Reggie and Friends

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Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Since Reggie and I live in the Halloween capital of the universe, it’s only appropriate that he have a costume to wear.

I picked this up at Petco yesterday. He’s going to poop in my shoes for this.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Reggie’s vet is awesome.

We just got back from our trip to the South Boston Animal Hospital. This is quite possibly one of the least pleasant trips we’ve had to the vet, and Dr. Waggener makes it easier to handle.

We got there and took the e-collar off and his neck was really icky with slime. She knew right away that it was a hot spot. She started shaving the area, and Reggie was none too thrilled. She gave him an injection of Torbutrol and he calmed done quite a bit. She shaved down the area and scrubbed it. Her assistant also cleaned out his ears, which is where the the problem started.

Dr. Waggener didn’t find puncture marks, so my theory of Wyle biting him was incorrect. She thinks the problem started with his ear infection. I owe the puppy upstairs a few cookies.

She wants me to clean his wound twice a day with peroxide. He gets Mometamax for the ear infection, Temaril-P for the hot spot, and Simplicef as an antibiotic. On top of that, I also picked up a three month supply of his heartworm meds. He’s going to continue wearing the e-collar for a few days to prevent him from scratching the area to make it worse.

He’s pretty zonked out now and she tells me he’ll sleep well tonight. 

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Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Reggie’s e-collar was a bit… obtrusive. So I went all MacGyver on it and trimmed it down. It still serves its purpose and it now allows him to eat. Never underestimate what one can do with a power drill and a pair of sharp scissors.

When Reggie and I moved from Boston to Salem, I had to figure out which doctors I’d keep and which ones I’d have to find closer to the new place. Well, we’re certainly keeping Reggie’s vet, Dr. Natalie Waggener at the South Boston Animal Hospital. She’s outstanding.

I was still concerned about Reggie’s wound, and I called this morning. The assistant put Dr. Waggener on the phone with me. We talked for a few minutes about what’s going on and she told me how to care for it. She tells me that it’s good to use the e-collar to prevent him from making the situation worse. It sounds to her that it’s created what she called a hot spot. Dr. Waggener does want to see Reggie, so we’re going in tomorrow evening.

With my own health issues, I see my doctors as partners in my care, and that’s how I feel about Dr. Waggener. She’s my partner in taking care of Reggie’s health. 

Reggie’s wound isn’t getting any better. In fact, it looks worse. I’m convinced that’s because he keeps scratching at it. He’s eating, but he’s not his enthusiastic little self. He’s kind of moping around the house with his tail straight. That’s never a good sign.

This morning I put 25 ml of Metacam into his kibble, hoping that will make him feel a little better. That’s about half of what he was getting when he had back problems. I also went to PetSmart and got an e-collar to prevent him from scratching at it.

He hates the thing, and I feel bad putting it on him. At the same time, he needs to stop scratching at the wound, or it won’t heal. Worse, it’ll get infected. 

I’ve been cleaning Reggie’s wound with a wet cotton ball, but he won’t stop scratching at it. I think that’s making it much worse than it had been initially. Tomorrow, I’m going to pick up an e-collar for him so that he’ll stop scratching the wound. I hate to make him wear the cone while I’m at work on Monday, but he must stop scratching if it’s going to heal.

The poor guy is a little uncomfortable. I might put a few drops of metacam on his kibble in the morning. 

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Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

I noticed this morning that Reggie has some kind of a sore on the side of his face. While I’m not sure what happened, I’m going to guess that an over-eager puppy upstairs could have done this. We do know that Wyle and Reggie are both current on all their shots.

My first instinct was to to call the vet, but I’m going to wait a day or two and try some good old-fashioned TLC. I cleaned the wound with some peroxide and it certainly foamed up a bit. If it’s not looking better by Sunday night, I’ll call the vet Monday morning.

Reggie certainly wasn’t thrilled with my cleaning the wound, but he quickly learned that letting me clean it would earn him a cookie. It’s amazing what this little guy will do for a treat.

If you were following us via an ATOM RSS feed, I think I have the problem fixed that was redirecting you to the wrong site template. 

