Saddest Puggie (and Puggie Parents) Ever

Chuck's birthday weekend pretty much sucked. On Saturday, Tropical Storm Hanna paid us a visit and dropped about five inches of rain. Although the rain got Chuck out of class early, we still sat at home and did nothing as it was simply too wet to go outside with a baby with a cold. (Fortunately, though, we got his birthday dinner taken care of Friday night since we knew Hanna was on her way.) We also got in one Scrabble game, but his dear wife is too proud to throw games, especially a game that she is going to win.

Sunday started a little better with a visit to Pug Group. Bruno always has such a great time playing with other puggies and we enjoy the hilarity of it all. Even little Rhett seemed to enjoy watching all the dogs.

But then it got worse. Bruno was showing evidence of some sort of eye problem and by the time I got home from church (the boys all stayed home given Rhett's cold), Bruno looked miserable. He wouldn't come out of his crate when we called (not even when Chuck called--WHOA) and looked like he wanted to die. His left eye was swollen shut and he looked incredibly pained. I took him to the emergency vet and turns out he has a corneal ulcer. For some reason, pugs just can't seem to heal these things properly. He was given some meds (which thankfully included a pain med) and I was told to take him to his regular vet today. The best outcome is that the meds heal the ulcer and he's fine. The worst outcome is that the ulcer ruptures and requires expensive surgery to remove the eye. The thought of this makes me cry (as if looking at the poor dog doesn't do this already).

We love Bruno; he's a part of our family and we want him to get better NOW.


Update: After spending four hours with two vets, one of which was a veterinarian ophthalmologist, we have good news: Bruno will continue to have TWO eyes! Can you imagine if he had lost it? Only one eye and the longest tongue you've ever seen? I think that would have been too much character, even for Bruno.