Can it get from bad to worse? Indeed.
So yesterday, I was suppose to have a fursuit finished, but I could not get my jaw set (one I sculpted and casted from scratch) to stick in my heads. I tried E6000 and Barge. Nothing. Tried 2 part expoy and that didn't even work (and 2 different types were bought). The teeth were casted in Instacast and they sit at this odd angle in the head. I guess I should have made a rigid pallet so the teeth would be easier to place in. The jaw set comes in 6 pieces so you can adjust it to fit most any size canine heads. At any rate, waste many hours on adhesives. Learned that both Barge and E6000 remove enamel paint quite easily and that got black pigment all over my jaw set and hands and face (side of my cheek). It didn't occur to me until late today to use Magic Sculpt to adhere the jawsets to the head. I learned through sculpting stuff on my head blanks that Magic Sculpt when dry bonds to Instacast resin very well and I'm like, "DUH" So I casted a new jaw set today and will finally get this guy finished.
Frustrated with the glue not sticking I make dinner, beer battered fried fish, The batter didn't stick to the fish either today and if fell off in the cooking oil. I was like D:
So at 1:00 am when I was sewing some ears my dog Hippo wants to go out. Then he wants to come back in. I let him in. I'm feeling sick at this point. Fish + smell of Absinthe = want to puke. I tried to puke and nothing came out. Hippo acts like he's going to throw up but nothing really comes out and I'm like, "maybe we got the same bug?". Then he keeps trying to throw up, again and again and nothing is coming out. I start to get worried, wondering if he has something obstructed. Then he starts to bloat up. I'm like, "shit shit shit" and wake up Crocuta and our friend who was staying with us for the evening because Hippo needs something done now, before he dies (bloat is a critical time game). Hippo is currently 9.5 years old (akita/rottweiler mix), about 108 lbs and very deep chested. He was not running around, he didn't eat any large amount of food, no dry food as I always let it soggy up in water, it just happened out of the blue.
His stomach gets measured and I call the local emergency clinic on suggestion to see if they are busy and if they can take a bloat dog. They say they can. Hippo keeps trying to throw up and is in pain. His spine is beginning to curve out (like a hump) so we leave for the vet clinic 10 minutes away. We get there and they take some x-rays to confirm it's GDV, All three of us see the x-rays and indeed it is. The vet gives him a giant shot of Methidone and then puts a needle in his side to bleed out the gas pressure. They also take blood and do a very extensive panel. He also gets a full bag of IV fluids and a few more x-rays of the chest area to make sure there's no underlying cancer since he has to go under anesthesia.
So the vet on call can't do bloat surgery on her own because it's triaged this late at night and they need to call a surgeon in. After some Care Credit mishaps because it's now 2:30 am and the Credit Bureau doesn't open until 5 am PST to extend the line of credit, we put down a deposit for the surgery. As soon as the cards are swiped and the transaction goes through, the vet comes out and says the surgeon can't make it. Their sister clinic (owned by the same vet) in Walnut Creek will take Hippo and they were getting the surgery room prepped. They would honor the payment at the sister clinic luckily. Else we would of been in super big trouble. Hippo was now stable enough to get to Walnut Creek because some gas was let out and he had fluids and his BP checked out ok. So we head over to Walnut Creek's Encina Hospital, We get there and they take Hippo back to prep him for anesthesia. All of the blood work and x-rays were emailed over on the way to the hospital.
I give a very brief history of Hippo's medical and tell him (the vet on call) when the last time he had any supplement or medication. I said the last time he had a Derramax (for his hips) was a week ago, but he gets Glucosamine and Chondrotin supplements nightly.So the doctor goes back to prep for surgery and the assistant comes in and gives us an estimate. Then we go home and wait (we left at 3:46). Crocuta and our friend go to bed. I stay up and sew more ears and glue head fabric onto head. Then the doctor calls at 6:20 saying that they are finishing up and to call back around 9 am to see how he's waking up. The vet double checks on when I last gave the Derramax so they can give a Rimadyl post-op injection. I call at 9 and he's doing ok but he's slow to wake out of anesthesia. Then I finally go to bed. The other doctor calls at 11 am talking a little about the surgery and I wish i was more awake, but too sleepy for questions. They said come get Hippo at 6 pm.
