Introducing (the pug f/k/a lulu) Tinkerbelle!!!!!

need more pictures!  

Yay for Tinkerbelle!

Glad to read that the journey is going well! 

You and David are so awesome!

Yep, I can sooo "see" her doing the Tink glare.  Perfect!

yay for Tink! she's sooooo cute! 

Hi -- we got in Orlando about 2:30 but then had to empty the rental, both of us had to drive to the airport to turn it in, take  David to the park 'n fly to get his car, then we went in separate directions.  He went to get Luna and Kee at the kennels (I think they let her bark incessantly and she's hoarse! grrr but she had fun!!) and I drove to New Smyrna to get Billy (who stayed with Pirate, his bestest bud). 

 Billy and Tinkerbelle did incredibly well right off.  The exchange of the scent boxes REALLY helped - I'm convinced it made this easier.  David met Tink and Billy and I for dinner to give Billy and Tink some time to acclimate before we threw the girls into the equation.

 The 'meet and greet' went AWESOME.  Everyone is fine.

 Tomorrow morning I"m taking her to be spayed -- Billy and Luna are both FAR too interested in how she smells (beyond the normal sniffing) so I hope she's not entering heat.  Dr. Bailey will tell me if he can do it.  I'm fortunate -- my vet is also an expert on bracheocephalic breeds (which is one of the reasons why this was do-able --pugs have some really specific needs).

 Luna is losing weight -- and I've increased her food, so tomorrow SHE gets blood tests and whatever else Dr. Bailey says he needs to get to the bottom of that.  Billy has to have his thyroid tested so I"m off to the vet with all 3 in the morning.

This was David and Tinkerbelle the night of the 4th

 This is of Tink in her onzie in the car -- yes, her forehead is all bald (it's one big healing sore surface -- sorry if that's graphic and you can see she's got some boil-like bumps from the demodex -- she had a rabies shot last week and I figured that would blow the demodex out just in time for her to come home).

Her skin is pretty fevered so I wanted to make sure the car air-conditioning didn't chill her.  She wasn't thrilled about getting it on, but once on she kinda liked how snuggy it was.  I have to modify them tho -- they are too big for her and she keeps walking out of them.  Gonna leave the pic 'big' so you can see her face.  Hope it doesn't crash anyone.

And btw -- she's sleepy which is why her eyes aren't open.  The "Tink Scowl" is when her forehead is all wrinkled *grin* -- this is just sleepy puppy.

Demodex is exacerbated by sexual maturation -- and it's always a delicate dance because anything that drains the immune system will make the demodex worse, but not DOING the spay will actually worsen the demodex more than doing it.  You weigh the stress of the surgical proceedure against the stress of the sexual maturation.

This is a health thing and I will post more at length about this in health as soon as I get my feet back under me, but just the 'stress' of being adopted, new family, all this travel and change -- ALL of this is a big huge stressor and it will cause the demodex to worsen.

So yes, surgery is a big stress -- BUT the poor little immune system needs the respite from the sexual maturation (and I'm solidly suspecting she is imminently going into heat and that will be the WORST thing that could happen -- estrus is a super bad thing for demodex). 

I am boosting her immune system -- vitamins & supplements take weeks to 'kick in' but we are doing that, herbals can do an awesome job of helping to punch in the immune system, and I"m doing that.  Generally being happy and cared for is a big huge deal -- she IS happy with us, enjoying good food and SUPER enjoying attention. 

The care is going to swing the whole pendulum back to good for her.  But this is why I made the appt for **immediately** upon our return -- so Dr. Bailey can decide what to do.  If he says 'no' then AMEN.  But I don't want to delay and then have her go into heat.  That would be disaster for her.

She may be entering heat -- and that's Dr. Bailey's call.  But she's also been on antibiotics for almost 2 weeks so the infection risk is small and he will put her on more antibiotics I'm sure.

p.s. -- let me compare it this way:

If you have done any "First Aid" -- you know that there is a certain order of what emergency is priority when you triage an accident/illness victim.   If the bleeding is there but 'minor' but they aren't breathing then you get them breathing FIRST. 

But if they are spurting vast amounts of blood you have to weigh which is more life-threatening -- bleeding or breathing?

That's an apt comparison to this -- it's the vet's call what we do next.  ALL these things are stressors -- but some of them are 'worse' than others. 

Does that make sense?

 i gotta agree with Callie on that. getting her spayed should be easier and help her immune system recover faster than waiting for the immune system to recover while also battling emerging hormones.

poor little mite! she is so cute with the squinty eyes though lol! i can think of a few captions to go with it, and none are appropriate for this forum hehehehe  

So far (and I know this is the 'honeymoon';) ALL the dogs are getting along famously.  Am about to walk out the door to Dr. Bailey's so a few prayers and good thots for Tink for her spay would be appreciated.

 she's got em!!!!

We are sending good spay vibes for Tink, good blood work for Luna and good tiroid test for Billy... and a kiss for Kee!

Good thoughs Tink!  And of course you to Billy, and Luna!

Glad the gangs getting along so far.

Poor little thing. She's just too cute!!! I'm glad to hear that everybody likes their new sister. I hope the spay went well, and that Luna's bloodwork is good. 

any updates yet?