STELLE - 11 YEAR OLD FEMALE

FOSTER UPDATE - MARCH 15, 2024

Silly, sassy and spoiled Stelle continues to win hearts as she trundles along in her stroller. She struggles with a persistent ear infection and needs Apoquel for her itchies. This week foster mom noticed a swelling in Stelle’s cheek near her right eye which the vet identified as a gingival abscess. She’s on a round of antibiotics to reduce the infection but will most likely need a dental in the near future. At that same appointment, the vet took an ear swab and sent it off for culturing; the cytology results will be back in a few days. Stelle's annual blood results came back very good overall. Her albumin is a little low, probably because of the inflammation in the abscess, but nothing that will prevent surgery.  She’s taking all these challenges in stride, knowing that she is well loved and cared for.

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FOSTER UPDATE - JANUARY 9, 2024

Stelle is doing really well. She's not too fussy about this weather but she has the privilege of the PUGGY BUGGY and me pushing her. I drape a plastic cover over her for dryness and she sleeps so comfy in it. She tells me when she needs out and when she wants back in. Stelle just LOVES it and is snoring away in it now. People actually ask for a photo of her in it with or without their kids and I LOVE that and showing her off. It's so neat to see people happy and smile when they see her. Makes me feel good knowing that Stelle probably brightened someone's day, brought a smile to their face. Stella is doing really well - full of LOVE. Someone told me that she's noticed a difference in me since Stelle came to me as I sound so much happier. I LOVE her so much! Take care and woof, woof to you.   

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FOSTER UPDATE - OCTOBER 11, 2023

Stella is doing really well and takes her meds with a bit of a fuss but they get done! She TELLS me when she wants in the stroller by jumping up on it or my legs. She has a 'dog cave' she crawls into at the back of it so she's so comfy! Stella still gets lots of attention and is so much loved by many! She's doing great! So just to let you know Stella la la LOVE is just terrific! She passes on her woofs! 

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FOSTER UPDATE - JULY 31, 2023

Spoiled Sassy Stelle continues to thrive. She’s not keen on the hot weather so when it’s too hot for walking, she travels in the Puggy Buggy where she can climb to the back of her “limo” under shade and have access to fresh water with an ice cube in it.  She loves being brushed and absolutely laps up all the attention she gets, especially when the kind man at PetValu gives her treats. It’s funny to watch her follow him around like a little black shadow. Back at home, she’s happy to sleep on foster mom’s pillow. Healthwise she’s doing great and recently tolerated having those pesky anal glands expressed. Eeeeewww.

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FOSTER UPDATE - JULY 4, 2023

Stelle is doing very well and, as you can see from the portrait photo, is being treated like the queen she is. Foster mom reports she is “spoiled, sassy and sweet”.

 

FOSTER UPDATE - MAY 18, 2023

Stelle is doing well. Foster mom reports that she is charming everyone who meets her on her walks around the neighbourhood. With her big personality, she wears the pants in the family and gets lots of hugs and kisses. Lately she has had a flareup of her ear infection; a swab cytology revealed yeast and bacteria so she’s on a round of Aurizon to clear it up.  She also had a Schirmer tear test and is continuing with her Tacrolimus to increase tear production.

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FOSTER UPDATE - APRIL 4, 2023

Since moving to her new home, Stella is doing well. She’s getting lots of attention and love. She goes everywhere with foster mom and sleeps in Big Bed with her. She enjoys her walkies and lets her mom know when she’s had a enough strolling and wants to be put in the Puggy Buggy to get the royal push around the rest of the way. She has been checked by the local vet and had her eye drops refilled. Foster mom calls her “the little miracle!"

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FOSTER UPDATE - MARCH 26, 2023

Stelle’s visit to the regular vet went very well. Her fecal, urine and blood test results were all excellent. She will need to stay on Tacrolimus drops for the rest of her life to increase her tear production and is currently on Baytril to clear an ear infection. Unfortunately, Stelle’s unprovoked aggression towards the resident dogs became more frequent and she needed to be moved. Since her aggression, age and medical issues (eyes, ears and vomiting) severely limit her adoptability, we made the decision that she will remain as a Forever Foster in a no-pet home with an extremely caring individual. Pugalug will monitor her medical issues going forward and ensure that she is treated like a queen. A huge thank you to Pugalug donors for providing the means for Stelle to continue to have a good life.

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FOSTER UPDATE - MARCH 9, 2023

Miss Stelle walked into our house and took over as if it were her ancestral home. The Grande Dame, who has been an only dog for most of her life, was a little puzzled by the resident chihuahua’s attempt to play with her and annoyed by the nearly blind resident pug’s habit of inadvertently bumping into her; she let them know she was not amused. Now that she realizes that they know their place, she has settled in and tolerates them. With us humans, she can be very loving or demanding as she deems fit. She’s not a fan of wildlife and gives the crows and squirrels a piece of her mind when she hears or sees them (turn up the volume for the video attached).

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Stelle learned our routine very quickly and manages the doggy steps to Big Bed like a pro now. In fact, last night she put herself to bed. She’s an excellent, if noisy, sleeper day and night. When I say “time to go outside”, she’s the first down the stairs and out the door, and does her business efficiently. With the snow so high, her back legs end up much higher than her head. At least this keeps her girlie bits off the ground and free from infection, which is important because she has had a problem with urinary tract infections/struvite crystals in the past. She stays outside as long as the boys so she can overmark and thatch the grass/mud vigorously afterwards. We’re both getting used to wiping off muddy paws when she comes in.

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Stelle’s “clean in the house” other than having a major problem with vomiting (or acute regurgitation). Every time she drinks, up comes the water, food, bile … whatever, often multiple times. We have to be careful where we walk in case of puddles she missed cleaning up. Her medical records mention this behaviour repeatedly over many years so we are not overly concerned. We are, however, happy to have a steam cleaner! Our dogs drink out of a water fountain and we have raised it so Stelle doesn’t have to bend her head to drink. We hope this helps the water reach her stomach and not stay in her esophagus in case this is aggravating the regurgitation. It also means she can’t drink out of the far side of the fountain and get water all down her chest (and the floor).

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You’ll notice from the pictures of her face that Stelle has a growth on her right inner third eyelid which was first diagnosed in 2019. It seems to bother me more than it does her. She also, like so many pugs, has pigmentary keratitis and insufficient tear production (keratoconjunctivitis sicca aka “dry eye”) in both eyes and requires twice daily drops to flush her eyes of the resulting goop. She’s pretty good at taking eye drops and excellent at having her chronically dirty/yeasty ears cleaned. Moreover, she was fine having her toenails dremelled and, after the initial shock, having her anal glands expressed.

Next week Stelle is booked to visit the local vet for a check-up, blood work, a fecal test and urinalysis and we will provide an update once we get the results.

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PRE-INTRO: FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Meet lovely Stelle who came back into foster care today after five years with her loving adoptive family who are sadly unable to continue to look after her. Stelle will be eleven years old in May. The foster family looks forward to getting to know her better and will provide a longer introduction then. In the meantime, here are a few photos of the sweet and sassy gal.