[KB Girl]

Oh no  really hope they find something they can fix.. my thoughts are with you guys ❤️

[Harriet]

On 9/22/2022 at 5:52 PM, Scaly Freak said:

 

I spoke too soon.

 

Since I made this post two days ago, Happy Sidekick has still not eaten. Yesterday afternoon she lost interest in drinking water. She is at the vet clinic now, and they are keeping her at least for the day so they can rehydrate her via IV fluids and give her something for her nausea. The initial blood work has ruled out the obvious causes that would have been easy to treat, and they have progressed to stomach x-rays... specifically to try and find either a mass or blooding. There's a possibility this won't end well.  

 

Oh no. I hope she's okay or treatable. It's so stressful when the animals are unwell. One feels so helpless and anxious. Let making them well be within our power!

[Scaly Freak]

I meant to update this last night, but I was exhausted and it was a really fucking long day and other things took over.

 

The short version is that Happy Sidekick is back home and doing much better.  

 

Long version behind the spoiler.

 

Spoiler

The x-rays the vet clinic took were inconclusive, they weren't detailed/clear enough to see whether there was a mass or anything else going on, so the vet didn't have enough info for a diagnosis. The next step after x-rays is to do an ultrasound, which our clinic doesn't have the equipment for, so we were referred to a local veterinary hospital. This is where they would have sent us if  Happy Sidekick needed to be hospitalized overnight, so instead of starting any treatments they send us there right away for ultrasounds and let the hospital do whatever treatments were needed.

 

Long story short.... Happy Sidekick has colitis. This is an inflammation of the colon, that makes the side/lining of the colon swollen and very sensitive. This makes the colon stop functioning properly, which in turn causes nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and it also causes the lining of the colon to slowly dissolve which in turn of course causes considerable pain. 

 

My poor dog  

 

Our regular vet as well as the doctor at the vet hospital were both very concerned about the fact Happy Sidekick had been refusing to drink water for what was over 24 hours at this point, while continuing to lose fluids via, shall we say, the back end of her digestive system. The vet hospital gave her a treatment of subcutaneous fluids, medicines against nausea and pain (she has severe arthritis and had at this point gone for three days without taking her pain meds), and by 8 PM last night we were finally able to take her home along with a set of detailed outpatient treatment instructions, as well as medication to alleviate her symptoms and help the colon recover.

 

Happy Sidekick has spent her time sleeping hard, but she is walking on her own, she has not had any vomit or diarrhea accidents in the house since we came back (Yet! Fingers crossed!), and most importantly, she's been actively trying to find and drink water more times this morning than in the past few days. Our regular vet called this morning to check on the patient, and advised us to keep providing water and encourage her to drink. As far as eating, Happy Sidekick is on a doctor-ordered diet of white rice and bland chicken for at least a week, and the vet said that bland yogurt can also be an option. She also reminded us (which we remember from when Happy Sidekick had surgery early in her life) that the first few bites are the hardest and once Happy Sidekick realizes she is hungry, making her eat will be easier.

 

She's getting better. This could have been so much worse.

 

[Harriet]

9 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

I meant to update this last night, but I was exhausted and it was a really fucking long day and other things took over.

 

The short version is that Happy Sidekick is back home and doing much better.  

 

Long version behind the spoiler.

 

 

It sounds like it's treatable or gets better by itself? That's great, I'm glad she's going to be okay.

[Scaly Freak]

19 minutes ago, Harriet said:

 

It sounds like it's treatable or gets better by itself? That's great, I'm glad she's going to be okay.

 

A combination of the two, sort of. The inflammation gets better by itself once the stomach calms down and no longer has to digest "tough" foods, and this is achieved by treatments. She has one anti-diarrhea medicine and one probiotic supplement, that we are to give her for seven days (force feeding pills to a nauseous dog is not fun, by the way). The medicine and the bland diet are supposed to allow the colon to rest, which gives it an opportunity to heal from the inflammation.

[KB Girl]

Poor dog, but really the best possible news! So glad she’s starting to get better 🙏🏻 

[Scaly Freak]

1 hour ago, KB Girl said:

Poor dog, but really the best possible news! So glad she’s starting to get better 🙏🏻 

 

She certainly appears to be. She continues to resist the medications, but she's not fighting it or us very much when we give it to her anymore, as long as we give her chicken right after the pills (which we do, of course, to make sure the pills go down all the way) She also seems to genuinely enjoy her convalescence diet of white rice and bland chicken. Especially the chicken. It's supposed to be boiled without any salt or seasonings, so I save the water after the boiling is done, and use that to make the rice-chicken mix more gooey (since hydration remains a primary concern), and Happy Sidekick eagerly devours this fragrant home made food with all the enthusiasm we could hope for.  

 

 

[Scaly Freak]

I will be a bit slow with updates until middle of next week or so, since the dog is priority right now, and also because I'm exhausted. Cleaning up vomit and other fluids, consecutive nights of lost sleep from listening for gagging noises and changes in breathing patterns, is all on my list of Things I'm Supposed To Be Spared Because We Don't Have Kids and while I'm not resentful about caring for our dog, I am very tired and have had a low key headache for days. I have no idea how parents do this, and even less of an idea how anyone who is single does this either for pets or dogs - without Husband's unwavering support and constant presence.... this week would have been a wildfire disaster. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I suspected the dog would be pleased with that diet when you mentioned it. I hope you get some rest.

