• Mike A Stead
• Mathew

What a special boy Billy is. He's eager and playful, snuggly and inquisitive - everything a pug should be. Winter certainly isn't his favourite, and while foster brother Jackson is pawing at the door wanting to get out to any snow we get this winter, Billy plays dead and has to be picked up and taken outside. He's happy about getting his coat on and going for a walk, but if his paw should step on salt, he drops immediately and whines until the salt is removed. Good thing this hasn't been a bad winter.

His other likes are baiting foster brother by grabbing his toys, chewing his face, or just getting in his way. But that doesn't mean humans don't get his attention. He must be close to somebody.

Billy has been able to add some much needed pounds and is about right now. He saw the surgeon in January and as we suspected he will be needing surgery on both his back legs. At the same time they're going to take care of his elongated palate. Surgery is scheduled for February 23rd. Poor boy - he'll be sore at both ends. So several weeks of crate rest and then limited activity for many more weeks. It will be months before this little guy is ready to adopt.

It's a good thing Billy takes his medicine with no problem, because as soon as we found out his pneumonia was cleared up, the vet discovered he had Giardia. We will just be starting the second course of medication to clear up this intestinal bug. While at the vet Billy had x-rays taken of his back end as he is distinctly hunched and bowlegged. She suggested we take the x-rays for a consult to an orthopaedic vet. He likely has to have surgery on both knees. So even more medication for him. He'll be checked out in the New Year for this.

But on the good side, Billy has gained weight, and is generally a perky, happy, playful little guy. Billy plays with himself in the mirror, and initiates a tussle with his foster brother, who he absolutely loves. Billy follows Jackson around - that is when he's not following me around. Billy is an ultimate Velcro pug. He's also a weather wimp. This cold weather and ice just isn't his idea of a good time. While Jackson bounded out the door happily chasing a snowball, Billy rolled on his back feigning death to avoid going outside. He got a bit of salt between his pads on an enforced walk and threw himself to the ground immediately, requiring this fiendish situation to be remedied before taking another reluctant step.

This delight of a 2-year old pug will make a wonderful addition to a family with an existing dog willing to play and humans happy to have an exicted, inquisitive shadow.

What a difference a few days can make. When this little monkey -- have no fear we've found him a much more appropriate name -- first came into rescue he had pneumonia and was facing euthanasia if Pugalug wasn't able to take him. The long ride from Kingston took such a toll on his already depleted system that he went straight to the VEC for two nights on oxygen and IV. I dreaded each phone call and e-mail from Pugalug wondering if he hadn't made it. Still subdued and wobbly when we drove him home, I could feel his rattling chest struggling for each breath. I'd never seen a pug's ribs sticking out. But once in a home environment, with another pug to play nurse and give him encouragement, a metamorphosis occurred.

Such a sweetie deserved a better name. Sweet William came to mind, but he's so petite we decided to give him the diminutive of the name and call him Billy for short. Introduced to the back yard, Billy immediately peed like a racehorse (likely due to the IV fluids he'd been receiving), had a good sniff around the one room the clinic advised he be confined to, gotten a "I like you" lick from big foster brother Jackson, took a long slurp of water and was escorted into his crate for a nap. Once out he was coaxed to take his medicine, slowly finished a bowl of kibble topped with wet chicken, once again drenched the bushes in back and had a bit of a playful tussle with Jackson. The rest of the night was spent cuddling on the coach getting his chest patted to help break up the phlegm. With 10 minutes of whimpering because he didn't want to be left alone, Billy had a restful night and woke up happy to take his medicine -- wrapped in turkey bacon, and finished a big bowl of food. Following the clinic's suggestion, Billy joined us in the bathroom for the healing effects of steam during morning showers. Picking up the leash to give Jackson his morning walk, Billy rushed to the door insistent on not being left behind.

Still a little rattily in his breathing and snotty around the nose, our challenge is now to keep Billy from over exerting himself. This handsome lad follows Jackson around instigating wrestling, gets excited to go on very short walks, enjoys his meals, craves attention and generally is acting like a happy young pug.

Once Billy is finished his medication, he'll have another chest x-ray to ensure his pneumonia is gone and then we can have the vet look at his bow legs and crab-like gait to see if Billy has other health issues.

Just heard from the VEC and they say he's like a totally different dog today--eating well, lots of energy. Still snotty and gurgly so they've suggested hanging onto him another day, but they think he should be good to go home tomorrow. Blood work was good except for a slightly elevated ALP which they'd like us to keep an eye on, but they are not especially worried about that at this time. So all things being equal, he may be able to go home tomorrow night.

This little boy ended up in a shelter as a stray. He unfortunately developed what we think is pneumonia and the shelter wasn't able to care for him and was going to euthanize him if an alternative couldn't be found. We were able to take him in, but his last transporter (Leila's mom who is also a vet tech) felt that his health was pretty poor so we took him directly to the Veterinary Emergency Clinic. He has been admitted for at least the next 24 to 48 hours for care, treatment and observation.

We will update as we know more about him.