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NUGGET – HOSPICE PUG

Age: 13.5
Adoption Fees: HOSPICE PUG
Adoption Status:

January 25, 2024 – Nugget is living a happy life over here with her new family – She has become very attached to her new Mom, following her around all the time, getting as many cuddles as she can fit into a day. Shes getting closer with her new sister too, cuddling more often, and trying to play with her. Nugget is limited with her play due to her dental issues, but she makes do. She looks forward to her treats after each walk and before bed. Even though she can’t hear or see very well, she is a star at “sit, and shake a paw”. She still has to be carried down stairs, but she does an impressive job at going up our two sets of 15 step stairs. Sometimes she does them slowly and pants, but she quickly recovers once she reaches the top. Nugget is a star at communicating her needs. She cries or gently barks periodically if she needs something (I.e. food, bathroom, cuddles).  She’s a strong advocate for herself.
At her most recent vet appointment, they did a chest x-ray out of concern for her breathing. There were multiple lung nodules, which could mean a few different things. In the absence of biopsies, we won’t know for sure. The vet recommended no interventions, just comfort measures. Nugget sometimes coughs, and sounds a bit congested or out of breath, but she’s not suffering by any means. She’s a happy little lady, full of energy and love each day. She’s made our life better, and it’s our priority to make hers better each day as well. We are very in tune with her needs, and make adjustments as we go to meet them.

January 8, 2024 – Nugget’s had a great couple of weeks. She’s settling into her new routine. She loves her walks, but is a little bit more reluctant when it’s cold. She’s happy to put on winter gear when needed. When we go for long walks or hikes, she is happy to get cozied up in our pet carrier backpack.  I think her favourite thing is cuddling up with someone – She doesn’t care where it is! She works hard for her treats. She’s starting to play with us. Sometimes she wants wet food other she wants dry. We just roll with it.  Nugget has a vet appt on January 12, they’re going to update the rest of her vaccines and recheck her eyes and ears. We have decided not to have dental work done on Nugget as she gets extremely stressed at the vet and turns blue, we don’t want to have to put a complete anesthesia for fear that she won’t make it thru.

It was lovely having Nugget a part of our Christmas this year. She got to meet lots of loving people and dogs. I have nothing bad to say about this dear little soul. She’s adding to our lives in a way we didn’t expect. Feeling fortunate.

December 7, 2023 – Nugget is very gentle and has a kind soul. Her priority each day is cuddling up with someone she loves. She is an absolute delight to spend time with. Nugget gets lots of kisses on the head, and lots of ears / body scratches throughout the day. As long as she knows her people are there, she’s always excited for those little moments of connection.

She’s settling in very quickly. She’s such a strong, resilient little dear. Over this past week, our priority has been to get in tune with her needs. Trying to make her feel loved and safe in her new surroundings. Fortunately, there is always someone home with her.  Her and the resident pug (9 yrs old) are bonding well. There’s a bit of an age gap, so it has been a bit of a transition for both of them, but overall, they are respecting each other and enjoying each other’s company. There have been no issues with conflict or aggression with Nugget, she’s very easy going. This sweet little girl just needs love, security and comfort. She has a lot of love and comfort to give back in return. It doesn’t take long to fall in love with her.

Nugget has her first full assessment at the vet on Dec. 8/23. When we took her there last Friday, she was too anxious to have much done. She is going to get some sedation before the visit tomorrow so hopefully, we can get some bloodwork and vaccines done that day. They are hoping to be able to get a better look at her eyes, nose folds, and ears that day as well.

Nugget skin is pretty good at the moment (she has history of dermatitis). She has received a Cytopoint injection as she started getting itchy, which resolved her symptoms within a couple of hours. We are not sure what Nugget is allergic to, so to be safe, we only give her hypoallergenic food.The vet gave me the OK to try some fruits and veggies as treats for her like blueberries and green beans.

Her eyes get quite dry, especially after she wakes up from asleep – They visibly look dry, and she gets some white eye discharge, especially in the left eye. I’m gently trying to introduce her to eye lubricant drops because I find the eye discharge can further impair her vision, making her more uneasy with her surroundings (i.e. in walks and in the house).

