I once had a pug named Lacey Lou 
I know, the title isn't Lacey Lou, is it?
But without Lacey Lou there might not be a Miss Mia.
Lacey Lou was a beautiful baby pug. She was smart and funny, she had a perfect double curl to her tail, a straight black line down her back, and pretty little black puggie lips. Lacey was a great travel dog, she loved to 'go'. She was always curious, but never naughty...always adventurous, but ever by my side. When we would go to bed, she had to chew on my fingers. Each one. She'd start with my pinky, chew chew chew on the left side of her mouth then move it to the right side, then my ring finger...repeat. She did this with every single finger on both hands, then she'd scurry to my feet or under the blanket and nestle up in that curve between my lap and hips. If I ever painted my nails at night and denied her of the chewing, she would dig furiously at the blankets, where I'd hide my hands, and cry.
She was about two months from her 3rd birthday, still a baby, when one night she hurt her back jumping on the sofa. The vet gave her a cortisone shot and some other medication the next day and I figured that she'd heal up and be back to normal in a week or so.
A few days later I returned home from an overnight concert in Eastern Washington, there was Lacey sitting with my son outside in the sunshine, but something about her face was different. The left side was just kind of hanging there, unaffected, and she didn't jump up with any excitement to see me. Immediately I knew there was something very wrong with my baby girl. The next vet visit showed symptoms of a stroke and the results from her blood tests and lymph node draw told me that she had cancer. A second opinion confirmed lymphoma had a grip on my little one and I was devastated. At less than 3 year's old, my pug was now suffering from both neurological issues and lymphoma. Research on natural treatments led to quite a few promising treatments in lieu of the Eastern method of chemotherapy and I tried many, but with the complications of her neurologic trauma, after a month of trials I grew panicked and started chemo. I just didn't want to let her go so young. The chemo was devastating to her, physically, and emotionally to the both of us. I knew from watching a human friend suffer through it, what it did to a body...as I watched her struggle the guilt began to settle in. I couldn't let her outside to use the bathroom any longer, I had to dispose of her waste in a special way because the treatment made it toxic, she was no longer able to chew food and I had to feed her by hand with a spoon. Water was given with a syringe as she couldn't get enough on her own. Nights were torture, as she would lay and pant and cry...all the while I'd ask, beg, for God to give her pain to me...unanswered prayers. In less than two months, with no sign of improvement, Lacey Lou started having massive seizures. I knew, with the first one, that our time together was soon to pass. I held her when the vet came to help her sleep one last time, and I don't think I have ever cried in such a way as I did when she breathed her final breath...peaceful as she went, it was excruciating for me, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I wanted to be with her until the end.
It's been over 10 years since that day, and writing about it now has brought me right back...it's like yesterday and the tears are flowing once more. That's how special Lacey Lou was.
I learned some very valuable lessons with Lacey Lou's experience, one of which is to avoid chemotherapy at all costs...I will never do that to another animal ever again.
The day after Lacey's death my son went back to school from Summer vacation and I was all alone. I'd just spent two months caring for an infirm dog 24/7, with my son and his friends running around the house, to utter silence and no purpose. Undoubtedly it was one of the longest, most painful days of my life, and it was followed by many more.
I was, fortunately, on very friendly terms with my vet, and she popped over about a week later with a yard plant and some good advice, she told me that there is very little time to grieve when you have a puppy.
So I got a puppy.
Miss Mia Wallace.
Her breeder had named her 'itty bitty' because she was the runt. When I brought her home, she fit (at 8 weeks) in the palms of my hands (I have tiny hands) and her toenails were painted pink.
My vet was 100% correct, I had very little time to spend wrapped up in a ball on the sofa, crying, with a puppy running around the house.
Mia is a joy, she's brought me so much happiness. Mia turned 10 this summer and she still acts like a puppy. I've been so blessed to have such a good baby girl. She didn't take Lacey Lou's place, but she helped to fill an emptiness in a very difficult period of my life. Mia loves to 'go' (in a vehicle) she's not big on walks, she's very fickle about her treats and she sleeps with me every night...she doesn't chew on my fingers, but her tongue seems to grow exponentially when she smells that I've applied any kind of lip balm.
Mia has a baby which she is particularly fond of humping
She is mostly just content being wrapped up in a blanket
Plastic bags work in a pinch
About 3 months ago Mia woke me up in the middle of the night screaming at my feet.
She was having a seizure.
Since then she's had three more of varying degrees, one in the middle of the night, one the night before last in the early evening sitting on the sofa beside me, and one at around 3am this morning in bed.
Some reading on the subject brought me to a blog where a woman with an epileptic pug brought up what she said her vet termed the 'eye trick', but she never explained it. Later my search led me to a you tube video posted by a man who's pug had seizures frequently, he'd recorded one and it looked so familiar. In the video another pug came to help the one seizing, it appears to lick his eyes. Soon after doing this, the seizure stopped and the dog got up. So last night, when Mia started yelling, I reached down and put my hands gently over her eyes and she calmed down. I'm hoping this technique will be useful in the future if she has any more.
Seizures are somewhat common, it seems, in pugs and they can live very comfortably for many years with a condition that causes them. Mia is otherwise a very happy, healthy dog and I'm so thankful to have her in my life.
When we find an animal to share our lives with, chances are we don't do so considering the hard times that will inevitably come along with the happiness. That's why we have to be present in as many moments with them as we can, because the memories we have can sustain us in times of sorrow that follow in their absence.
The pain we suffer when they leave us is only matched by the joy they bring to our lives.
Don't ever let the bad things in life deter you from doing whatever it takes to experience the good things.
Thanks for reading, hope you found something worthy of your time
(insert hug emoji here)
Shalom
