360 pugs rescued since October, 2005
As much as we all thought Tawnie would outlive us with all the surgeries and infections she contracted we did not anticipate the infections would reach her kidneys. In June Tawnie was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and as much as the VEC tried to bring her numbers back to a functional level she was too far gone. Tawnie was put to rest on July 7th at home with her loving foster mom by her side. Tawnie was one of a kind and she will be missed by many. She had too many outstanding characteristics and kept her foster mom on her toes and provided so much laughter.
Tawnie has been in my care now for a little over two years and she's as spunky as ever. She has everyone wrapped around her finger when they meet her. She automatically flips on her back and begs for tummy rubs. Everyone fusses over her in the middle of the sidewalk, in stores, and pretty much everywhere. She has come a long way from when she first came into rescue when she wanted to bite everyone; now she allows everyone to love her. Chasing busses, trucks, bikes, and skateboards is still one of her favourite activities. Tawnie is still not a great fan of dogs, but her canine bestie is a Pressa Canario, who she tolerates, and they make the oddest pair. To this day she still chases after Buffy the resident cat but they have shared the couch on several occasions lately. I could tell you many stories about her: she is constantly entertaining with her sharpest and stubbornness and determination.
On the medical front we continue to struggle. She has another bacterial infection. Her medication, which she has been on for 18 months, needs to be specially ordered. She also has a fairly big bladder stone again and we need to flush it out.
Overall Tawnie is doing very well. We routinely go to the VEC for cultures and xrays to ensure she is free from infection and bladder stones. It seems our little chug is going through the alphabet on urinary tract infections. A couple of weeks ago we discovered that she has klebsiella again, which can only be treated with an antibiotic via injections. Needless to say foster mom isn't very happy administering these shots. Hopefully one of these days she will be infection free. Tawnie has been in our care for 20 months now and has spent probably 5 of those months without any type of antibiotics. However, to see her you would never know it. She is feisty and has energy to burn. Foster mom and Tawnie go on 5-8 km walks and she keeps up with no issues. With the arrival of cold weather Tawnie has acquired some PJs and a supply of sweaters. Her chihuahua side surely shows itself in the winter, even indoors. Foster mom has discovered it's quite fun dressing up a girl.
Tawnie had an appointment last week with Dr. Mason at the VEC and she has not passed the stones. She will go on Friday to recheck any infection and he will anaesthetize her and flush out her bladder. He does not want to operate on her.
Dr. Mason believes she is genetically predisposed to stones and nothing we have done has fixed that and there isn't anything else we can do. This is why the board has decided to keep her in foster care. Tawnie will need to have very regular ultrasounds to check for stones, get her bladder flushed out periodically and likely will be on antibiotics for life. Considering her age and the amount of time and funds we have invested in this little girl it makes sense to have the rescue continue her care.
Tawnie returned to the VEC a couple of weeks ago to ensure she was still infection free. The bad news is that she has another type of UTI and she has developed two stones in her bladder. The internal specialist is hoping the stones will pass on their own, however, she may need surgery once again. She is currently on an antibiotic for the next month twice a day and will stay on this for the rest of her life once a day. We will be returning to the VEC in a month for an ultrasound and urine culture. This poor little girl is a medical mystery to many and we are hoping she will eventually be infection/stone free.
Tawnie got her Ecoli checkup at the VEC and after almost 6 months of medication she is now clear! The vet also found that she had klebsiella, but after getting antibiotics injections 3 times a day for 2 weeks, that infection is cleared. Another followup is scheduled to ensure that no other infections are present, and she also will have an appointment with the eye doctor. In the meantime, she is as feisty and cute as ever!
Overall, Tawnie is doing well. We still don't have a complete picture regarding her E. Coli infection, but Dr. Mason at the VEC will give us the full prognosis on March 8th. He should also be able to give us some idea as to when this sassy little girl will be ready for adoption. Yay!!
Personality-wise, Tawnie is just full of entertainment - from attacking the vacuum (for reasons known only to her) to becoming an adorable snuggle bug at bed time. She has finally determined that the resident cat is indeed feline (or at least non-pug), and a spunky one at that! It is best that her forever home be free of frisky or young members of said species. They are far too fun to chase and, as her foster mom, I would be concerned for the cat should Tawnie catch it, especially if left alone. That said, Tawnie is very bright and listens quite well. Thus, if you tell her "stop" or "no" she will do it immediately.
