Back to Normal: Buster Says Thanks in Licks
Bad scare with Buster this week: gassy, uncomfortable, not himself. Vet guidance followed, gas drops given, and now he is back to normal and licking his favourite human all day. This post is the scare timeline plus the recovery markers that told me he was back. Strictly personal record, not vet advice of any kind. I state no products, no amounts, no guidance; everything followed our vet’s direction by phone and in person. Not vet advice, only my sheet. Chill guy, scary week, happy ending. The licks say what words cannot.
The scare: Tuesday evening
Signs noted early, vet contacted first, the order that matters. Signs: skipped evening hay (first refusal on record), sitting hunched, belly pressing the tile (stretching for comfort, watched closely). Call placed within the hour; guidance received and followed exactly; recheck booked. Night watch: 2-hour checks till midnight (movement logged each time), water offered hourly, hay refreshed at 22:00 (nibbled, first hope). Eating plus hopping plus licking equal my recovery markers, the trio I watch for, vet-confirmed as sensible home observation. Morning: improved, appointment attended, findings and plan received (their words in the read-only box, same as Lola’s sheet method).
Recovery log: markers day by day
- Signs noted early, vet contacted first, Tuesday 19:00 observed, 19:40 called, guidance same night
- Eating + hopping + licking = recovery markers, Wednesday: hay returning; Thursday: full binky (premature, supervised, joyful); Friday: lick campaign begins
- Thank-you licks accepted all day long, Friday through Sunday, favourite human anointed repeatedly, face washed thoroughly
Adorable baby, chill guy, professional thanker. The diary closes the scare page tonight, markers all green: appetite normal 3 days running, movement full, licks abundant. Compare with my sick-day sheet method (same exact-times discipline) and the weigh-in calm (numbers steady throughout, ballast in the storm). Back to normal: Buster says thanks in licks, all day, everyday since. Scary week survived by speed-dial and sheet. Happy ending, logged.
Scare-week economics and aftercare
Week costs tallied: one vet visit (worth it), three nights of 2-hour checks (sleep debt: real), parsley budget doubled (morale spending, approved). Returns: appetite fully back day 4, binky day 5, lick campaign day 6 onward, ROI excellent. Aftercare protocol per vet’s plan (followed to the letter): hay monitoring continues a fortnight (speed logged nightly), weight checked twice (steady, ballast confirmed), recheck attended (cleared). Thank-you licks: accepted all day long through the full recovery week, face, hands, sleeves (all washed, all re-licked). Professional thanker status: certified, framed mentally. The licks say what words cannot, gratitude, relief, routine restored. Scare page closed with all markers green and one chill guy flopped mid-room.
Speed-dial lessons
Lessons filed from the scare: signs early beat signs late (hay refusal at 19:00, called 19:40, the 40 minutes that mattered), parallel logging beats memory (exact times handed over, vet nodded), night watches beat worrying (checking beats tossing). The vet-number sheet now lives in three places (fridge, carrier lid, phone favorites). Chill guy, scary week, happy ending, the diary’s shortest summary of its longest nights. Buster’s file joins Lola’s in the health archive: scare, speed, recovery. Licks ongoing; sheet complete; humans relieved beyond measure.
Buster’s thank-you tour, week two: licks extended to visitors (two guests anointed), to the vet tech (return visit, remembered fondly), to the sheet itself (nuzzled during logging, data approved). Recovery complete past all markers: appetite enthusiastic, hops full-height, licks freely given. The scare fades; the gratitude stays. Chill guy status re-certified; professional thanker title retained for life. Diary entry final: scary week, fast response, full recovery. The licks said it all along, thanks, relief, routine. Sheet filed; Buster flopped; humans exhaling at last.
Sheet music: the recovery’s greatest hits, hay returning (day 3, sweetest sound), full binky (day 5, supervised joy), lick campaign (day 6 onward, faces washed daily). The scare teaches once; the sheet remembers forever. Speed-dial saved; kit staged; humans trained. Buster thanks; diary closes; chill resumes. Licks: the final word, spoken daily.
Recovery wisdom, distilled: notice fast (hay refusal at dinner, hours matter), call early (same evening beats next morning), log parallel (memory blurs, ink doesn’t), watch markers (eating, hopping, licking, the trinity). Aftercare patience: full normalcy takes days past the scare (appetite first, zoomies last). Thank-you phase: longest phase, best phase (licks daily, faces clean). Chill guy restored; scary week archived; happy ending shelved with honors. The sheet’s final line: all green, all grateful.
Markers green, licks flowing, chill restored. Scare archived; gratitude active; Buster flopped mid-room. Sheet complete; humans breathing normally at last.
Recovery complete; licks continuing indefinitely.
Sheet starred; Buster licking; week survived beautifully.
Second-week epilogue: appetite enthusiastic past baseline (eating like the scare never happened), zoomies resumed at full speed (supervised first two, then cleared), lick campaign expanded to mornings (wake-up service, new offering). Prevention routine going forward, vet-blessed: hay speed watched nightly (the early marker), water intake glanced daily, weigh-ins weekly through the month (steady, filed). The scare’s permanent gifts: the carrier-lid number, the fridge sheet, the 40-minutes-that-mattered lesson. Buster’s file: scare, speed, recovery, gratitude. Closed with honors and licks.
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