Hello Pug-People! My name is Colonel and I'm 3 years old. I came to SEPRA about a month ago after being brought to a shelter in Southern Missouri by some people who were keeping me outside. I had ticks and whip worms - YUCK! And I still had my boy-parts. Those boy-parts are gone now though, thanks to SEPRA! Now I live with my foster mom and my foster pug brother, and I fit in just great. I'm getting treated for the whip worms and will have my final treatment in 3 months - it's easy, just a powder on my food for 3 days! I figure, hey, it's kind of like getting more food - no complaints from me!

As you can see, and as I'm told frequently, I am a VERY good looking boy. I make heads turn wherever I go!

Now you may be wondering why I'm on the Special Needs page. Well a couple of weeks ago, I started throwing up my food, every day. So my foster mom took me to the vet and they did blood tests. My liver enzymes were way off the charts. They did the tests again a week later, and...same thing. The vet says the good news though is that I act normal and I still eat like a pig! But he says that I need an ultrasound and maybe a liver biopsy this week to figure out what's wrong because as you might know, the liver is very important! He says it might be a "portal systemic shunt" - big, scary words! - which is something I would have been born with (and involves an abnormal blood supply to the liver), and might require surgery. If surgery can't fix it, then we would have to move on to a Plan B, which they aren't sure what that would be yet.

If you would like to consider virtually fostering me to help SEPRA with my bills, I would be forever grateful! My foster mom says I am SUCH a good boy - almost the perfect pug she only says ALMOST because my foster pug brother might be reading this!). She says I am so calm and sweet and I hardly even shed! How's that for perfect? A pug who hardly sheds? Well that's me, Colonel! Thank you for visiting me, and I'll keep you updated on my situation!

Update: July 20 2011

Hi everyone, it is me, Colonel. Well we went to the vet again today and found out from the ultrasound that I do have a very large shunt that is affecting the blood supply to my liver. The doctor said there might even be some other things going on with me, so they will be doing a liver biopsy and looking around while they are in there. They hope that this surgery will make me all better! I'll be going in for surgery on Tuesday, July 26. It's going to cost SEPRA $1,300, and I'm told that is a whole lot of money! But SEPRA wants to give me the best chance at having a healthy, normal, long life - after all, I'm only 3 years old! And remember, like my foster mom says -I'm absolutely perfect except for that silly liver issue! So won't you please be a virtual foster to me and help SEPRA with my medical bills?

Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance!

Update: July 27 2011

Hi everyone. I really want to thank everyone who decided to virtually foster me! It made me and my foster mom and SEPRA soooo happy. I had a really tough surgery yesterday to repair my shunt. I'm still not feeling very good today but my foster mom says I should be feeling better soon. I have a very big incision on my tummy. The doctor said that while he was repairing my shunt, he also found a problem with my pancreas. They did a biopsy on it and we should get the results of that in 7-10 days. Please keep your fingers crossed for me! I want to get better! I will keep you all updated!

UPDATE: 8/14/11

Hello friends! I'm feeling sooo much better! I got the staples out of my tummy this week from my surgery, but I'm still supposed to take it easy for a couple more weeks. The doctor says now we have to wait three months before we do more tests to make sure that my shunt repair "took" - in other words, to make sure that the blood starts flowing properly to my heart from my liver. The lab results didn't show anything for sure about my pancreas - basically we just have to wait to see if I have any problems with my digestion to see if my tiny pancreas is anything more than just being a side effect of my liver issues. I'm so thankful to SEPRA and to all of you, who have helped me get such wonderful care. For now, I'm just hanging out with my foster mom and my foster pug brother, and getting spoiled rotten, as all puggies should be. I'm on a prescription diet food as well as one medication, and both of those help me to digest food more easily. I will keep everyone posted on how I'm doing! Later, friends!

UPDATE 9/26/11:

It’s me, Colonel, with another update. Just when things were going well and we were waiting to get my liver shunt re-checked next month, I woke up last weekend with a big red bump on the corner of my eyelid. My foster mom took me to the vet and had it checked out. Much to her surprise, they asked to keep me overnight for surgery the next morning! Neither of us were very happy about that. It turned out that my tear ducts had become clogged in both eyes! The surgery went well and we are waiting for test results to confirm that the problem is exactly what the vet thought, and if so, the surgery should have permanently fixed it. I’m doing just fine (well, except for the eyedrops I have to get twice a day for 10 days – those are zero fun!) but the surgery again cost SEPRA a good chunk of change according to my foster mom. So if you have any change that you can spare, please consider making a donation to help us out! And keep your fingers (and paws!) crossed that this is the last thing I have to go through for a long time!

Thank you to our virtual fosters for Colonel:
- Lindy Lou D.
- Rebecca L.
- Jessica H.
- Melinda A.
- Mae M.
- Kathleen C.
- Emily L.
- Kristina S.
- Laura B.
- Cyndi C.
- Allyzabethe R.
- Nancy C.
- Jessica S.
- Melissa L.
- Michael W.
- Kyle K.
- Julie H.
- Cheryl S.
- Kristy B.
- Stephen S.
- Angel R.
- Pam M.
- Virginia H.
- Kathy F.
- Sheila O.
- Caroline M.
- JMS Computer Service
- Valerie J.
- Jennifer A.
- Danita P.
- Mindy S.
- Valarie M.
- Hank
- Anne M.
- Michael S.
- Kelly Y.
- Christopher N.
- Jean M.
- A. Jones
- Mark E.
- Tessa S.
- Laura K.
- Tonia H.
- Jonathan B.
- Brianne K.
- Amy R.
- Velma A.
- Caitlin H.
- Stacy C.
- Jonathan R.