Day 1403

Dot does not have a brain tumor. This is very good news. She still has seizures, of course, and we're not quite sure what's causing them, but seizures can be controlled. Although there's still something very wrong, it's reassuring to know that Dot's brain is as normal as a Dalmatian's brain can be. I'm always fascinated with MRI images. They're so clear and detailed. The imaging technicians took hundreds of images of Dot and if you put them together in sequence, you would have a detailed movie of what's going on inside her head. Some of these images show the eyes and the optic nerve. Others show the tongue and the esophagus. This slice seems to be centered in the middle of her head and shows the spinal cord attaching to the base of the brain. It was a stressful day, but everything is back to normal now. Dot recovered so quickly that she even wanted to take her evening walk.

Since the Animal Imaging Center isn't located nearby, I spent quite a while transporting Dot to and from her MRI appointment. The scan itself took less than an hour, but since she had to be anesthetized for the procedure, she was at the imaging center for most of the day. The place is pretty amazing. They have one of the most advanced MRI machines in the entire country. It is one of a small handful of MRI machines in the world that is large enough to accommodate horses. The facility is located in an equestrian center because most of the clients are horse owners. Lots of top race and show horses come to the facility to have injuries evaluated. Under ordinary circumstances Dot likes being around horses. Today was different though. She had no interest in horses. All she wanted to do was come home again.

Anesthesia often causes nausea in both people and animals. Dot woke up feeling a little under the weather and the trip back home during rush hour traffic didn't make things any better. She threw up in the car and seemed to feel better afterwards. I guess it was only a matter of time before one of the dogs threw up in the new car. If you have a dog and you have a car, the dog is going to vomit in it sooner or later.

The artwork of the Dalmatian without any spots came out very nice. I picked up the life-size image at the printer today and I think this will make a cute game at the children's carnival. We'll make the spots out of peel and stick black vinyl and let the kids choose where to place them on the dog. I guess we need to name the dog too.

I was lucky that there were no pressing deadlines today. I certainly didn't have a lot of time to write or make website revisions. I know that some of my clients read the blog, so maybe they just cut me some slack today. I'm hoping for an uneventful weekend. We all need a little rest around here.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day