CASPER – HOSPICE PUG

Age: 10 1/2 years old (as of Nov 2023)
Adoption Fees: Hospice Pug
Adoption Status:

February 21, 2024 – Casper has recovered well after his surgery; the scar has healed up beautifully and he is absolutely loving being able to eat a raw diet. He was whoever still leaking quit a bit while he was sleeping and or resting on my lap or anywhere. He really does still like to mark so I have had to get him the adult male wraps for him to wear when I am busy around the house and cannot watch him or sit with him. The vet prescribed Propalin which I have been giving him for about 3 weeks now. The vet would like to keep him on it for 3 months so we are almost through one month of the Propalin and I have started to see a change in the amount of urine that he leaves behind after he has slept; a much smaller spot on the bed where as before it was a huge wet spot the size of a salad plate and if he moved then he would leak again. We are on the right track so I am hoping to still see even more progress over this next month.

Casper’s eyes are beautiful, he is still getting the drop twice a day, I will have to get more soon. After the surgery and all his hardship after the surgery, he is more and more beautiful, his coat is just thriving as is he on the raw diet. I would like to take him back to chiro to get his tight back muscles loosened up again as his humped back is really showing again which I am not surprised after everything he has endured over the last 5 months.

January 31, 2024 – Casper has recovered very well from the surgery he had in December 2023.  The mass appeared to be malignant so we will keep a close eye on this sweet boy.  Casper has started taking Propalin as he is still leaking a bit, we will reassess him in a few months to see how things are.

December 13 2023 – Casper had a mass removed from his bladder on December 6.  He had to spend a few night at Capital City Specialty & Emergency Clinic.  He went back to his foster home and has started eating by himself.  Dr. Julius Liptak did also remove a portion of the bladder to try to prevent the mass to grow back.  Results of the biopsy should be in soon.

June 29, 2023 – We have been working really hard over the last month and a half to get Casper’s allergy issue under control. We started with 5 days of Safeguard to cover for a parasite that can luve in the urinary tract and worsen symptoms. In the meantime, we were weaning him off of prednisone before starting him on Apoquel. Once started the Apoquel, it was a bit of a waiting game to see if he could tolorate this medication since he can be very sensitive to some. He seems to be tolorating it fine as far as his tummy goes but I do however still see some blood in his urine. this could be an allergy flare up or he might have gotten into something so time will tell but for now he seems to be ok. When we go for our walks, his urine seems fine until the last legs of the walk when bright blood appears. We are upping the dose of Apoquel to 2 tablets a day for 2 weeks to see if that calms down the flare up. After this we will give him a half tablet 2 times a day and see where we end up. The object is to mange his syptoms and keep his bladder calm and happy instead of trying to shrink his little lump in his bladder. He does still leak a bit while he is sleeping and he does still mark in the house but not as often as when Dexter first cam into the house and was full of hormones. He is very happy and healthy otherwise and full of energy and love, he is the best!

May 2, 2023 – King Casper is doing quite well this week. After a bit of scare when his cyst, that was located on his side around his right back leg, burst, I walked him into the vet and they gave us an appointment that day. They took him to the back and dug out the cyst so it looked pretty brutal all red and gooey, open to the air but he was not to bothered by it at all. I stayed home the next day and every hour of so put a warm compress on it and massaged the area to work out what was remaining inside. This was a good plan because the King is a very quick healer so by the second day it was all closed up, I feel really good about spending the day with him while we could do the most.

The vet also checked his ears and his very stubborn ear infection had left him, finally!! We also dropped off an updated urine sample and it seems while there is no visible blood in his urine (to the naked eye) he still has blood but due to his condition not because he has a urinary infection. She has decided that obviously him being on the prednisone is not stopping this from happening and the side effects he shows from the prednisone far out way keeping him on it so we are finally going to get the man off this so he can be on something that will still keep his allergy at bay but without all the side effects and much better for him long term. This is all good news and if you didn’t know, you would never think anything was wrong with him as he is very beautiful, soft and fluffy and just a gorgeous pug.

