Plum update - 1/3/11 Plum continues to amaze everyone with her strong heart and fighting spirit. Despite the odds she remains happy, comfortable, and content in her everyday life.
Plum is also enjoying her home cooked meals that are made especially for her kidney disease with only low phosphorus, low sodium ingredients and added crushed eggshells for calcium that act as a phosphorus binder which her body needs. Her favorites are homemade savory stew made with sodium free beef bouillon and roasted chicken and turkey legs mixed with skin, white rice, veggies, and hard-boiled egg whites. One of the advantages of eating a restricted home cooked kidney diet is she gets to have the dark fatty parts of the meat, they are actually GOOD for her! Most dogs in kidney failure have trouble maintaining their weight, but in the last month Plummy has actually gained a few pounds and is now up to a solid 15.3lbs. She was down to 12.8Lbs just 2 months ago. Plummy’s appetite is strong, she is even barking at her forever foster mom at mealtimes now because she can’t eat fast enough. Quite the change from November when she had to be force fed with a plastic syringe. Her body tremors have decreased as well and now only on occasion her front leg will shimmy a little if she puts extra weight on it. 3 weeks ago Plumy did have a seizure. This happens in dogs with kidney failure when they become uremic. When the toxins that their bodies can no longer filter out, build up and reach the brain and spinal cord, seizures can occur. Fortunately the seizure did not last long, only about 20 seconds in total and she snapped back out if it quickly. Within 5 minutes she was back to her normal self and she has not had another one since. We continue to take Plummy’s guarded condition day by day, feeling most grateful and blessed for everyday that she is still here and is still happy and content, living the life that she has always deserved. Plum has made one thing clear - she will ride this wave and continue to soak up the love for as long as she possibly can!
We thank you all who have supported and continue to support and ask for Plum. With much love and happiness in the new year! If you are unable to view the above chip in widget, please click here to donate: http://curlytailpugrescue.chipin.com/forever-foster-plum Plum update - 11/23/10  THANK YOU so much for all of those who have donated to help our forever foster pug, Plum. The last week has been touch and go with our sweet Plummy. She became weak and stopped eating and began to spiral downhill. Her recent blood work revealed that her kidney values (BUN, Phosphorus, and Creatine) are all sky high, despite the IV fluids, medications, and all measures. The vet said there is nothing more they can do, it doesn’t make sense to put her through the IV fluid treatments when she only gets a week at best out of them now. The Dr.’s have warned Plummy’s forever foster mom that she is in “end stage” kidney failure. Since the upsetting diagnosis – Plummy has shown signs that she still wants to fight this and her mom is helping her stay strong, staying close by her side during this delicate journey.. Plum initially lost her appetite, most likely from the neurotoxins in her system making her nauseous – she did not want to eat but she took food from a plastic syringe that her mom fed her several times a day, lapping it up like she was nursing from a baby bottle and it was enough to sustain her. She started drinking a ton of water to hydrate herself, she wakes every two hours in the night to get up and drink water, and her mom helps her off the bed as she can no longer jump down and is too unsteady on her feet. She's drinking enough to stay hydrated and her gums are still pink. Last weekend her FF mom took her on several car rides so she could feel
the warm sun on her face. It must have lifted her spirits because just when the
vets had counted her out - her tail started wagging again and she began showing
new signs of life, and surprisingly her tail now remains curled most of the time. Her trembling episodes from the neurotoxins building up in her bloodstream have ceased over the last few days and miraculously, and she has started eating on her own again. And the other night Plummy started playing with a toy that she's never touched before; she was shaking it and playing tug of war. Her FF mom gives her one Cerenia tablet per day to help with the nausea. She has also been baking special “kidney friendly” daily meatloaves that are low in phosphorus with balanced fats, quality proteins, and white rice for carbohydrates. The Dr's are looking at the numbers on a medical chart and saying she should no longer be here. But what they don't see is how Plum continues to rally and fight every day. They don't see that she is still happy and has a good quality of life. She is in no pain or suffering, she is still eating and drinking and loving. It is truly amazing how much love and spirit a rescue dog has. It is clear that after being deprived for so long, now that Plummy has found happiness and love, she will fight to hold onto every last second of it. We know her outlook is not good. We know there is no reversing the kidney damage and everything can change tomorrow but for now we are just taking it day by day, keeping our sweet girl comfortable and so far, she is holding the course. Thank you again to everyone who has supported dear Plum. The pure love and strength of heart that Plum has demonstrated (and that continues
to power her on) has truly become an inspiration to everyone around her. If you are unable to view the above chip in widget, please click here to donate: http://curlytailpugrescue.chipin.com/forever-foster-plum Forever Foster Plum
After some XRAYS we learned there are pins and screws in both of Plum’s elbows joints where it appears she was either dropped or had both of her arms pulled so hard they broke and came out of the sockets. Because of this and the suspected negative treatment in her former life, Plum was also very emotionally scarred and afraid to trust people.
Plummy came into Curly
Care and went into her Forever Foster mom’s home and heart in June
2009, and she has been there ever since. It has been a long road trying
to stabilize Plum’s allergies from the inside
out -- so her poor little body can stop attacking itself, and stop becoming
infected, further weakening her immune system.