Nugget doesn’t like when you touch her paws, ears, nose, eyes, or wrinkles.
We are working on gradually getting her comfortable with us doing this, so that we can properly care for these areas on a regular basis.  If her breathing rate increases / becomes more laboured during these activities, I just stop right away, and try again later. Nugget can easily develops significant breathing difficulties when anxious. The vet agrees that it is not worth stressing her out like that, especially at her age.

We’ve started giving Nugget salmon oil for her skin health and Tri Acta for bone/joint health (she has a history of osteoarthritis). I add a little bit of water to it and mix it up well.  Nugget had two restless nights since her arrival, otherwise, she passes out right away in her bed around 9-10pm. Last night, she fell asleep in a laundry basket, full of warm towels from the dryer.  Sometimes when she’s restless, we put her in our main bed for a few minutes until she’s sleepy and then I put her back in her bed, which usually does the trick.

Nugget is completely housetrained. We take her out once every 4 hours, which seems to work well for her. Sometimes when she shakes (she does this often, especially outside), a little piece of stool slips out. This often happens right before she gets outside for her walk. It’s very important to be in tune with her cues.

We’re fairly confident that Nugget has minimal to no vision or hearing. It seems like she can see shadows though – She looks in the direction of larger movements, and seems to pick up on dark-light contrasts better (ie. I wear black boots in the snow, and I see her using them as a reference on our walks). She has very good sense of smell – She is prompted a lot by smell (i.e. food, people, outside air, etc.).

Nugget does need help on and off of furniture. I think this is more to do with her vision than her mobility but likely both. To accommodate her, I’ve purchased a carpeted furniture ramp, and in the meantime, we are using a couch cushion as a step up for her to jump up and down off the couch as she please.

Nugget can manage two stairs at a time, in a well lit area, with some guidance. We don’t force her to do anything, but we do our best to coax and support her to actively participate in her daily activities (versus me carrying her everywhere). Carpeted stairs are definitely ideal for her. She has a bit of a phobia with people touching her paws, so her nails are longer than usual, which causes her to slide on hard flooring sometimes.

The length of her walks depends on how cold it is, and also maybe her arthritis – She occasionally limps for a couple of minutes on walks or when she first gets up after lying down for a while. She’ll let you know if she’s done with the walk by abruptly stopping during a walk or straight up turning in a different direction and bee-lining it in another direction lol. Miss Nugget knows what she wants / needs, and she is very confident in communicating that when she has to!

December 4, 2023 – Nugget went to the vet on Friday December 1 –  they weren’t able to do much due to nugget’s anxiety – she went cyanotic pretty quick (lips, gums, tongue purple). She was totally fine seconds later. The vet wants to focus more on quality of care for her due at her age, versus a more “aggressive” approach. They were really great with her. The resident pug was right by her side, helping to calm her down. We spent most of time chatting and giving nugget lots of love and pets, just to get her used to the new setting. They gave me some sedation for her next visit next Friday, trazodone, and gabapentin. They’d like me to try having her nails done during her bath next week with my groomer, and try using sedation before that, just so I can get a feel for what dose she’ll

need on Friday. Nugget loves carrots, apples, and berries. Next Friday they’re going to try vaccines and bloodwork, but would like to go at nuggets pace. Nugget is super happy right now – she loves her car rides. We’ve been on lots of long walks today. My whole family is working really hard to make her feel good especially in these first few days.  The vet also doesn’t think sedating her to have her teeth cleaned would be a good idea based on her breathing issues and her age. They weren’t able to get a look at her ears. They got a quick look at her eyes and said there’s nothing acute going on there.  They heard a little heart arrhythmia, but said it could just be due to her erratic breathing from the stress
The quick look they got at her skin on her body was good too. They think her skin issues are isolated, mostly to her ears and nose folds. They think that’s why she shakes her head often and rubs her face in the bed.

November 29, 2023 – Nugget’s first night went surprisingly, really well! Her vision and hearing must be bad because she seems to have to track each floor of the home to get used to it, so she did that for a while before she settled. But then she slept the entire night.  Nugget does rubs her face a lot, so I’m not sure if that’s her skin or her eyes.  Nugget is going to the vet this Friday for a complete check and blood work.  She will need to get her teeth cleaned as it has never been done before in her life but we want to make sure she’s strong enough to handle anesthesia.

November 28, 2023 – Nugget was surrendered due to no fault of her own.
This sweet girl is 13.5  years old.  She is spayed.
Stay tuned for more on Nugget as we get to know her more.