We have had so much fun sharing out home with this sweet and spicy girl. There's no doubt that Tawnie will bring much joy and laughter to her forever home. They will be a lucky family indeed.
Since the last update, life has been pretty uneventful for Tawnie with the exception of her mysterious E. Coli infection that she continues to fight. As mentioned in the last update, Tawnie was given antibiotics, but they needed to do their thing before any further testing or vetting could be done. The other day, Tawnie's ultrasound was completed and Dr. Mason feels that the infection is still present. From the looks of the ultrasound, one or more of her kidney stones were embedded in her kidney wall and thus not removable. It's possible that these stones may be related to her ongoing E. Coli infection. Cultures will be taken in mid-January once Tawnie has completed her antibiotics. In the meantime, Tawnie uses the pee pads when needed. She still has some accidents when sleeping on the couch, but it's much less than when she arrived. However, she has no issues sleep through the night and can easily go 7 hours without needing to pee.
Although the E. Coli infection is still present, we decided to go ahead with Tawnie's dental. Given that state of her teeth, it's possible that they too play a role in the E. Coli battle and by removing the infected teeth, we might be able to get a handle on this infection. Prior to the dental, Tawnie was given additional antibiotics to ensure her oral sutures would heal properly and no other infections would develop. The dental was performed on Dec 20 and poor Tawnie's mouth was not a pretty site. It was quite the challenge to remove the necessary teeth - two were impacted, and the rest were riddled with decay. In the end, Tawnie was left with 7 teeth. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper when her foster mom picked her up the following day. Thankfully, with some pain meds and a little TLC, Tawnie recovered nicely and is back to her old self.
Prior to her dental, Tawnie and her foster brother spent 3 days with Blanche and her fur gang. She was a bit unsettled at first, looking for her foster mom, but quickly adapted and went back to her usual sassy self, bossing all the boys around.
Overall, Tawnie is a very smart little girl and dazzles anyone she meets with her constant head tilts. She is very attentive to whomever is speaking to her, but is still hesitant about being picked up by anyone other than her person. Tawnie loves her walks though and is such a busy body, walking a mile a minute while checking out anything and everything. She still wants to chase buses or anything faster than her, but those behaviours can be resolved with some training. Her excitement when meeting people on the street has changed over these past several months. The hesitancy that she had when she first arrived has become a reaction of pure joy upon meeting someone. She will gladly come up to a stranger for some love, but it's not long before she's off to the next interesting thing.
Once Tawnie receives the "all clear" from her vets, she will be posted for adoption. We will know more following her upcoming ultrasound. Be sure to watch for her next update for more information.
Poor Tawnie continues to be plagued by medical troubles. It turns out that she wasn't finished battling with that E. Coli infection and we currently have her on a 3 month prescription of Nitrofurantoin. Dr. Mason would like to see her in 5 weeks time for another ultrasound and then once more about a week after her medication is over. He is still unsure if she will be will have to take a low dosage of medication for the remainder of her life. However, a urine test should be done twice a year going forward.
Tawnie does have her dental booked for December 11th at the VEC. Her regular vet did not feel comfortable performing her anesthesia themselves due to the complications with her 1st operation. That said, we are always hopeful that there will be minimal, if any, complications with future surgeries.
Personality wise, Tawnie makes up for her ongoing health issues by having more than enough spunk, smarts and sass. She certainly has made herself quite at home with us, and the more pillows under her the better. She has now become a dog that sleeps in the human bed which has always been a no-no in this house because the bed is too high. But Tawnie has figured out how to jump on the ottoman in front of the bed and jump over the railing. There's no stopping her either. Nothing will get in the way of what she wants, she's too clever! Tawnie will chase anything from birds, squirrels, bikes, trucks, buses, people running...basically anything that is faster than her. You need to be very diligent when walking with her. A 6-ft nylon leash (or similar) is a must. Definitely no flexi-leashes!