August 5, 2022 – Oh the wee Casper, he is so good and loveable and such a wonderful boy. He is so smart! I have a screened in porch and it was not long before he learned to much open the door to let himself back inside. Once that was accomplished he wanted to learn to pull the door open himself so I put a small handle at the bottom of the screen door for him. He barked at it for a day then after about the 3rd day he figured out how to pull the door open, self sufficient little man. While I am home the back door is always open as long as it is not 100 degrees outside so he can come and go as he pleases, he really enjoys that. He still has an accident during the night but not all the time maybe once every 2 weeks. He can’t stand when Jaxon wants something so he takes matters into his own hands and climbs up on my lap and chest and says all kinds of things to me, he has many languages. He does not see that well so he still chases the cats as he only sees quick movements and then feels that he has to chase the intruder. The cats are very good and have grown up with pugs so they have never lifted a claw to him even when I found Casper right on top of Harley. Cats are smart so they have learned that he does not see well and now know how to creep around him, we have a routine all worked out on how to avoid Casper, it works. He decided in this heat that it was time to blow his coat and boy did he ever. When I took a brush to him it was likes hearing a sheep there was so much hair, he is much slimmer now. he is amazing and wonderful and is a very happy boy

May 14, 2022 – Casper is doing do well I would have to say his dribbling has gone down about 80% in the last couple of weeks and he has not had an accident in the house for at least 2 weeks . He is no longer wearing his belly band and really know how to get my attention when he needs to go, he jumps once and climbs up right into my face so it is time for a walk. He loves his walks and is a beautiful joy to walk. He is a very smart boy and knows a lot of commands and tricks! He gives a paw, does aspen on his hind legs, knows to go down and give a paw like a king, haha. He does still leak in the night when he sleeps but maybe one out of every 10 nights he lets a bit more out he is coming along in leaps. I would imagine is taking a normal amount of time for his body to realize that it can hold liquid in his bladder again so given it has only been 7 weeks I would say he is really really recovering fast. he went to his chiro appointment today he is now down to every 3 weeks and it seems to be holding so much better his hump in his back has got down so significantly. He sleeps through the night without any issues and has adjusted so well to his routine. we get up, he goes out, he eats then goes back to sleep. He goes out again before I leave for work at 10am then I come home at 1pm and let him out and usually bring him back to work with me for the afternoon where he gets lots of love and sometimes treats from the delivery men. Then home from work for food and a Kong afterwards before falling asleep for a few hours before the nightly walk. He is an amazing boy and brings joy to all who meet him, tone of love to give and so very sweet.

May 4, 2022 – Casper is doing really well. His incision from his exploratory bladder surgery (fortunately, the vet only found a benign mass and was able to completely remove it) has healed up beautifully with no issues at all. He left it alone the whole time never wanted to clean it so we never had to use the cone collar. So far so good on the new food and meds. For the first week while on the larger dose of meds, Casper was NUTS but the vet said it was probably nothing to do with the meds at all he was finally feeling really good for the first time in a long while. There is no way to tell how much his mass was actually bothering him but seeing how he is now after a month is quit the transformation. Casper really has a lot of energy and quit the personality, he could walk for hours. He knows what he wants and does not spare any amount of sound or energy to let you know, so funny. He really enjoys his food and walks, he never stops running. After dinner each night, he gets his Kong with a bit of peanut butter and he chews it for hours, literally. No surface in the house is out of bounds when he is feeling curious except the kitchen counter and island and, he is very very good at giving you the most innocent of looks. He still dribbles a bit especially while sleeping but in the past week, he is having some really long pees which is very encouraging.  He seems to be going through a phase that most of my rescues have gone through, the protect at all cost! He really does not take his eyes off me for one second and has to follow me everywhere and protect me on our walks. In my experience, this will pass; it seems to be one of the phases they go through in the first year of they’re new life. He really is a sweet boy and really looks forward to his visits to the store where he gets to meet all kinds of people and share in the excitement with Jaxon over the Purolator & UPS guys. These guys truly are wonderful with Jaxon and Casper they even leave a treat on any boxes delivered to my house just in case we happen to miss them, they are so spoiled!!

