Scott Madin @smadin@mastodon.social
pet illness
Marlowe got an echocardiogram today at the critical care vet unit, and he has a high-grade second-degree AV block, which is probably the root cause of the heart disease that put him into congestive heart failure. It puts him at risk of sudden death, and the only treatment is a pacemaker, which would cost $12-15k plus followups, is an invasive surgery with long recovery, and wouldn't extend the baseline median post-CHF survival rate of 1 year.
pet illness
after more than a week of being very stable on his meds, Marlowe was breathing at an elevated rate all of yesterday (though he was still happy to eat plenty of food, at least), and when he was still around 60 breaths per minute hours after his evening meds, I decided I'd better take him to the 24/7 vet ER. They admitted him late last night and he'll be staying there 2 to 3 days, getting an echocardiogram tomorrow. I'm a fucking wreck.
pet illness
nowhere can get him in for an EKG anytime soon though, which is frustrating
pet illness
Marlowe ate a pretty good amount of his breakfast yesterday, but wouldn't touch his dinner. I'm a little concerned about whether he's drinking enough. I gave him the water from a can of tuna and he slurped that down instantly. This morning he was a little fussy about his pills but not too bad, and he came into the kitchen to use the litter box and drink some water, and ate a little of his breakfast. his breath rate is still very good.
Scott Madin
boosted
pet illness
since the early afternoon, his breathing has been at a normal rate (below 40/minute) every time I've counted, maybe it just took a little while for the meds to start really working. he came into the kitchen to actively ask for dinner, even though he only ate a little of it when I put it down.
pet illness
but I'm still super stressed and worried
pet illness
Marlowe seems to be somewhat better today, he still barely touched his breakfast but has eagerly eaten every treat I've offered (probably a dozen or 15 so far), and also very happily ate his pills in their pill pockets, even the big ones. he hasn't been drinking much water, but he takes a little sippy every now and then. his breathing is still overall faster than it should be, but a lot better than yesterday morning.
pet illness
This morning Marlowe didn't want his breakfast, which is unheard of, and a couple hours later his breathing was rapid and labored. The vet was able to see him right away, and X-rays showed he has congestive heart failure. After stabilizing treatment and observation at the vet, he's home now with meds and a scheduled followup.
I am a fucking _wreck_. he still refused treats after we got home. if he dies before R gets home from Indiana I will never forgive myself.
Scott Madin
boosted
#Nazi brownpants with riot shields parade through #Boston after members pulled out of clown-car U-Haul in Idaho https://www.universalhub.com/2022/nazi-brownpants-riot-shields-parade-through-boston
Scott Madin
boosted
Talked to a lady who works for the tax authority yesterday. Based on her job experience, her take on the welfare state is something like this:
"Of course there will always be freeloaders. So what?! This is about dignity. Everyone has a right to a good life and to be supported when they're struggling. If you want that, you've got to live with the freeloaders. Leave them be. That's the price you pay for a society where everyone is taken care of. It's not like they're doing any damage in the big picture - I've run those numbers more than once. You'll always get more out of it for society at large when you're incentivising good performance than when you're punishing people."
so has anyone else gotten into the novels of John Darnielle
Scott Madin
boosted
if you are building a brand new social media platform and it is not self-hosted and private by default, you are absolutely doing it wrong
Scott Madin
boosted
Raising this year's crop of urban buns #WestEnd #Boston #rabbits https://www.universalhub.com/2022/years-crop-urban-buns
Scott Madin
boosted
The Satanic Temple cannot help you get an abortion, and it does not deserve your support
That is the conclusion of legal scholars, reproductive rights journalists, abortion access orgs, and former members
Scott Madin
boosted
"More specifically, I can’t find a blockchain application whose value has anything to do with the blockchain part, that wouldn’t be made safer, more secure, more reliable, and just plain better by removing the blockchain part."
huh, apparently sometime rather recently an update on masto dot social changed the text on the toot button from "Toot" to "Publish".
pride month stuff
as a very boring cis white man in a committed relationship with a woman it took me until age 40 to persuade myself I was possibly "allowed" to ID as bi, so I still don't really feel like pride month is "for" me, but it's good that it's a thing. just no cops though.
apparently masto mainline has added a "trends" feature*? that's a terrible idea. what's the point of working on a decentralized, not-for-profit alternative to twitter, if you're just going to start replicating all twitter's worst features? what's next, quote-toots?
*[sic]
