Archive for November, 2013

Sound Advice?

Tuesday, November 26th, 2013

Thank you all for your positive comments and support! I actually took Sid to a brand vet on Friday and I left with a very good feeling about our visit. The vet said that Sid looked really good, his blood levels were all normal, and also to not worry about the dose of prednisone I have been using to handle Sid’s allergies as it is very low. She does not suspect a dose that low would not have any bad long-term effects, which was a huge relief for me to hear. So Sid’s back on his low dose of pred, he’s been de-coned, and (thank goodness) isn’t scratching his face off anymore.

So, in addition to taking the vet’s advice, I also took the idea that many of you had suggested in the comments and addressed Sid’s baby carrot deficiency with the following:

After the smoke that puffed out from his ears dissipated from the room, I saw the plate – now completely empty – slowly whir to a stop. And then I found Sid passed-out in this position nearby:

It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and he’s already got a case of severe food coma!

 

7 Comments »

Uh oh…

Thursday, November 21st, 2013

As most of you know, Sid’s severe allergies to mother earth make him the ultimate bubble-dog. We’ve tried elimination diets, Atopica, OTC medications (Benadryl, Zyrtec, etc.), (very expensive) skin allergy tests, (also very expensive) allergy shots, t-shirts, medicated shampoos, soothing sprays and lotions, and though all that the one thing that seems to work the best is prednisone (or prednisolone). I know that it’s not ideal to take a steroid long-term (remember CARL and his friends?!), but I also want Sid to have a comfortable life. When he’s been on the prednisone, the dose is very small and he only gets it every other day. It allows him to lead an itch-free existence and he can put the energy he would have expended on scratching to better use (e.g. pulling all his toys out and scattering them over the whole apartment).

First, the good news: Sid’s been off his low every-other-day prenisone routine for almost two months! He’s definitely been on the itchier side but it doesn’t seem to disrupt his normal pug activities (i.e. eating, sleeping, and staring at me until I give him treats).

The bad news: his allergies have started flaring up lately and he has scratched a few raw spots on his (adorable) face. It’s nothing major, I just don’t want him to scratch any more of the raw spots, which has led to the following…

PROGNOSIS: Cone head for the rest of the week. Sorry, little buddy!

 

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Tiny Tongue

Tuesday, November 19th, 2013

Tiny tongue:

 

Tiniest tongue:

7 Comments »

The Whiner

Friday, November 15th, 2013

Sid is going to hate me for posting this, but I think you all need to get the FULL STORY about Sid. At Pug Slope, we strive for HONESTY. Sid’s not always the calm, chilled-out dude he purports to be.

So, today I present another side of Sid. A side that makes an appearance every day precisely at noon – when I prepare his favorite lunchtime treat.

6 Comments »

Winter Weather

Tuesday, November 12th, 2013

Thank you all for your concerns regarding Sid and his recent baby carrot deficiency. Lucky for him the grocery store was open and we restocked our B.C. supply with haste. Sid was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I responded to his demands.

Speaking of surprise, both of us were stupefied by the sudden arrival of a certain fluffy, white, cold visitor.

Yep. Just when we got our masthead all up to speed with an Autumn theme, in rolls the blizzard. Well, not quite a blizzard like the one back in 2010, but it was enough to get poor Sid shivering!

I guess his t-shirt alone wasn’t cutting it. Time to break out the fleece!

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DOES. NOT. COMPUTE.

Friday, November 8th, 2013

Today my dad said something that my little pug brain could not understand. I tried my usual technique of tilting my cranium to the left…

And then flopping it over to the right.

I then repeated the steps a few more times, but I still could not process what he meant when he said, “We need to buy more baby carrots because we ran out.”

Um, what does that mean exactly?

Or do I not want to know?

6 Comments »

Les Feuilles Mortes

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

The leaves have finally started changing color in a major way here in Chicago so I figured it was about time for a new seasonally-appropriate masthead as you loyal Pug Slopers have come to expect.

I was finally able to appease Sid after his “Poop Strike” on Halloween, but it took a large quantity of his favorite treats. We’re talking a steady flow of apple chunks, peanut butter, baby carrots, and venison jerky. I think I finally got him back on my side (for how long, I do not know).

We ventured out to the park for Sid’s early morning stroll and snapped a few photos while we were there. The colors were amazing.

Sid loved rummaging through the fallen leaves. I suppose they either smelled really interesting or he thought they might be hiding some giant stockpile of treats underneath.

So what do you think of the new masthead?

7 Comments »