Rugby Will Be Going to Vet

[Rugbysmom]

on Thurs morning. I'm pretty worried about her--her coughing sounds terrible & happens frequently.....it seems to be worst at night. I don't see her tongue going purple at all, as it used to do on our first Pug. But she is weak, & isn't herself lately. Might be some vestibular symptoms going on again, but she doesn't have a head tilt, & her eyes are not going back & forth. But she does seem to get a little dizzy, & looks like she is about to fall asleep on her feet. She sometimes doesn't seem to focus well, she will be looking at me, but instead of looking at my face, she is looking somewhere over my shoulder. Sometimes it seems like she is seeing shadows. She doesn't see little treats that I put on the floor like she used to, & when I go to give her one from my hand, she sometimes is looking at the wrong hand & her head kind of bobs around. I wondered if her eyesight is bad, but with all the other symptoms going on, I'm afraid of what it could be. Her habits are "off" too, (& we all know how tuned in to their habits Pugs are!). She sleeps more, & is somewhat unsteady on her feet at times. Just maybe a week or so ago, I was thinking how well she was doing for 13. Last time she had vestibular signs going on, the vet was able to clear it up with ear drops, antibiotics, etc, & then Rugby did well for quite awhile until now. So I'm hoping that it is something like that again......I hope her cough is not from her collapsing trachea getting worse, or an elongated soft palate that now needs surgery.

Her cough from last year never really cleared up, but got much better until lately. The vets decided it was due to allergies so I'm hoping that's all this is. I give her 1/2 guifenesin pill in the morning & at night, 1 benadryl in the morning & at night, & gabapentin & Dasuquin for her arthritis morning & night. Sometimes I give her a tiny bit of coconut oil in the evening.

I called the vet's this morning because she coughed a lot last night, but I forgot our county fair started today & my vet is very busy at the fairgrounds right now, but she will be able to see Rugby Thurs morning at 8:00. If I had told them it was an emergency, they would get her in somehow, but I don't think it's quite that bad. Every time I hear her start coughing again though, I almost change my mind & decide it is an emergency....

It is so hard when our babies get old! I have to remember to be very thankful that we were fortunate that Rugby was as healthy as she was for so many years--some people don't get that with their precious babies.

[lihuesue]

I understand that Rugby has some health problems going on, but do you think she may have a bit of dementia? My Cassie would sit at the gate and look at nothing... broke my heart. When I tried to get her to rejoin the pack, she wanted no part of it. She used to sleep with me and all of the sudden, she didn't want to... I mentioned this to my vet and she had just returned from a thing at UC Davis about doggie dementia. She suggested I start Cassie on an over the counter pill called NeuTricks. I found them on Amazon.com After three weeks, I saw a huge change. She's back! She's joining in on everything again, staying with me from the time I get home from work. Just demanding attention & treats, like a lil diva would! She still won't come right to bed, but she's always next to me when I wake up.

Just sayin', if there's a possibility of early dementia, you may want to ask your vet about NeuTricks. Not saying it would work for Rugby, but it sure has made a difference in my Cassie.

Oh, Cassie was 9 years old when we rescued her. She is now 10 1/2 years old, we started her on NeuTricks two bottles ago (60 per bottle), I guess about 4 months ago. She just started her 3rd bottle. One pill a day. Just break it up and put in with her morning meal.

[CountryPug]

Hoping there is something the vet can do. Maybe her cough has just been aggravated by the fires....

[Wally 'n' Leto]

Prayers for Rugby! I hope this is just a minor thing.

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

You might try halving the dose of gabapentin and see if that helps. If not, then halve the dose of benadryl. Unlike most people, most dogs don't get sedated from benadryl, in fact it can make them agitated and a little hyper - but every dog is different and it may sedate her.

11-13 is the age they really begin to noticeably age from the carefree middle years. They sleep more, jump, run and play less. Often the hearing and eyesight begin to go....and no one sleeps as well as a deaf dog. You might check when a blood pane, was last done and if not recently have her thyroid checked and talk to the vet about the possibility of Cushings.

It is hard to see them age, sometimes it seems to happen almost overnight....

Take care,
Lisa

[Wonka & Nilla]

Sending best wishes and positive vibes for the vet to find something that is easily treatable and for Rugby to be feeling better and back to her old self soon.

[SiennasMommy]

Prayers that it is nothing serious. Hope all goes well for Rugby.

It's hard watching them get older...grey in the muzzle...then around the eyes...less play and running...more limping....

[Rugbysmom]

Thank you so much everybody--your kind comment ALWAYS help, and mean so much! As far as possible dementia, possibly, but I hope not....unless it comes on quite suddenly--a couple of weeks ago, I was thinking that Rugby was doing really well. Last night I was awake from about 2:00 a.m. on--she was coughing a lot. Now this afternoon, she hasn't coughed much at all. Will see how she does tonight, but no matter what, she will see the vet in the morning. The cough very well could be from all the smoke--the big tanker planes that fight the fires load up with flame retardant at our airport, & they are flying over non-stop this evening. Still more fires have broken out, & now the little towns of Winthrop, Twisp, & Concunully have been evacuated. It smells like smoky cow poop outside tonight. A lot of the fires, the firefighters cannot even deal with right now because they are trying to fight the larger fires that are threatening homes, etc. So right now a lot of fires are just burning until they can get around to them. What we need is a good rain, but I don't think we're going to get it--a cold front is coming in which will bring a lot of wind, unfortunately, and possible more thunderstorms (I hope not).

I am starting to think that maybe Rugby might have another ear infection or something--I haven't seen her scratching her ear or anything, but one of them looks red inside the flap. Will find out more about that tomorrow morning. Rugby doesn't seem to be doing bad so far this evening, so I hope that will continue, & both she & I can sleep better tonight. Thank you again everybody--will keep you posted. Please send out your positive vibes for the firefighters who are stretched so thin right now.....

[shaynapug]

Seeing a good report tomorrow!!!!

[Lu Ci and Ri Ki]

Praying for you and Rugby to get a good nights sleep and for answers at the Vet tomorrow. Also praying for a hedge of protection around the firefighters.