"NOPE, I'M NOT  JUST A

FUNNY LOOKING YORKIE!"

I'm a Pug with a pretty looking MUG........

And here's my story written by my Mom.......

I saw Tiffany on the Adopt-A-Buddy Pug Rescue website in Northern New Jersey, filled out the Adoption Application, and hoped for approval. I read her bio and saw she had this disease called Liver Shunt/MVD/HMD. While at my vets office one day, I asked him what LS was, how serious it is, and how it's treated. I told him about Tiffany, and he explained what it was, and that I should really think twice about adopting a pet with this disease as it could be very heart breaking and expensive. However, after a few days passed and a home visit done by the rescue, I was approved to adopt Tiffany. On March 11, 2006, I became Tiffany's Forever Mom!

Almost immediately, I joined Liver Shunt and MVD Support. Once I became a member, I did everything that was suggested, doing everything in my power to do what was best for Tiffany and her disease with a lot of help from the members of the LS/MVD group. Unfortunately, not only did she have MVD, she also suffered from Epistaxis (unexplained nose bleeds). This too frightened me as she almost bled to death on one occasion.

About a year and a half after adopting Tiffany, she crashed! She was diagnosed with hepatoencephalopathy, melena, anemia, ascites, coagulopathy, early liver failure, anorexia, and upon an ultrasound, bladder stones and an extrahepatic portosystemic shunt. (The vet that performed her spay surgery misdiagnosed her as having MVD when, in fact, she had a shunt.) She also had bacteria in her urine. After IV fluids, plasma transfusions, vasopressors, antibiotics, and a host of other treatments, she came home on a new prescription diet, medications to assist her liver, supplements, and antibiotics for her bladder infection. She also came home having her very own internist and nutritionist Finally, after many months of antibiotics, her bladder infection still remained, and surgery to remove the bladder stones was the only other alternative.

Tiffany had surgery on March 24, 2008. Nine bladder stones were removed and an attempt to repair her shunt failed due to it's size and the risk of developing portal hypertension if it was ligated, the amount of scar tissue on her liver, plus her blood pressure at the time was at a critical level during the surgery, so the surgeon felt it would be too risky to keep her under anesthesia for too long. On March 26th, Tiffany came home. From that day to the present, her shunt is being treated with Flagyl, Lactulose, and a prescription diet, has not had a bladder infection although she is starting to form crystals and sludge again (due to her liver disease), and she has had only one nose bleed after her surgery

To date, Tiffany acts like she's as normal as any other Pug. She plays hard and has a grand old time with her siblings and her Mom. I am very fortunate be Tiffany's forever Mom, and I can't imagine what my life would be without her. She has taught me to treat her and her siblings as if it were their last. For that, among many other things, I am truly blessed!

Debbie G

West Milford, NJ