Plum’s forever foster mom has taken her a long way in managing her allergies with diligent home cooked meals for the past year, 2-3 times weekly medicated baths, and round the clock Benadryl to keep her histamine levels in a manageable range. Not to mention lots and lots of love and affection.  There has been some great progress (Plummy eventually learned to open up and trust humans again) but there have also been many set-backs.
Because of the years of neglect Plum suffered before coming into Curly Care, she now suffers from chronic recurring infections, including UTI, pyoderma, colitis, a heart condition, hypertension, and reproductive infections as a result of being used so many years as a breeder.
All of these conditions have been treated one by one and our goal has always been to simply make the rest of Plum’s life enjoyable and comfortable as possible. Her foster mom has succeeded at that and Plummy is a happy girl being loved everyday living out her golden years on a mini farm in the country where she only knows peace and tranquility.
Recently however, we received more bad news about Plummy’s health..She has been diagnosed with chronic renal failure. Her BUN value is currently 150, which means at that high a range, we know that at least 75% of her kidneys are not functioning.
Plummy has been admitted to the hospital for a 48 -72 hour course of IV fluid therapy in an attempt to help flush the toxins from her body (which her kidneys can no longer do on their own sufficiently) and bring her BUN numbers back down to a normal range, and then work really hard to try to keep them there.
Because of Plum’s many allergies, she is not a candidate for dietary changes or certain kidney medications as she has had horrible allergic reactions to those we have tried, and unfortunately they set her back even more.
Our goal right now is to continue with the fluid therapy and put her on a phosphorus binder, keep her comfortable and let Plummy live out her days in the only peaceful loving home she has ever known.
Plummy is very loved
by her forever foster mom and all those who have had the chance to meet
her! Despite her many issues, Plummy is a sweet, affectionate, silly,
happy girl who longs for nothing more than to be close to her human.
http://curlytailpugrescue.chipin.com/forever-foster-plum
Thank you so much for helping Plum and for supporting Curly Tail! ♥Plum Success Happy Plum howls with excitement when her rescue mama comes home from work! Since switching Plum to a home cooked diet without any yeast she has made great Improvement in neck and feet - her fur is slowly growing back in those areas and she is less pink and itchy!   Plum has been adopted by her foster mom and continues to make excellent progress for the treatment of her ongoing allergy issues!    Plum Medical Update 7/23/09: Plum's allergies are out of control and she has become so uncomfortable that she is literally tearing into her neck! She had pus and blood oozing from her neck and after some slides of the affected areas the vet has now confirmed her infection & sores on her neck are bacterial, not yeast based. Poor Plum has to wear a neck sock and Bitenot collar to keep her from further damaging the skin on her neck and feet. We need to stop the bleeding. We need to switch gears and treat her condition even more aggressively than before. Plum received 2 injections today: Convenia, an antibiotic that lasts up to two weeks, and Vetalog, a steroid that also lasts up to 2 weeks. We are confident that the injections should give her the fast relief that she needs as we work to stabilize her under a new aggressive plan of attack:
Thank you to all who have contributed to Plum's medical fund. We truly appreciated every donation whether large or small, monetary, or supplies. We could not help needy pugs like Plum without your help! Please Help Plum
  Plum Update 7/14/09: We had to rush Plum into emergency care after she began shaking, had developed a high fever, and was bleeding from her rectum. After 2 hours in emergency care, X-Rays, blood work, and physical exam, poor Plum was diagnosed with Acute Colitis (of unknown cause). In addition to her skin being inflamed, incredibly itchy and irritated, Plum's intestines are also inflamed. We continue to look for the source of Plum's allergies, but so much is trial and error, trying to identify triggers add and remove possible root causes by changing up medications and diet to make her more comfortable. Plum's foster mom is working diligently to keep her from scratching and chewing herself raw with medicated baths, specialized skin care and grooming, round the clock Benadryl, strict dietary consumption, and keeping her overall environment hypoallergenic, and of course lots of TLC. Poor Plum needs to wear a cone at times to keep from scratching violently until she bleeds. Unfortunately we've had more setbacks than progress and this latest episode has set Plum back and introduced some new challenges. Her emergency trip to the doctor has also been costly. As always we greatly appreciate any and all donations. Plum is currently ON MEDICAL HOLD as we work to stabilize her condition. Please Help Plum  --------------------------------------------------------------------  Plum comes into Curly Care 6/6/09: Poor little Plum was scared and sickly sitting in the ACC of NYC when we found her. She couldn't imagine what she could have done so terribly wrong to end up there?! She has been terribly neglected for a very long time and her body shows the painful signs to prove it. Her body is covered in sores, it is painful for her to be picked up by her loving foster mom, she can barely walk on her paws, she flinches in pain if her foster mom tries to put her medicated drops in her ears! Everything just hurts so much! We don't know the full extent of Plum's illness yet....we know that her surface and most immediate medical needs must be treated 1st and then we can take it from there. As always, we will do what is needed to get Plum to be happy, healthy & pain free!  Please Help Plum
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