Sunday morning update on Carina and Carissa

April 16th

Hello everyone, we have a busy week, as we are working Pet Expo in OC all weekend long and it took all week to set up, so been really short in time! A little update on Carisa (Carina’s sister) she had a check up this week and doing well, the skin scrapping showed that all the mites are dead YEAH! She still has an infection on her head that we are dealing with and also with the skin infection, her eyes have improved with themeds. So all in all, though it will take time she is doing great and she gained a pound.

Carina had a check up today, she still has many live mites on her, she will take much longer to improve as her condition was truly horrible. Her eyes are much better and the ulcers healed. She does have dry eye and is getting daily meds for that. Her infection is under control, just will take a long time for the skin to improve. Her anemia is improving. She is still on antibiotics. Lost some weight due to her diarrhea which we are still trying to control. We changed her diet and added some nutrigest to help get the good bacteria into her belly. All in all her spirits are great, eating well, and once we get the diarrhea under control hopefully she will start gaining some weight. The left side of her face is still paralyzed. We will be taking her to a neurologist for him to evaluate what is going on. Her left ear still has an infection going on. She is a sweetie and loves to play with her toys and give tons of kisses.

Thank you all for caring and for your support!

Tina Seri – Pugs ‘N Pals

Town and Country Pugs

Alas, dear reader, my absence has not been intentional but rather circumstantial. I hope to resume my usual philosophical banter, canine rants, and insightful observations now that we are back in NYC. My CT grandparents have many photos of our visit, which I plan to share with you.

It is interesting how vacations work…oftentimes we are not even aware that one is needed until we reach our destination. I don’t feel as if I live a particularly stressful life (and I can certainly state that Lizzie has never had a moment’s stress in her pathetic existence), but once we arrived in the land of Harriet Beecher Stowe (famous for UNCLE TOM’S CABIN) I felt a freedom and ease unlike my usual state of Red Alert in Manhattan. My grandparents have about three acres of beautiful land…land made for the wanderings and explorations of two city pugs. Our grandparents were engaged in the timeless pursuit of growing one’s own food and so their days were filled with the turning of soil, sowing of seeds, and watering of their efforts. Lizzie and I were only too eager to assist and support these endeavors.

Our days were long, our labors intense, but the rewards were generous. Because our visits here are shorter and less frequent than at our Cape Cod grandparents’ house, we were treated more deferentially, making it easier for us to behave in a less than praiseworthy manner, I must confess. Nonetheless, I think Art and Mary enjoyed us, even if they found us a bit challenging at times. Struggling with my nighttime diaper was somewhat difficult for them and learning to differentiate between my actual needs and begging wants always confused them. They were good sports and catered to us in a loving manner.

We were exhausted after our stay and spent the first two days in NYC, in a virtual coma. I did, however, come alive by the third day and felt my old primal urges kick in, causing me to convince Lizzy that Dad’s careless neglect of the garbage can deserved a good toss. She, in true form even after a lengthy absence from this wonderful sport, did a magnificent job, thus providing me a veritable smorgasbord of delicacies from which to sample. I, in turn, did my own toss…not just once, but throughout the apartment.

Welcome home, Mom and Dad, welcome home!

Respectfully submitted,

Mason

A purposeful stride around the garden by yours truly

an inspection of the garden's perimeters

Joining our "boss" on the job. My day began at 4:30 AM with a hearty breakfast and a rest before work.

Slacker Lizzie "on the job"

Taking time to smell the flowers

Sunday Morning Update About Carina

April 10th

This is the latest about Carina, just received from Misty Marten…Thanks so much for keeping us updated…

Carina had another follow up appt. with the Vet and once again they can’t believe how well she is doing. She is such a trooper. Her eye ulcers have healed!! she still on eye drops as they are very dry. Ears are improving greatly, one ear still has a bit of an infection, but not a big deal. The skin is looking LOTS better. Her anemia is improving and so is her upper respiratory infection. She lost a bit of weight this week due to the diarrhea she has been having, but it is improving a bit, hopefully she will re-gain the weight next week.

She did start being a bit incontinent, don’t know why. We sent a Urine Analysis to the lab and see what it is going on, could be a urinary track infection or the hernia she has on her belly might be causing some problems. Not much we can do about the latter for now.

Her personality is starting to come out. She is trying to play with toys, hard for her to hold them with the facial paralysis, but she manages. She acts silly and when I am cleaning her area she bites my hair and pulls it 🙂 So CUTE! Now that I can hold her, it is not easy as she is a wiggle worm. She is cocking her head on the above picture because I am signing “You are my Sunshine” as I am taking the picture and she LOVE her song! (what you see inside the e-collar is gauze so it doesn’t hurt her sores)

As I mentioned before it is a long journey, but considering how she was a little over a 2 weeks ago, this is truly a miracle.

We thank you all for continued prayers and support!

