~Anne~

There are also dermatologists who can use desensitisation therapy to assist. Speak to your vet and determine the exact cause of the issue and then explore your options.

What a lovely tribute petpiggy. RIP Rosie.

Your Vet is the best person to advise on this. Are you getting him desexed? If so, I would combine the two.

I assume you are the same person that asked this question on the Pug forum? If he has stenotic nares then he will not 'grow' out of them. The operation to widen the nostrils is easy but carries the same risk as any surgery. If you are concerned that your Vet is not giving you the correct advise, get another Vets opinion. If he does have this condition then breathing will be difficult for him and he will breathe through his mouth more often then normal. Overall it will place uneccesary pressure on his respiratory system. Edited to answer you last few queries. The operation is simple and involves cutting away the area that is closing off the passage. There will be stitches that will need to be removed 10 - 14 days later.

I was thinking that too... isn't there a simialr thing in humans where the sides of their mouths are dry and cracked??

Thsi happens to Pugs quite often. I have always used vaseline and the results are almost immediate.

Carnivores who would eat a small amount of plant and vegetable matter in the wild. I feed approx 75% meat and meat products, the rest is vegetable/plant matter.

In an adult rescue I do only 1 C5 and record the next due in 12months.

Wow, posts such as this make me realise what a great deal I am getting then. I don't have the breakdown of costs here with me at the moment but I had a Pug at the Vet the other day for C5 and heartworm test and it cost me $60 in total and that was for an 11 kilo bitch. BomaBec, can I suggest you buy your flea and worm products online to help with costs. I buy Sentinel Spectrum (11-22kg) and halve the tablets for the Pugs as most are under 11kgs. It costs me something in the order of $6 per dog per month to treat for fleas, worms and a heartworm preventative this way and that sure beats your cost above of $18 - $24 even if your dogs are twice as heavy as the Pugs.

is this common practice? I would be devastated if I picked out a new pup/dog ..took it to the vet, and found it tested positive to heartworm I wouldn't think of it as common practice. I test all my rescues and if clear they are immediately put on preventatives. Bomabec - are you in a heartworm area?? If you are, then you should be ensuring each rescue is clear before placement.

I must admit to being a sceptic of vegetarian meals for dogs. However, in having said that, I have had one of my rescues adopted by a vegan who only feeds her dogs a vegan diet and the rescue has blossomed in her care. She truly is a very healthy and loved pet. If you would like to be put into contact with her send me a pm and I will arrange for a swap of emails addys.

I have experienced a similar problem recently with a neurotic Pug rescue that was on a restricted diet as he was overweight. I solved it by buying a stand for his bowls that makes it harder for him to keep hoovering the food down while there was still food there to swallow completely. The bowls sit at about chest height for him now instead of on the ground. The other great advice I was given was to feed him on his own so there wasn't any worry for him of other dogs taking his food.

Bomabec, I have a Pug bitch in at the moment who had irritated skin arounf her face, stomach and back legs. She has been to umpteen Vets. I must admit to not having done much but put her on a raw diet with added Vit B tabs and fish oil caps and she has improved out of sight immediately. If you put him on Vit B, buy the low dose complex ones (50 mg per day is all they need). Edited to add- I agree with Jed. The less chemicals the better. Get the internal body health first. I will always worm straight away though.

Feed your dog a good diet and this will lessen the chance of you needing to empty them. The sacs are for two purposes. One is to 'mark' their scent and one is to help the passing of the feaces. If you feed your dog only soft foods with little fibre (such as canned dog food) then you will increase your chance of having anal gland issues. All dogs have anal glands and all dogs will have innapropriate times when their glands will secrete. The reason why it is noticed more with small dogs is that they are often on your lap or your furniture whereas larger dogs are not. The smell will dissapate after a while and only other dogs will be able to smell it. Apart from regularly manually expressing them and making sure your dog is fed a good diet, there isn't much you can do. It is a normal part of dogs.

Not only do I have Pugs but I also had two human children who suffered with sleep apnoea. Scary stuff indeed! PM me if you'd like to chat. I must admit to not having heard of a dog with sleep apnoea. How did they test your dog for this? With human children and adults that connect them to heart, movement and oxygen saturation monitors. I have a fair bit of experience with palates in dogs though, just not the apnoea part.

One of my rescues developed vesitbular disease and she was later operated on but not becuase ofthe vestibular. Her canals were very tiny and caused constant infections. Her new owner reported that she was barely able to walk at one stage, but over time this improved. As far as my knowledge goes she is back to normal now.

No, it shouldn't. It is meant to be used as an aid to protect your furniture while you are training them. If you put it on and use it to do all the work then you have missed the idea of it. You must still be very persistent with training and the band will save your furniture... and sanity. Me either

A belly band is a length of material that is 'wrapped around the belly and covers a male dogs doodle and joins with velcro over the dogs back. You place a sanitary pad in it across the doodle so when he wees the pad absorbs it and it doesn't go on your furniture. If you are clever you can easily make one yourself.

Put a belly band on him and take him out regularly to urinate praising him lavishly when he does the right thing at the right time. Sas - I still reprimand as well but I don't let this override the positive reinforcement method.

Actually, the eye would probably become soft and may even shrink, due to lens induced Uveitis. It would not swell. My experience Pugs whose eyes have ruptured is that they swell, almost coming out of the socket at times, and are very red. I can ony go by what I have seen and experienced and rescuing and owning Pugs, I have seen a lot of eye injuries over the time. I currently have a bitch in whose eye ruptured and was later removed, her other eye was also injured and she has resiudal cloudiness still in the eye and this will probably never compltely dissappear.

Most eye injuries such as yours will heal without issue. If there was any rupture you would know it by now as the eye would be swollen and possibly protruding, and definitely red and painful looking. The cloudiness will probably completely dissappear over time, depending on how severe the initial scratch was.

I currently am dealing with a rescue who is a licker.... some of the recent suggestions made to me have been; Vaporub Eucalyptus Commerical bitterant spray (such as Woundguard - available from Vet) Citronella ........and if all else fails something hot such as a touch of curry powder or tobasco sauce. It is aslo a good idea to use a diversion as well if you can. Diversions such as a kong, toy or something else for them to chew and or lick.

Thanks Tess, I will forward this detail to them. I also don't believe that the cost would be as high as it was back then. I'll let you know how I get on.

Actually, I would think that they all know exactly what a titre test is. Like them or lump them, be they good or bad, the have studied veterinary science and titre testing is not exactly new. Titre testing for diseases as routine testing for parvo, distemper and similar though would be what is new to them. I trust my Vets 100% and they are usually always open to learning and yet the last time I spoke to them about titre tests I got the same result as what I did the first time (about 3 years ago). They were quoted, at that time, around $160 by a WA lab (which at the time was one of the rare few who did titre tests for this) and they are not aware to this day of anywhere else more local they will do it cheaper. I have also asked umpteen people where their tests are done so I can forward this info to my Vets (who I know are genuine and caring and who will take up the details I send them and use) but no-one has given me this detail. Sarasmum - if you have a good relationship with your Vet then perhpas it is worth persisting? Seek the info about where and the cost and forward it to them or find a Vet that you feel can help you.