Sunday, August 19, 2012

For the love of Brando: or Heartworm Sucks



We were so sad to hear that one of our pug buddies, Brando, in Tennessee was just diagnosed with Heartworm. The saddest part  is that Heartworm infections are completely preventable!  

Brando was recently rescued from a terrible situation.  His vet sees signs that he was confined to a crate most of the time, resulting in serious walking difficulties.    Most likely, he was used for breeding and otherwise ignored.    Shortly after finding a loving home, Brando began to show signs of illness.   Among other problems, the vet discovered a Heartworm infestation.

Brando will need medication to kill both adult worms, as well as larvae in his bloodstream.   Stress on a dog's heart from the dying adult worms during treatment can be dangerous and even fatal.   To prevent that, he'll need to be on crate rest for several weeks.    While this infection IS curable,  it also never had to happen.

According to the American Heartworm Association, dogs is every US state have been diagnosed.  While the highest infection rate (45%) occurs in states that are within 150 miles of the Atlantic or Gulf coasts, or along the Mississippi River,  local factors can cause increased incidence in inland states.  Since Heartworm is transmitted via infected mosquitoes, you can bet that if your area has a high concentration of mosquitoes, Heartworm is a problem.  Click here for a map of US Heartworm incidence.  

Monthly treatment to prevent Heartworm can cost as little as $15 per month for your dog.    But the medications, testing and vet care needed to treat the infection can add up to as much as $1000, depending on the severity of the disease, according to webMD.  

Along with consistently administering monthly Heartworm preventatives,  pay attention to mosquito control in areas where your dogs spend time outdoors.   Less mosquitoes means less chance of exposure to Heartworm larvae.   Although most dogs do have some level of larvae,  regular use of preventative kills them before they can grow to full adult size (up to 12 inches for females) and cause damage to the heart.

Along will all our pug friends,  we are hoping that Brando has a smooth and full recovery.    A Chip-in has been posted for anyone who cares to donate some treat money towards his care.   But most important,  we hope you learned a little bit about Heartworm, and how to keep your own dogs safe and healthy.

Love,

Gen & the Foo










Friday, June 15, 2012

Waiting for the Party Bus!!

Tonite is a big party in blogville....it the First Ever Sunflower Sister & Fire Hydrant Club MIXER!!  All in honor of our friend Hank over at I Tell Ya What.   It's in honor of his trip over the Rainbow Bridge.

So were getting ready to meet the party bus......


In honor of Hank, the gals decided to crack open a cold one, 
instead of their favorite Sunflower Margaritas...



Can't wait for the party bus to get here.....

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Chicago MeetUp, or, The One Where They Meet Nattie & Klausie

Something very exciting happened today!!
Dad went off to play golf......well, that's not so exciting. He always does that if there is no snow.

Mom loaded us into the care - and not to go to the vet.   It was time for some pug socialization!  Finally. there were no conflicts, all the stars aligned.....and we were on our way to MeetUp.


See how excited we are to be going on a ride?
Mom drove us into the big city to go meet some fellow flat faces.
When we got there, it was already a mad house.
Curly tails everywhere!!
And this here is Mr.Big.
He's the brains behind the meetup location, Chicago Party Animals.

Today's meetup was also a fundraiser for NIPRA
that's where the Foo got rescued from.
This is Miss Aimee giving Foo a massage.
Like a true Diva*, Foo just ate up the attention and pampering.    Miss Aimee noticed that Foo's front paws were pretty tight,  probably from her bum back paws.  She got some of that arthritis in her hips, you know.


Mean while,    I (Gen) ran around like a maniac. Much but sniffing ensured.   
A deuce *may* have been dropped.
And then,  two very special pugs came in.   It was Nattie & Klausie!!!!
That's their mom, Mariel loving on Nattie, and some other guy is his 4th of July costume. 
Seriously - it was nuts how many pugs were there!!
Can you see any pugs with colorful bandanas?
Those guys are looking for some forever homes.  
Foo tried to tell them what to do so they could find their new families like she did.

Oh, and there we all are:   That's Gen in the blue,  me  in the orange,  
Klausie  is next to me, and Nattie is squeezed somewhere in there next to her mom.
ANd then, we left the way we came.....in our new "JackWagon"!!

There is so much more to tell, and more pictures to share.......but we are pooped!
See:


MeetUp Part II next time.

*Diva: a polite term used instead of the more derogatory "slut".   You know who you are.









Wednesday, February 29, 2012