Lot's of new rescues for Polar Pug

For those of you on FB that "like" Polar Pug Rescue & Friends, you probably have seen we have been very busy the last few weeks with pugs!

We got a returned rescue, Lady. I fostered her last summer when we had her. She has chronic UTI / struvite stone issues. We adopted her out fully disclosing it, and her new owners were ready and willing to monitor. But, the guy was one of many that were laid off from the FAA. Right as that happened, Lady developed a UTI and some stones. So, back she came. It was a tragic surrender. The man sobbed when he left her. That always breaks my heart.

You can see her page here: Lady. I was going to foster her this time around, and in fact brought her home for a few days, but another rescue came in that needed me more, so Lady is now at MaryJo's!

The rescue that came in that needed me is named Kobe. He is very unique. I would really appreciate if people (especially rescue people) would visit his page and read about him. Watch the video of him walking. We are seeing the specialist tomorrow. It would be nice to go in with some idea of what may be wrong. Kobe. He is sweet as can be though, and has just been a pleasure to foster. It breaks my heart to watch him struggle to walk.

Then, on top of all this, we took in a 14 week old absolutely adorable pug baby that needed a bad eye removed! His name is Pork Chop. Oh, he is the cutest little brat ever!! Full of piss and vinegar! Pork Chop.

There are more rescues, but these are the medical ones going on the last few weeks.

I hope you get some answers from the specialist, Renee. Was he an owner surrender? Was he always like that?

Porkchop is stinking adorable, and Lady's story is so sad. I feel bad for both her and her owner.

Lady's story really does make me so sad. It is always tough doing a hard surrender. The men usually hold it together, but this guy was beyond upset to have to give Lady back, which just makes me feel even worse. I feel like it is so unfair for Lady too, because when she was originally surrendered to us, it was because her previous owner's were "sick" of her UTI issues and had taken her in to euthanize her. So we found someone that was willing to take care of her needs, and then BAM, the economy takes it away.

Kobe was an owner surrender. He is almost 8 years old. The story we got, which we have found many holes in, is that he just spontaneously started having those walking issues about 4 years ago. The previous owner did say she took him to the vet, did many things, and nothing helped. We have since found that she did take him to the vet, but did not do any of the diagnostics that were recommended. So, essentially, Kobe never really did get any care. On top of the walking issue, he is incredibly overweight. If we could get just 5-6 pounds off him, he could probably walk better. And, he has been in a lot of pain this whole time. We have him on tramadol twice a day, which really, really helps him. He has trouble navigating to the water dish, and consequently, has struvites. Currently, there are at least 8 struvite stones in his bladder.

I wish they had an MRI up here for animals. I think we could learn a lot of Kobe's condition if we did.

Maryjo wrote:I wish they had an MRI up here for animals. I think we could learn a lot of Kobe's condition if we did.

MaryJo, I wish that too. I really do. Then I could have an MRI done on my Ichiro too. It sucks needing medical care that is not available.

Renee wrote:The rescue that came in that needed me is named Kobe. He is very unique. I would really appreciate if people (especially rescue people) would visit his page and read about him. Watch the video of him walking. We are seeing the specialist tomorrow. It would be nice to go in with some idea of what may be wrong. Kobe. He is sweet as can be though, and has just been a pleasure to foster. It breaks my heart to watch him struggle to walk.

It looks to me, and this is just a guess, that he has fused elbow joints in the front. We had a pug puppy named Ebenezer who had that several years ago, Homeward Bound Pug Rescue had a pug named Aiko with it a year or two ago, & I believe that Roxane's Tiny Tim had a similar condition. I know that I've seen one or two other pugs with the same thing as well. Seems to be becoming more common, unfortunately. Hopefully that's not what it is and he can be helped. Please let us know what the vet says & please give him some lovin' from me (Lady & Pork Chop too!).

PugLady3 wrote:

Renee wrote:The rescue that came in that needed me is named Kobe. He is very unique. I would really appreciate if people (especially rescue people) would visit his page and read about him. Watch the video of him walking. We are seeing the specialist tomorrow. It would be nice to go in with some idea of what may be wrong. Kobe. He is sweet as can be though, and has just been a pleasure to foster. It breaks my heart to watch him struggle to walk.

It looks to me, and this is just a guess, that he has fused elbow joints in the front. We had a pug puppy named Ebenezer who had that several years ago, Homeward Bound Pug Rescue had a pug named Aiko with it a year or two ago, & I believe that Roxane's Tiny Tim had a similar condition. I know that I've seen one or two other pugs with the same condition as well. Hopefully that's not what it is and he can be helped. Please let us know what the vet says & please give him some lovin' from me (Lady & Pork Chop too!).

Hmm..Brenda, you could be onto something. I was able to watch the video on a bigger screen, and we had a pug in, Mickey, who had the same thing. It's hard to tell since I know he also has the lp stuff going on.

Wow, you guys HAVE been busy, Renee! Pork Chop's sassy-pants expression in all his photos made me laugh.

Many good thoughts for Lady and Kobe. I'm glad your group is there for both of them.

A busy time for you all - and for many of us involved in rescue, I fear.

Lady is lovely, Pork Chop is just adorable, and Kobe breaks my heart. I'm saying prayers for all of them.

I certainly have noticed how busy you guys are, Renee! Lots of good thoughts that you find homes for all the kids and you can get their issues under control.

As to the MRI, why not suggest to the vet that they negotiate with a human clinic about having animals done pre- and post- opening times? Years ago my vet had an arrangement with a major hospital in Sydney, to bring pets in out-of-hours. They were sedated prior to coming in and he went in with a nurse and they stood by as the radiologists did the proceedure. It worked well until he got his own machine.