a long time. Foster Mom Sigrid offered to provide the love and care that Mabel needs. You will be able to follow Mabel's story here so check back from time to time.

The following is some details provided by Blanche our Rescue Coordinator:
She is not entirely incontinent, but because she cannot squat sometimes needs assistance to empty her bladder and bowels --but mostly bladder. She has been in a cart for two years and is used to it and loves to go for walks. She has, according to her owners, very few accidents if taken out regularly and has used diapers in the past, but not recently as they haven't seen the need given her relatively accident free life.

She has had crystals in her urine in the past, but has been okay since being on a prescription diet. She currently only uses her cart for outside walks and seems to be able to drag herself around the house without mishap. She is otherwise happy and healthy.