Happy Birthday Big Steve! – 14 year’s old

May 1, 2018

On April 22nd, 2018, Big Steve turned 14 years old! Considering that he had many health issue in a past, he actually has good gene! Amazing, miracle dog! We are so happy for him!!

We wanted to treat him on his special day, so we went to pet food express and got some treat!

They just happened to promoting KIWI Kitchens brand, so we got to talk to the staff about the product.  KIWI Kitchens are from New Zealand and they have freeze dried and wet food, contains good natural ingredients, you can read all about from their web site. Anyway. Big Steve loves it!! I didn’t doubt he wouldn’t like it, but I’m happy to see him enjoy these food! 🙂

We also got him sweet potato cookies.:) Happy Birthday Big Steve!

Big Steve and his Birth day cookie!

As you can see it’s quite big!

He struggled to break it, so I broke into 5 or 6 pieces and gave him one piece a day.

Happy Birthday Big Steve!!!!

Big Steve and iguana

2015. Feb. 10th

Recently, my dog, Big Steve, seems not enjoy walking so much. Last time I saw him like this was when he had a hip joint problem. It’s not that bad though, but my husband and I can see he walk very slow than usual. We give him glucosamine for his join everyday, but we need to keep an eye on him. Big Steve is 10 years old, so it can’t be too careful.

I took this photo on Feb. 7th. He is so cute.:)
He still have his appetite. That’s great!

Today, some lady talked to me on the street asking about Big Steve. They loved Big Steve, and one of the lady happened to have a pet igiana with her!!

inflammation around hip 8/11 – 23

August 11th 2014

Big Steve has been depressed since around July 31st, the day we picked him up at the dog sitter’s house. The symptom has gotten worse around last Friday. He doesn’t have an appetite and he doesn’t want to go walk. He seemed to having some discomfort in his lower back. His hind-legs are shaking as if he can’t support his body. He can’t even jump up to the sofa or car. Since he doesn’t eat well, he won’t pee and poop so much. He is not taking enough water since he is not eating his food.(We add water in his food so that he can take recommended amount of water every day.)

I wanted to take him to his vet, but I don’t have a car I could use anytime I want anymore. So I have to find a new vet somewhere I can go without driving.  Luckily I found one nearby and made an appointment today.

Dr examined his back and suspected something was wrong, so he took his back’s X-ray and explained what’s going on. There is a space between each spine that is stable except the last spine around his hip. It looks like something that connects those spine are narrowed around the last spine. Dr said, maybe he has some inflammation around that area that might be giving him a pain that causes him a less appetite. He gave injection (Rimadyl) to him for the inflammation, however Rimadyl won’t go well with prednisolone which is a medication he is taking once a week.  Big Steve needs to be on Rimadyl for a week (twice a day for the next 7 days), and it takes another week to rid of Rimadyl from the body. That means he can’t take prednisolone for 2 weeks.  Vet gave us Dr’s cell phone number and said we can text him if there is anything happened to him during that time.

Rimadyl (carprofen) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)

 

I don’t know if this is what Big Steve has, but maybe he has osteoarthritis(骨関節炎).

Explanation about osteoarthritis. Really good. : http://www.osteoarthritisindogs.com/

Video about osteoarthritis: http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/musculoskeletal/c_multi_arthritis_osteoarthritis

Video about osteoarthritis(骨関節炎) in Japanese. Really good. :  http://movie.petful-life.jp/Jj45W

 

At first, my husband and I mentioned to the Dr that he might got pancreatitis back again. I think that is why Dr also took blood sample to make sure nothing is wrong. Result for his blood test will be informed tomorrow.

We were still worried about him not eating food much. Dr told us that he will probably get his appetite back even tonight. After the visit, Big Steve looks better a bit and ate his food. 🙂 We just hope he gets well soon.

 

 August 12th 2014

So, Dr. called us and let us know that Big Steve’s blood test came out really good. There is nothing wrong. So we are relieved that he didn’t get pancreatitis again.

 

August 16th 2014

During the time we gave him Rimadyl, he sometimes lost his appetite, but I was clearly able to see that his condition has gotten better.

We always carried him and never let him jump on to the sofa or stairs. I also brought a dog stroller whenever I took him for walk so that I can put him in the stroller when he seems tired. One day, a guy saw me walking with Steve in a stroller and he laughed at Big Steve so hard. I explained why Steve was in a stroller, but he totally ignored what I was saying and just laughed at him forever. His friend came and asked him what he was laughing about. He was like, “pug in a stroller!” I somehow I felt offended and left there. But those guys kept laughing for a while even after we left.

I don’t mind when people just gave him a smile and ask why he is in a stroller. But that guy was so rude. I hope he gets laughed at just because he looked ridiculous. 😛 Too bad some people doesn’t know dog is a living creature, like humans. 

 

August 18th 2014

Big Steve’s re-exam.

Dr. asked me how Steve was doing. So I told him that Steve is definitely getting better. I can say that just by looking at him. Dr. palpated his hip area and told me that he can say Steve is better just by touching the area. Dr. didn’t want to take medicine off at this point, so recommended another week of Rimadyl. Steve needs to go through another week of Rimadyl again.

 

August 23rd 2014

Steve can walk like the way he used to and is looking a lot more energetic, so we took him to the dog park. We still worried about his hip, so I just kept him with leash. There were many dogs at the park, Steve was so excited to see them and chasing after a bigger dog. 🙂 I just kept my eyes on him, so whenever he start getting on another dog to hump, I can stop him.  He had a good time at the park. 🙂

 

Wag ‘n’ Walk

There was an event called “Wag ‘n’ Walk”  at Shoreline Park in Monterey. This event was held to raise donations for homeless animals. They also planned a 2 or 4 miles walk along the coast. So we took our dog, Big Steve, to Monterey this morning.

Since we lost Sophie in last August, Big Steve doesn’t have company most days. So this was a good opportunity for him to meet other dogs, and for us too!

The website stated the registration began at 8:30 a.m., and the walk began at 9:30 a.m., so we planned to get there at about 8:30. However, it wasn’t that easy. When we got there, there had been tons of dogs and their owners already, and the parking lot near by was full!

My husband let us get off at the park and went to look for other places to park.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the crowds at the park, but I was also pretty excited to meet them! Big Steve and I had some social times with other dogs and their owners on our own. I found two pugs from a distance, so we rushed straight towards them without looking to the right or left. She had two pugs, fawn and black. Her name was “Mochi,” and his name was “Noodle.” They were just like Sophie and Big Steve! I miss Sophie so badly!!

*Big Steve is on the right.

It took about 30 minutes or so for my husband to find a spot to park the car, and it was around 9:20 when he finally joined us. By the time he joined us, they announced the start of the walk. So we all started to walk together. I had never seen anything like that. Many dogs were wagging their tails, and they were so amusing to watch. We had a great time! There was a nice, cool breeze, and beautiful ocean to our right. The host of the event provided us water and little treats for dogs and also some snack bar for the dog’s owners along the way. It took us about 2 hours to complete the walk.

We had a great Saturday morning!

Hi!

Welcome to pugpugpug.

I’m a two pug’s owner.

They are my pugs.：)