A bicyclist named Jayson Kilroy was killed yesterday by a driver under the influence of drugs. I knew Jayson online through a community we were both part of.

Before moving from Michigan to Colorado, Jayson had a pitbull named Reggie, and I fell in love with that name for a dog. When I met my little Pug who needed a new home (and a new name), I think it’s pretty obvious where I got the idea.

Had it not been for Jayson, my little guy might have been named Ralph. Jayson will be missed. 

Reggie never ceases to crack me up. I was getting ready for work this morning and didn’t see or hear him as I was getting ready to jump in the shower. He’s usually right at my feet as I’m getting ready. It turns out he was in the kitchen, camping out in a basket of clean laundry that I hadn’t folded and put away yet.

What’s really funny about the picture is his tail.

How I managed to run and get the camera without him moving is still beyond me. 

Reggie and I are doing great. Summer is here with a vengeance, and neither of us do well in the heat. So Reggie spends his day in the air conditioned living room while I’m at work.

If you don’t follow us on the Mike blog, you may not know that Jason, my upstairs neighbor, has a “puppy” named Wiley. He’s so much fun. Jason and I take out the others’ pooch when the need arises, and today, he needed me to take Wiley out after work. Since it was so hot and humid out, Wiley didn’t want to walk much. Not wanting to put him back in the crate right away, I decided to bring him into my house for a while to play.

Wiley wasted no time helping himself to the toybox.

Reggie is usually not a fan of this 40 pound behemoth.  Wiley literally weighs more than twice what Reggie does.  However, it didn’t take long for Wiley to start playing with Reggie’s toys. I was almost afraid Reggie would get jealous.

Instead, hell froze over and the boys started playing together. I never thought I’d see this happen.

Reggie is still a little intimidated by Wiley, but they played well tonight for the first time ever. I hope we can get them to do it again sometime.  You can see the whole Wiley photo set here. 

Do you have any idea how much work this picture was?

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Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Do I really need words for this picture?

Reggie and I just got back from visiting our friends at the South Boston Animal Hospital. Dr. Natalie Waggener has bought the South Boston location from the crazy old guy who used to own both the South Boston and East Boston Animal Hospitals. I really like her, and Reggie does well with her.

Reggie was tested for heartworm, and we’re thankful that he doesn’t have that. He’s now current on his kennel cough and rabies vaccinations. We need to go back in nine months for the booster that will take him to three years. He weighed in right at 19 pounds.

Dr. Waggener is concerned about his breathing. She wants me to consider having surgery for his soft palate. She does want me to keep him at a good weight and to make sure his tongue doesn’t turn blue. It’s not an immediate concern for now, but as he gets older it could be. We’re not going to do anything over the summer.

Now Reggie is pooped and sleeping at my feet in the office. This is the first time Reggie has come to work with me since I moved to Salem. I take the commuter rail to work, and I don’t think Reggie would do so well on the train. Since we were going to the vet today, I drove in and it worked out well. 

If I’ve learned anything from having a Pug, it’s that he will constantly find new ways to get himself into trouble. It never ceases to amaze me what this little guy is capable of doing.

When I go to work, Reggie is restricted to the living room and dining room. I close the door between the dining room and the bedrooms, and I also put up the baby gate between the dining room and the kitchen. He spends most of the day on the back of the couch looking out the window.

For the past week or so, I’ve had a half-full jar of peanut butter on the dining room table. It’s out of reach and Reggie has never bothered it. Until today.

I came home from work to find a few things that had been on the table now on the floor. I also saw shredded paper. Further inspection revealed that it was part of the label from the jar of peanut butter. As I looked around, I found the lid with a hole in it. It took me forever to find the actual jar, which somehow made its way under the couch. When I looked at the jar, I couldn’t help but laugh. Reggie probably spent all day trying to get the jar open, and with his little face (and lack of snout), he wasn’t able to get any of the peanut butter except for maybe licking the sides of the jar.

I’m still fascinated that he was able to get up onto the table. It’s one more thing in the house that will need to be better Pug-proofed.