Tawnie is learning her manners though and has become less hesitant when people approach her. Although she still doesn't enjoy being overly loved on by others, many in the neighborhood have noticed a change in her personality compared to when she first arrived. With time, her manners may continue to improve as she begins to feel better health-wise and gains confidence in herself and her surroundings overall.
We'll be sure to keep everyone in the loop as Tawnie continues her many adventures in foster care. We appreciate any and all positive thoughts for this little girl as we monitor her infection and prepare for her dental in the coming weeks.
Tawnie has settled in and has overcome quite a challenge with 3 major operations under her belt. We still are watching Tawnie under the care of the VEC team to ensure that she is clear of any infections. We just finished our battle with an ecoli infection and she still has some discharge. We have a follow-up appointment soon to make sure everything is healing normally. Unfortunately, Tawnie isn't quite finished in the surgery department just yet. In the next couple of months, we will schedule her in at the VEC for a major dental. We'll be sure to keep everyone updated as we go.
Outside of the various surgeries, we've been learning all kinda of things about Miss Tawnie. For instance, we now know that she is not the best car companion, preferring to scream instead of enjoying the ride. We're working on that though! We have spent several nights at my nephew's baseball games these past weeks and discovered just how charming Tawnie can be with new people. She also isn't shy about putting her "sassy pants" on and barking to let me know that she's become bored. Overall, Tawnie is not a dog that is over excited by people's attention. She will come say hello, but then walks away, quickly finding something else to do - something that usually involves "her" human. She is most definitely a velcro pug!
Be sure to watch for next months update for more information on Tawnie's medical progress as well as more amusing antics!
Tawnie has now been with us a little over a month. She is adapting well in her foster home with the resident cat and fellow pug, alhough I don't think she has figured what a cat is and what it does. Tawnie's personality is "sassy" and quite inquisitive. When you speak to her, she gives you her full attention with constant head tilts. Nothing gets past her and she has figured out ways of reaching places that has the resident pug baffled. For instance, Tawnie has become quite good at getting on the piano to reach the cat food.
This past weekend, we were taking care of a partially blind and deaf pug and Tawnie quickly showed her mothering side and helped this little guy in anyway that she could. She was especially attentive while on walks and would direct him on which way to go and would stop when he did to ensure that he was ok. Her interaction with him amazed me. She is one smart, caring girl.
Medically, Tawnie has a few hurdles to overcome. A week ago, she successfully jumped the first one when she had surgery to remove a mass from her adrenaline gland. There were a few minor hiccups, but she is recovery well and the mass came back benigned. Tawnie's medical team feels that this mass is the cause of her bladder/kidney issues. Now that it's removed, they can proceed in removing the enormous bladder stone and one kidney stone that is causing some blockage. She will be going in this week for those procedures. Please send good thoughts as Tawnie jumps this next hurdle and we will give everyone another update after this surgery.
Welcome Tawnie -- an almost 9 year old Pug/Chihuahua mix and one adorable little lady! Although Tawnie has only been with us for a week, she has fully taken over the couch and seems quite pleased with this decision. She doesn't mind when her foster brother joins her either. Tawnie is a dog that likes a quiet environment and will bark to make sure you understand that she does not appreciate such a loud approach. Tawnie can be shy with new people. When on walks, she will timidly approach people on the street and sit to get a pat if she likes them. Tawnie is also an independent dog and does not follow you around the house, which is something to get used to with having my own pug shadow and all; however her love for food is definitely "pug-like" and she thoroughly enjoys her meals.
Tawnie and I had a vet visit recently and this little girl has a few significant issues that we need to resolve. The issue with the clearest solution is her extremely large bladder stone (the largest one that the vet has ever seen) as well as what appear to be kidney stones. I'm truly amazed at how happy-go-lucky Tawnie continues to be as she undoubtedly has quite a bit of discomfort and pain. We've sent some of her blood off for testing as well as an urinalysis. Once we have the results back, we'll have a better picture of how to proceed. Obviously surgery will be needed, but these results will help the vet to create a better pre and post-op plan. Tawnie has also had some episodes that are similar to focal seizures, but are, as yet, undiagnosed. Thus, she will be heading to the Veterinary Emergency Clinic to see the neurologist and the internal medicine specialist for further diagnostics. Please keep this little sweetheart in your thoughts going forward and we will keep you updated as we find out more information.
