Pugwarts
So, Carls Jr. (son of evil wartlord Carl) has been opening up new wart franchises all over Sid’s face and inside his mouth. I’m sure you’ve noticed them in some of the photos from our trip – they’re huge. Just in the past week, about five more began sprouting on the outside of his muzzle, one has begun growing underneath his right eye, and we discovered a few big ones on the roof of his mouth, back near his esophagus. Like, right in his throat. They all seem determined to eventually connect with the Carls Jr. flagship location on his chin, turning Sid into one giant wart. Sigh.
It’s the esophagus ones that are freaking us out the most – Sid’s breathing has been a little wheezy lately, and he’s been extra drooly – so we’ve scheduled a teeth cleaning for Sid on Monday. While he’s under anesthesia, our vet is going to remove the majority of the Carls Jr. locations. But, what we’ve learned over the past few months is that the Carl family is much, much stronger than Sid’s prednisone-addled immune system. These warts aren’t gonna be waving a white flag anytime soon.
We have to fight the underlying problem of his weakened immune system in order to banish these warts for good. He’s on the prednisone to manage his epic allergies (if it’s a carbon-based compound, he’s allergic to it). The prednisone basically stops his immune system from going haywire whenever Sid comes in contact with an allergen (basically every moment of his existence). But, the prednisone is also stopping his immune system from fighting back against the papilloma virus. So, when we say goodbye to the warts, we’ll also have to say goodbye to the one thing that’s guaranteed to tame Sid’s crazy allergies. (Atopica was a great alternative to prednisone for awhile, but, after a month or two of amazing success, he began vomiting whenever he took it. Of course.)
So, after Monday’s teeth-cleaning-wart-excision-bonanza, the next step is to go back to the dermatologist, get a skin allergy test done (more accurate than the blood tests, apparently), and start him on allergy shots. I’ve read that 65-85% of dogs respond well to allergy shots. A lot of people would consider those odds to be good, or at least “okay,” but considering Sid’s luck, that doesn’t make us feel very hopeful about going down this route. It is what it is, though. Right? And who knows, maybe our little guy will surprise us this time around.
But, in the meantime, Sid could use a little juju for Monday’s procedure. He’s gone under anesthesia for a teeth cleaning once before and he did fine, but that doesn’t stop us from being a nervous wreck, especially since he’s going to have all of these Carl’s Jr. locations removed from his face (and tongue!) (and eye!) (and throat!!) at the same time. Blergh. Google has only increased our anxiety levels, so any positive stories that you can share of pugs undergoing anesthesia, wart removals, and/or allergy shots in the comments section would be much appreciated…