Oh, the surgery (in case anyone doesn't know) is to let the gas out, clean out the stomach and flip it back up and then tack it to the side abdominal wall. So at 5:20 pm Crocuta calls to see if it's still a good idea to pick Hippo up at that time. They say wait until 8 pm since he's still pretty sedated. So we call ahead one more time and then go to get him at 8 pm. We bring him home with antibiotics and a slew of medications for swelling and pain. Now it's the long road to recovery which will be a few weeks (or more) of bed rest .
Frustrated with the glue not sticking I make dinner, beer battered fried fish, The batter didn't stick to the fish either today and if fell off in the cooking oil. I was like D:
So at 1:00 am when I was sewing some ears my dog Hippo wants to go out. Then he wants to come back in. I let him in. I'm feeling sick at this point. Fish + smell of Absinthe = want to puke. I tried to puke and nothing came out. Hippo acts like he's going to throw up but nothing really comes out and I'm like, "maybe we got the same bug?". Then he keeps trying to throw up, again and again and nothing is coming out. I start to get worried, wondering if he has something obstructed. Then he starts to bloat up. I'm like, "shit shit shit" and wake up Crocuta and our friend who was staying with us for the evening because Hippo needs something done now, before he dies (bloat is a critical time game). Hippo is currently 9.5 years old (akita/rottweiler mix), about 108 lbs and very deep chested. He was not running around, he didn't eat any large amount of food, no dry food as I always let it soggy up in water, it just happened out of the blue.
His stomach gets measured and I call the local emergency clinic on suggestion to see if they are busy and if they can take a bloat dog. They say they can. Hippo keeps trying to throw up and is in pain. His spine is beginning to curve out (like a hump) so we leave for the vet clinic 10 minutes away. We get there and they take some x-rays to confirm it's GDV, All three of us see the x-rays and indeed it is. The vet gives him a giant shot of Methidone and then puts a needle in his side to bleed out the gas pressure. They also take blood and do a very extensive panel. He also gets a full bag of IV fluids and a few more x-rays of the chest area to make sure there's no underlying cancer since he has to go under anesthesia.
So the vet on call can't do bloat surgery on her own because it's triaged this late at night and they need to call a surgeon in. After some Care Credit mishaps because it's now 2:30 am and the Credit Bureau doesn't open until 5 am PST to extend the line of credit, we put down a deposit for the surgery. As soon as the cards are swiped and the transaction goes through, the vet comes out and says the surgeon can't make it. Their sister clinic (owned by the same vet) in Walnut Creek will take Hippo and they were getting the surgery room prepped. They would honor the payment at the sister clinic luckily. Else we would of been in super big trouble. Hippo was now stable enough to get to Walnut Creek because some gas was let out and he had fluids and his BP checked out ok. So we head over to Walnut Creek's Encina Hospital, We get there and they take Hippo back to prep him for anesthesia. All of the blood work and x-rays were emailed over on the way to the hospital.
I give a very brief history of Hippo's medical and tell him (the vet on call) when the last time he had any supplement or medication. I said the last time he had a Derramax (for his hips) was a week ago, but he gets Glucosamine and Chondrotin supplements nightly.So the doctor goes back to prep for surgery and the assistant comes in and gives us an estimate. Then we go home and wait (we left at 3:46). Crocuta and our friend go to bed. I stay up and sew more ears and glue head fabric onto head. Then the doctor calls at 6:20 saying that they are finishing up and to call back around 9 am to see how he's waking up. The vet double checks on when I last gave the Derramax so they can give a Rimadyl post-op injection. I call at 9 and he's doing ok but he's slow to wake out of anesthesia. Then I finally go to bed. The other doctor calls at 11 am talking a little about the surgery and I wish i was more awake, but too sleepy for questions. They said come get Hippo at 6 pm.
Oh, the surgery (in case anyone doesn't know) is to let the gas out, clean out the stomach and flip it back up and then tack it to the side abdominal wall. So at 5:20 pm Crocuta calls to see if it's still a good idea to pick Hippo up at that time. They say wait until 8 pm since he's still pretty sedated. So we call ahead one more time and then go to get him at 8 pm. We bring him home with antibiotics and a slew of medications for swelling and pain. Now it's the long road to recovery which will be a few weeks (or more) of bed rest .