Tina Seri – Pugs ‘N Pals

Thursday Update

Thank you NYC Meetup for continuing your support of Carina and Carisa…. here is another update from Pugs ‘N Pals…. They still need lots of support. If you know a celebrity who loves animals, maybe you could contact that person and ask for help getting the word out…. Melinda

April 7th

Carina

Carina continue to improve. Her spirits are up a great deal. Still hates her baths 🙂 They hurt and I can understand that. She wants to play with her toys now, but it is difficult for her having the left side of her face paralyzed. We had a bit of a set back yesterday when she developed bad diarrhea, we are working at trying to figure out what is causing it. Could be one of the antibiotics, or the mites in her belly causing havoc. We stopped the antibiotics for a day and give her powder with the good bacteria for her belly that the antibiotics kills. It is dangerous at this point to take her off the antibiotics, but we can’t have her get dehydrated either. We will put her back on the antibiotics on Friday and see what happens.

She still loves her song “you are my Sunshine” and gets all happy when she hears it. Also the other good news is that I was able to hold her and cuddle with her. Can’t do it for long as her body is so hot and the skin so sensitive, but it was wonderful for her and me to have that contact. She is truly an Angel. This picture was taken yesterday, you can see the improvement of her skin, though it may look bad it looks SO much better.

Thanks every one for you support. Please keep her in your prayers and continue to get people to donate.

Tina Seri- Pugs ‘N Pals

Post Easter Update for Carina and Carissa

Here is the letter I just received from Misty Marten, who is kind enough to forward Tina’s updates:

Hi every one and
Happy Easter!

Both girls are doing
very well. Carisa much better than Carina, as she didn’t have the severe infection nor all the other health issues Carina has.  We move Carisa to her foster home with Miki, as she doesn?t need the intensive care Carina does and it is not contagious. Miki is the queen of Mange so she is in good hands.

Carians vet
check up on Friday went very well, they are extremely pleased with her progress and though she still looks terrible, she is MUCH better. Very alert and  responding well. We changed the type of antibiotics we are giving her to see if it helps more.  She still has open sores all over her body and many many live mites on her, interesting to see them on the microscope, can’t imagine what they must feel walking all over her, they are microscopic and live under the skin.  Her ears are almost healed, maybe one more week of care, but her ear drums are intact now.

It is heartwarming watching her wanting to play with toys. She was afraid of them at first as I don’t think she has ever seen one, but now she brings them to her bed. She has a hard time picking them up due to the paralysis on the left side of her face, but she manages. Every one adores her at the vet and admires her fighting spirit, no one gave her a chance to make it.  She is no longer critical, but still very sick, barring any further infections or problems she will make it, she will have a very long journey, but the future is bring for her.

I ask you to please continue praying for little Carina, she is not out of the woods, but we are extremely hopeful and we pray her body holds up to all that is to come. We again appreciate your support, financial and in any other way many of you have supported us. Please continue to pass the words about these little ones as their journey has just begun. It is has been a very Happy Easter for these two angels.

Tina

Carina and Carissa Update

CARISA (Carina’s Sister )… and below that an update on Carina

Hello every one! We continue to get donations and calls about our beautiful Carina. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Before giving a little bit of info. on Carina, we want to give you some new news. Yesterday we rescued Carina’s sister, Carisa (see picture) from another shelter. We were alerted last week of her existence. We have been working very hard to get her out and we did. It appears that the same person dumped them both at different shelters two days a part. It is impossible to know for sure. But the coincidence are too numerous, they look a lot a like, same age, very similar issues, except luckily Carisa is not in critical condition. She just needs a lot of care. Her skin is bad, but not nearly as bad as her sister. Less ticks and fleas. Her eyes are a lot worse and she appears to be almost totally blind, she has SEVERE Pigmentation Karititis on both eyes, even that Vets were shocked as to how bad it was for her age, so most likely poor breeding and genetic, as it is uncommon to have this so bad at such a young age and they both have it. We did take her to the eye specialist to make sure we were not missing anything. That Vet too was very surprised at how bad they are. She will need Cyclosporine for life in both eyes. But due to her condition we can not administer yet, is it prevents healing and now we need to concentrate on her skin and other issues. Luckily we got her in time as to not to get like Carina. Of course this mean double the cost on these babies, so we need your help that much more now! Carisa is a bit on the wild side, not very socialized, tends to be a bit aggressive in a puppy way. She bit my cheek pretty bad yesterday, so lots of work in that dept too. These are not the only dogs in need of care, but some dogs hit people’s heart more than others. We have many in-house that have on-going care. One had his second leg surgery yesterday as he came in with a severely broken leg 6 months ago where the bone was deteriorating from being broken for so long. The first surgery didn’t take as well, as his bones were so brittle. With good care and good nutrition the bones got strong enough for a second surgery. The second surgery was very successful. Once this heals he will have to have back surgery. Two others had back surgery last month. Each surgery is around $4,000-$6,000. We stop at nothing to get them well, but right now we are $35,000 in debt and that was before Carina and Carisa, so your help is extremely needed.

Now regarding Carina, she is improving daily, more active, eating very well, think the home cooked meal really helped in her on-going recovery. Her skin still looks really bad and it has been over a week. Just raw! The baths are very painful to her but needed. She is truly an ANGEL, so loving so grateful for everything we do. Accepting of everything that is being done to help her. She is going for a battery of test on Friday to access her condition further. I continue to be very optimistic. Even though the Vets are still cautious about her condition, I feel it in my heart that she will make it. It will be a long journey and not an easy one, but we can do it.

Again thank you all very much and as time progresses please continue to support us. After the initial shock of these babies wears off, there is still a long way to go to make them well.