February 14, 2022 – Casper is doing very well. We started his new medication almost two weeks ago and no vomiting at all. He does not seem to have any discomfort from the medication and I feel it may be working. I say this because he fills his belly band way less than he was. I still change it about 4 times a day but it is a lot less full, seems we only have about one that gets really full and that is in the early evening. he is still sleeping without his belly band and I only find a little or no wet spot in the mornings. He is sleeping much much better, right through the night now which is wonderful for both of us haha. I took a stool sample in to be tested and they said it looked totally normal nothing out of the ordinary so that is also very good news. Casper will stay on the meds for the next 2-4 weeks before they do another ultrasound to see if anything has changed with the mass in his bladder. He sleeps in the bed by the front door while I am at work but of course with an extra pillow in the bed, he must have that! I come home at lunch to let him out for a pee and give him a wee meal as the vet suggested for now it may be better to give him 3-4 smaller meals through the day to help with his tummy as maybe he was eating too much too fast so we have spread them out, which he REALLY enjoys. He is a beautiful boy that has so much love to give.

January 5, 2022 – Well, our little boy Casper is sure coming into his own. He has decided that he must investigate his surroundings, all his surroundings so the only safe place in the house is the kitchen island, tall dresser and a tall cabinet by the front door. When he decides that he thinks there might be something interesting he climbs, jumps or bounces onto tables and desks. While this is clearly a curiosity thing, I do have to say he does listen quit well when told not to do something. He is peeing a lot less often but still cannot be left without his trusty belly band as he leaks a bit and sometimes has a big pee while sleeping, poor wee man. He really enjoys his cuddles and likes to be beside you draped over one of your legs almost all the time, he like his bed too but only for a short while when I am home then he must be beside me.

A urine sample had to be sent off to a US lab during one of the busiest time of year so we have not got them back yet, hopefully this week so we are all crossing our fingers that the results are positive in a way that something can be fixed. He really is a ball of energy when he is awake and talks a lot he has many different voices, it is very funny and cute. We have not been able to go on too many long walks lately because of the ice and then the large amounts of salt on the sidewalk but we manage and at least he has the yard when all else fails. He loves his food, bounces off the kitchen cabinets in circles barking with great excitement when it is time for breakfast or dinner but is VERY well behaved when it comes to treat time. I have discovered he can sit very sweetly before treats and is very gentle but he can also stand on his back legs and dance in a circle before getting his treat. I took him to dog chiropractor for a treatment which is where we discovered his trick ability as she always gives lots of yummy treats after the treatment. He is a handful in the car, he does not sit still at all and jumps from side to side back to front so this is what we are going to work on next.
All in all he is a delight and a very sweet loving little pug and very handsome.

December 3, 2021 – Casper is doing well. No signs of blood in his urine and he is trying to pee a lot less in the house. He listens really well when I say no if he lifts his leg he stops and I walk him to the backdoor so he can go outside. Casper is eating well and has not vomited since I stopped the Metacam on Monday. He sleeps with us every night and sleeps quietly right through the night. He has started to try to mount Jaxon which caused a bit if a tiff in which he held his own and nobody got hurt it was just very loud. He has become my shadow, follows me everywhere and watches everything I do. The house is completely open to him and he has a bed right by the front door where he sleeps while I am away. Casper is a very sweet boy and gets very very excited at walk time so much so it is almost impossible to get his harness on as he barks and jumps in circles and grabs the leash in his mouth playing tug-a-war, so cute. He LOVES his walks and could walk forever it seems, he acts like he is still 2 years old, he is a very busy boy it is next to impossible to get a photo while on walks but I keep trying.

November 28, 2021 – Everything is going really really well with Casper. The resident puggle and him walk beautifully together so we have been doing some really nice walks. He is still peeing a lot but not drinking as much water and no signs of blood. Casper is eating well and last night I let him upstairs to sleep with the rest of us, no issues at all.  Casper is going back to the vet on December 9 for a recheck.

November 24, 2021 – Casper was surrendered to us yesterday.  He went to the vet clinic today; urine analysis showed elevated white & red blood cell count.
Xrays showed no stones in his bladder and no crystals in his urine.
There is 2 possibilities: Casper may have a bad infection or he may have a tumour.
His teeth are in terrible condition but we will deal with that once his condition has improved. Casper also has a cyst on his neck that will need to be surgically removed at some point to avoid any infection.
Casper will be spending the night at the vet and will be picked up by his new foster mom tomorrow afternoon.
He will be on Clavaseptin & Metacam for the next 14 days then we will bring him back to the vet for a urine analysis and blood work.
An ultrasound may be required at that time if his urine analysis is not normal.