[Scaly Freak]

1 minute ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I suspected the dog would be pleased with that diet when you mentioned it. I hope you get some rest.

 

I had a two-hour nap earlier this afternoon, and it helped. There may also be an early bedtime in my future...   

[Mad Hatter]

Oof I'm so sorry about doggo, but I'm glad she's on the mend!

[Harriet]

17 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

I had a two-hour nap earlier this afternoon, and it helped. There may also be an early bedtime in my future...   

 

Sounds like a plan. Cooking rice in chicken water sounds pleasing, somehow. There must be a recipe trying to get out.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

 

Sounds like a plan. Cooking rice in chicken water sounds pleasing, somehow. There must be a recipe trying to get out.

Chicken broth instead of water when making rice works well.

[Scaly Freak]

17 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Chicken broth instead of water when making rice works well.

 

Beef broth as well. 

[Harriet]

7 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Chicken broth instead of water when making rice works well.

 

7 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Beef broth as well. 

 

Of course rice can be improved with the addition of meat and salt. What can't? Other than creme brulee.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

 

 

Of course rice can be improved with the addition of meat and salt. What can't? Other than creme brulee.

Counterpoint, candied bacon.

[Harriet]

3 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Counterpoint, candied bacon.

Counterpoint received, deliberated upon, ratified and double stamped.

[Harriet]

Although we might ask whether it is the candy that is improved by the bacon, or the bacon by the candy.

[KB Girl]

On 9/25/2022 at 2:01 AM, Scaly Freak said:

I will be a bit slow with updates until middle of next week or so, since the dog is priority right now, and also because I'm exhausted. Cleaning up vomit and other fluids, consecutive nights of lost sleep from listening for gagging noises and changes in breathing patterns, is all on my list of Things I'm Supposed To Be Spared Because We Don't Have Kids and while I'm not resentful about caring for our dog, I am very tired and have had a low key headache for days. I have no idea how parents do this, and even less of an idea how anyone who is single does this either for pets or dogs - without Husband's unwavering support and constant presence.... this week would have been a wildfire disaster. 

You're a good dog-mom. Sick dogs are worse than sick kids in my experience. Ofcourse kids are sick much more frequently and have a million other things going on, but still. 

Glad you don't have to do this alone and hooray for naps  

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

5 hours ago, Harriet said:

Although we might ask whether it is the candy that is improved by the bacon, or the bacon by the candy.

Candying is, I believe, a process done unto the bacon, so I think we get to sidestep that particular semantic minefield.

[Scaly Freak]

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Candying is, I believe, a process done unto the bacon, so I think we get to sidestep that particular semantic minefield.

 

Your assumption about the candying process is correct. And candied bacon is a marvel and a joy.

[Harriet]

11 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Candying is, I believe, a process done unto the bacon, so I think we get to sidestep that particular semantic minefield.

 

I think so. So then adding bacon to creme brulee doesn't really improve the creme brulee, but adding brulee to bacon improves the bacon. I think this is right, because although I love bacon, sometimes I want creme brulee, which is perfect without alteration.

[sarakingdom]

21 hours ago, Harriet said:

Although we might ask whether it is the candy that is improved by the bacon, or the bacon by the candy.

 

15 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Candying is, I believe, a process done unto the bacon, so I think we get to sidestep that particular semantic minefield.

 

Alternatively, for the more scientific among us, this experiment:

 

On plate A, there is a piece of bacon and a piece of candied bacon. Which do you eat?

 

On plate B, there is a piece of caramel and a piece of candied bacon. Which do you eat?

 

In my case, it's the plain bacon from A, and the candied bacon from B, so it's very much the candy being improved by the bacon rather than  the other way around. The bacon is clearly the element of higher value in the candy-bacon mixture.

 

What does not yet exist, however, is a transitive property of bacon improvement, where, because food A improves food B and food B improves food C, food A must improve food C. Despite the fact that bacon improves caramel and caramel improves creme brulee custard, it is not therefore a given that bacon improves creme brulee custard. This is clearly a topic of future study for bacon mathematicians.

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

Alternatively, for the more scientific among us, this experiment:

 

On plate A, there is a piece of bacon and a piece of candied bacon. Which do you eat?

 

On plate B, there is a piece of caramel and a piece of candied bacon. Which do you eat?

 

In my case, it's the plain bacon from A, and the candied bacon from B, so it's very much the candy being improved by the bacon rather than  the other way around. The bacon is clearly the element of higher value in the candy-bacon mixture.

 

Bacon is certainly more valuable than candy. But creme brulee has the element of dairy, which is a weighty one, especially for this particular organism. Brulee perfects creme. Creme is the treasure.

 

2 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

What does not yet exist, however, is a transitive property of bacon improvement, where, because food A improves food B and food B improves food C, food A must improve food C. Despite the fact that bacon improves caramel and caramel improves creme brulee custard, it is not therefore a given that bacon improves creme brulee custard. This is clearly a topic of future study for bacon mathematicians.

 

I think you've already sussed out the bacon logic. Ingredient based improvements are simply not transitive.

[Mistr]

I hope Happy Sidekick is getting better and you are getting some rest.