6-11-13 Monday (Family Portraits)

I’ll spare you the details (you’ll thank me); I stayed home from work Monday with tummy issues.  You know, the kind that puts you on the toilet way more than you’d like?  As I felt better in the afternoon, I was able to take care of some things around the house. 

Above: Jim installed our family onto the RAV4 and the Mazda.

This week, I replaced our Canon camera with a new.  I bought it 4-22-12.  It wasn’t old but it was damaged several months back by dirt/dust while at Grandma’s 80th birthday party pony ride extravaganza.  I couldn’t get the dirt off the lens and I think I damaged it by trying to.  It caused halos on my photos too often.  I’m not gonna have crappy photos when we go to Alaska.  I checked Amazon, Walmart, etc for a replacement.  Amazon had the best deal.  Walmart.com was like $10 more but offered a 2 year oops I dropped my camera extended warranty for only $15.  They also shipped it to the house at no charge.  I did look into shipping it back to Cannon for repair but they wanted $180.  Since Walmart had it for $110 (red model only, but that’s OK), I’m assuming Canon was just going to replace it for the $180 with a new or refurbished unit.  I might as well buy a new one.  And so I did.

Above: A picture of Dasher for no reason.

Saturday night we went to dinner with Jeff and Paul to Farmhaus Burger.  Before I post my review, I have to tell you that I really don’t search for a better burger anymore.  I love Five Guys, Whataburger (not in NC) and Red Robin.  So I’ve reached a burger plateau.  When I do have a burger, I don’t expect much.  I must say, Farmhaus had a good burger.  A different burger.  The flavor was different and in a good way.  Maybe it’s the meat blend?

Our HAUSmade, dry-aged, double patty beef burgers are made from a custom grind of Chuck, Brisket, and Short Rib sourced from local Southeastern Angus Beef.

They had sweet potato tots.  Not like a standard tot but it was more like a sweet potato croquet.  It could have been better with a pinch of cinnamon and sugar.  The fries were OK.  The onion ring batter was more flour than anything.  Flavorless.  None of us were impressed with them.  But… they had a good burger and it’s a local, non-chain restaurant.

Here’s something we saw Sunday while out for lunch.

Dasher was very ill this weekend.  Here’s the story in blue so you can skip it if you’re not interested, or if you’re like me and hate hearing about sick animals… it tugs at the heart.

On Tuesday, Dasher wasn’t eating much.  He had thrown up a few times around the house.  Wednesday he didn’t eat much again.  He crapped out in the back yard and Jim inspected and found blood in his overly soft stool.  Thursday morning Jim took him to the vet but they scheduled him for 10am instead so he took the day off.  The vet did some tests and gave him some meds.  Anti vomit, antacid and antibiotic.  He prescribed some prescription diet food.  Dasher wouldn’t eat it.  I gave him some puppy wet food which he did eat some off.  By Friday, he seemed to be doing better and with the vet’s blessing, off to Augusta we went.

In Augusta, Dasher wouldn’t eat.  Saturday morning I walked him and he pooped the color and consistency of ketchup.  Really.  Off to the vet we went.  Look at the bottom of Banfield’s board. 

Above: “Have A Awsome Day”.

Luckily we take him to Banfield (out of Petsmart) and his records are accessible at each store.  We also have a Wellness Plan for him that reduces fees, waives office visits, etc.  Anyway, the vet there said things looked normal.  He gave us a deworming treatment just in case.  He suggested mixing chicken broth in Dasher’s food.

Sunday at 3am Dasher had a grand mal seizure.  It lasted for a few minutes and was terrifying.  Drooling, kicking, etc.  At the end of it he was lethargic, out of breath and extremely disoriented.  I wasn’t even sure that he recognized us.  It was heartbreaking.  We went back to sleep and planned to take him to the vet again.  At 7am, he had another grand mal seizure. The vet opened at 9 so we got dressed and headed out a little early, stopping at McDonald’s for breakfast.  I sat in the back seat with Dasher.  We got some food and parked to eat in the car.  Dasher was restless and very clumsy/disoriented.  He grabbed at my food which was unusual and bold.  He actually managed to get a small bite of the bagel part.  He didn’t eat it.  Since he hasn’t been eating, I wanted to accommodate his appetite.  He ate a smidgeon of ham and egg.  I mean, a very small portion.  A piece you might give an infant.  I was still having hopes though.  I mean some food finally, yay.  He had another wicked seizure.  He peed in the pet bed.  We were thankful that we had a water proof pet shield of sorts over the seats.

We finally made it to the vet’s office.  During the exam, the vet left the room to get some IV stuff and anti seizure stuff.  While the vet was gone, Dasher had another bad seizure.  We got the vet back into the room.  During the seizure he was able to anally administer the anti seizure med.

We left Dasher for treatments with the vet.  The doctor said we could come back at four to discuss his current condition.  We went to a Laundromat to wash sheets and clothes in case we had to spend another night.

The vet called us a couple of times with status’ which was awesome.  At a little before 4, he called to say he was doing great and back to normal. 

Dasher wasn’t back to his normal but he seemed generally OK.  He got restless in the car, then peed himself in the pet bed.  We think he had a minor seizure. We got back to the RV, packed up and hit the road.  It was about 6pm.  On the way home, he peed himself again.  We decided to stop and get a waterproof sheet for our bed as well as a shower curtain liner for the couch.  I also put pee pads under each one of his pet beds.  He wouldn’t eat.

Monday morning we stayed home from work.  The bed was dry!  He went outside and peed.  He was looking for food.  I gave him a 1/4 can of the prescription food.  He gobbled it up.  I gave him more.  He didn't want it.  I gave him boiled chicken, nope.  I gave him 1/4 can of Iams.  He ate it.  I gave him more, nope.  I’d say he ate about a 1/2 can.  That made me happy.

We took him for his vet appointment.  They checked his glucose level and he was a little low. The doctor said he was doing fine though.

In the evening we gave him another half a can which he gobbled up.  We added Nutri-Cal that our vet gave us to help with caloric intake and vitamins.  I think he’s back to normal!