Puppy Taz Ain't Happy...
and when Puppy Taz ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
Last Saturday, Lil Taz and I took Puppy Taz to the vet. For those of you that don't know, Puppy Taz is a Pug. Pugs are cool little dogs, fun, fiesty, smart and can hold a grudge for days. Back to the vet visit. As you can see in the pic Puppy Taz is quite plump, matter o'fact she is 29#s plump. The vet says that for her build she should weight approx. 23#s so guess who has been put on a major diet...Ms. Plump Puppy Taz. and she ain't one bit happy about it. She fusses because she's not been getting any table scraps (I know we shouldn't have started it but we did) She is quite vocal about it. She 'talks'. It's like a whine/bark/cry thing that we call talking. She's been on Iam's Weight Control for a year but we've been giving her doggie treats like Scooby Snacks for good behavior and for doing her doggie biz outside but no more! From now on she gets healthy treats like baby carrots, raw green beans and rice cake bits (which she likes). She also scratches her dog bowl now because her rations have been cut down, per vet's orders. The problem with that, other than the sound of the constant scratching drives us crazy, is that her food bowl and water bowl set down in a wooden box type thing and her water ends up sloshing all over the tile floor in the kitchen. Water + tile floor = busted ass for whoever walks into the kitchen. I'm getting that problem taken care of Saturday. I'm heading to Old Navy to buy a couple of pairs of shorts for me (YAY!) and while I'm there I'm going to pick up a cute doggie placemat for her and 2 doggie bowls. I'll have to get a pic of her new dining spread once it's all set up fo'sho :o)
#1 problem was weight...we go back in a month to see how she's doing with that
#2 problem was that she has extremely small nostrils
#3 problem she may have an elongated soft palate. This one happens a lot in short muzzled dogs and she has the symptoms. I don't know how many times I've called the emergency vet in a panic because she's gone into one of her 'wharfing' fits.
Elongated soft palates are the most common airway obstruction in Pugs. The soft palate is an extention of the hard palate wich forms the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is supposed to act as a mobile flap to prevent food and water entering the nasal passages during swallowing. An elongated soft palate hangs in front of the airway or falls into the larynx during inhalation.
Affected Pugs will breathe rather noisely when exited. Pugs with elongated soft palates often sound like someone slurping the last of their soda throug a straw. They frequently gag in an attempt to clear their airway, bringing up foamy saliva while eating, drinking, or excited. Dogs with elongated soft palates may have "reverse sneeze" attacks where they appear to be in a great deal of distress caught in a spasm of breathing very rapidly and noisily during inhalation. A Pug can often be broken out of a "reverse sneeze" attack by rubbing its throat or blowing sharply on the nose to cause it to swallow and displace the soft palate. The harder the affected Pug breathes, the more turbulence causes the palate to swell and elongate even more over time.
Problems #2 & #3 can be corrected by surgery and UT Vet Hospital isn't too far from us, if we have to go that route. We're hoping that getting some of her tonnage off will help some of her problems if not...it's off to the bank we go for a loan because we're not going to stand by and watch her fight to breathe when we can do something about it. We can literally hear her breathing in the next room, she is that loud...and snoring...maaaaaan she can rock the house.
Speaking of surgery, you know what our vet told us? I just want to throttle people sometimes. Dr. S told us that some pug owners refuse to have their pugs nostrils opened up because it leaves a "small, pink scar". OMGosh! People are so freakin' vain even when it comes to their pets. I swear someone should staple those pug owners' noses shut....or maybe I should just send Ethel over and have her do the pillow thing.
