How to stay alert while sleeping

I SWEAR I had absolutely nothing to do with this pose. I heard a soft pug snore, looked over, and saw miss Deedee with not one, but BOTH ears flung back. All the better to hear the sound of a treat in the making, I guess.

Treat time!

I was making this delicious banana pudding yums and inadvertently made too much whipped cream. sacre bleu! ok so I may have made a little extra, just in case the pugs were snackish....

I tried to take a pic of the 3 of them with their heads buried in the bowl, but was unable due to being doubled over and laughing.

mama. is there more?

whaddaya mean there's some on my head

It's like 'got milk', but instead of moustaches, they're sporting whipped cream visors.

More good news for Cleo

Miss Cleo had another vet appointment yesterday, this time with the super-sweet, oncologist Dr. Siedlecki at Bay Area Veterinary Hospital. Apparently, pugs, and when I say pugs I mean specifically pugs, are prone to getting multiple mast cell tumors at the same time (even as numerous as 20-30!). Luckily, even with multiple tumors, the pug carries the same low risk of aggressively spreading disease as that of a dog with a single low grade tumor. What a relief!

mama this means u can stop weeping blubbery tears over my head every night

mama does this also mean i get extra tasty treats?

Cleo needs surgery for a cracked molar (I do not want to discuss why my pugs keep fracturing their teeth). So we decided to have the five mast cell tumors taken out while she's under. We have an option to 'stage' her disease -- with an abdominal ultrasound and lymph node biopsies -- to see if there is disease spread, in which case she would be a candidate for chemotherapy. I'm just not sure that we would put her through chemotherapy even if there was disease spread. She's a very sensitive pug.

So, we'll do the surgery. If she has more pop up afterwards.... well, we'll deal with that when/if that happens.

In the meantime, the pug is going to get a shave! so that we can see exactly how many mast cell tumors she does have. oh hooooooo, little miss Cleo. You ain't seen nothing yet.

i am concerned. will i still be pretty?

Now I know what Deedee does when we're away

Our super-sweet pugwalker sent me some pics of the Deedles from her phone, from their walk the other day. Clearly she has caught on to the craziness of the crazy lady that is me, and decided to humor me. Perhaps because I pay her. naw. It's because she loves the pug, I'm sure of it.

deedee excited for her upcoming walk

her (v large) doggie pals

leading the charge -- apparently little miss dominant likes to walk ahead of the pack

wiped after the walk, cuddling with her new BFF

in the front seat, where she belongs

Cleo's x-rays were clean!

Our vet said they look good, and that there's no evidence that the mast cell tumors have spread to Cleo's internal organs. What a relief. Weepy tears of relief while shnergling a pug, all around. Thanks for everyone's good thoughts!

Husband said -- I knew they were going to be OK -- like he never experienced a moment of panic, and I said -- oh yeah? well we just spent a bazillion dollars making sure, funny man.

look ma! no arthritis, either!

Cleo was pretty happy to be outta the vet's, despite the copious amounts of treats and loving she was getting.

i was damn good. gimme a treat.

Now we just have to get through yet another vet appointment, this time with the oncologist, to see what Cleo's treatment options are.

another vet?! the treats there better'd be just as good

oh, Cleo

We found 6, count 'em SIX, new lumps on my baby girl. We've been watching them for a bit, because Miss Allergies tends to get lumps that come and go, but these just didn't go away. Worried that they were mast cell tumors like the ones she had removed over a year ago, she was packed off to the vet for some biopsies.

Unfortunately, 3 of them turned out to be the dreaded tumors. Luckily, they're low grade, but it's quite a pickle because a) they're baaaack, and b) they're in numbers. It goes without saying that this induced a fairly serious episode of hysteria in the pug mama.

Apparently there are many options of treatment, including chemotherapy, but we're going to take it one step at a time. First is to take some X-rays to see if there's spread to internal organs. I dropped her off this morning, and the little tree frog clung to me, shaking, like I was abandoning her. Giant weepy tears all over the place (emitted by moi), as I left the office of the vet that now officially considers me a lunatic. That little pug breaks my heart on a regular basis.

INTRUDERS!!

er... I mean, 'honored guests'. the puglets had some surprise visitors!

who is taking up the pugs' fave spots on the top of the sofa??

it's baby rilka and baby sadie! little mufflettes of love came for a long-awaited puglet meet-and-greet.

rilka... I think

sadie -- caught in the act

the pugs were super excited to meet the babies. in that sasha totally ignored them and cleo refused to relinquish her dada's lap even when also occupied by a feeding baby.

deedee was the only one who was truly curious -- lots of baby bum sniffing and tiny toes licking.

wait a minute... i thought i was the baby