#stuffed animal hospital

[doctorbeth]

A happy colorful monster

Have you heard of My Pet Monster? It's a cartoon from 1986, which had one season (also apparently there's a live movie). You can stream it if you like. But for the purposes of this story, the most important fact is that the star was a very colorful smily, monster. And in January of last year, one of the cuddly plush versions was discovered in the back of a closet (so I guess he was a moonlighting as a closet monster?).

In any case, his original person found him, and wanted to gift him to his own daughters, but this monster had clearly had a rough time in the closet. Here is one of his diagnosis photos:

You can see the wound on his chest, and that his teeth are coming out. His feet and hands were vinyl, and had gotten that sticky feel that old vinyl sometimes gets.... and he needed a bath!

It took almost a year, but in December, the monster's family wrote again. Could we schedule treatment and an appointment for him?

Of course! The hospital was pretty full at the beginning of the year (not uncommon) so we scheduled his appointment for early March.

He arrived and the first step was a spa. He's quite large, so he got the large pink tub. :-)

Next he got restuffed, with a heart of original stuffing included ... who knows where his magic is stored, so it's important to keep at least a bit of original stuffing!

For his feet and hands, I can't replicate the printed nails on vinyl, but we didn't really want to do vinyl again anyway for the feel. So his person and I agreed to recover his feet and hands in new black velvet and then give him new nails from felt in the same teal as the originals. Here he is showing off his manicure and pedicure:

And here he is all better... even his fabric surrounding his tusks has been reglued:

and so he flew home to Colorado!

[spicebiter]

Mr. Cuddles' Spa Day

My roommate, who I will be referring to as K throughout this post for the sake of simplicity, has a teddy bear he loves to death and takes with him anywhere he'll have to sleep at least one night. His name is Cuddles. This was him before I got to work on fixing him up:

Mr. Cuddles is unable to sit up, his fur is matted and his fluff compressed. His ribbon used to be a lot less thin and he's decorated with hair ties and friendship bracelets K didn't like to wear himself. There are spots on his feet and paws that are made of less furry fabric and these are spotted with stains gathered over two decades. K told me he couldn't be sure, but the number of times Mr. Cuddles has been washed through the years could likely be counted on one hand.

For as dirty as he's become, Cuddles is in good shape! He has no holes or spots where his fur is warn through and his nose is sewn with no loose threads to speak of, though K reports he has no mouth which is odd for such a nose style. Cuddles will be receiving a wash + brush, re-stuffing, and a new bow all before it's time for K to go to bed.

First comes taking out his old fluff.

Inside the layer of dirty and compressed fluff was a layer that was fairly pristine! However, the outer layer was so old and saturated with body oils from years of cuddling that it had all but fused to the inside of the fur like an odd velcro. A bit of a challenge, but nothing that couldn't be taken care of.

With all his fluff removed, Cuddles moved on to a soak in hot water mixed with a mild detergent, fabric softener, and a bit of vinegar to help get rid of odor and bacteria. It was here that I began brushing out his fur with a slicker brush, getting every inch but focusing mostly on the matted areas around his paws and face.

It was at this stage that I discovered Mr. Cuddles had a mouth! The area around his snout had become so matted and tangled it hid the single lines of stitching that gave the bear a charming smile- Something K hadn't seen in so long he'd forgotten it even existed.

With his fur brushed, I left Cuddles to relax while I prepared for his later re-stuffing.

K chose a choice bit of fluff and I sewed up a heart using a fabric he'd chosen earlier in the week.

I forgot to take pictures of this but we also clipped a portion of Cuddles' old bow to tie around this heart before it was given to Cuddles.

Thoroughly washed and rinsed, we took Mr. Cuddles on a short trip to our local laundromat for a dry, with a few dryer balls to give him a massage.

Dry and fluffy once more, it's hard once again to see Cuddles' mouth, but parting his fluff to see that smile is no longer the trial it was. Stuffed to K's satisfaction, his heart implanted, and a bow tied and sewn in place, Cuddles was ready for bedtime!

K opted for a bow with shorter tails, in a blue gingham pattern that looks dashing against Cuddles' newly cleaned fur. He's able to sit up on his own, and although K opted to not include the bag of beans that once weighted him he is a pleasant weight and is altogether perfectly squeezable.

[squeekbeep]

someone tucked this poor guy behind the garbage can on my porch, i decided to try and fix him up. i named him harland. kinda thought about putting him back in case the person who put him there wants him back, but i really want to keep him. should i?

poor thing was very dirty and ripped up. he looked like a dog got ahold of him and buried him a few times too.

i unstuffed him, and cleaned him several times. he has new stuffing and is all patched up now!

originally, harland had a mirror on his tummy but it was so damaged i replaced it with a patch that i've been wanting to use but unsure of where to put it. i think he deserves it. :')

[lemon-ghostea]

a cute nurse design based on those stuffed animal hospitals!! I wanna do a bigger illustration with her in the future

[ID: digital drawing of a girl in a nurse costume getting ready to sew a button eye back onto a crying stuffed bear. The girl has dark skin, pink curly hair, and wears a white dress that resembles scrubs with red and pink heart details . She smiles and holds the bear in one arm while holding a needle with red thread in the other. In a heart shaped speech bubble we can see her saying “let’s get you stitched up!” end ID]

[kitsunaii]

Had to do surgery on a Dragonite to swap the sound chip batteries.

[goobersplat]

A niche category of plush I like, Get Well Soon Frogs :)

1. “Russ” Get Well Soon Frog with Bandage & Ice

2. “The Petting Zoo” Bounce Back Soon Frog Get Well Soon

3. “Berkeley” Hanging Arms Get Well Soon Frog

4. Singing, Dancing, Light Up Thermometer Frog

[lakeville-lolita]

have you ever seen a portal?

abandoned medical examiner’s office

[inthedarktrees]

Accident ...death by burning

Los Angeles Examiner, January 23, 1952

[lil-kozy-kollector]

I'm clean, clean bed, and cozy friends!

Bedtime soon, friends!

[vanillabeenflower]

I had an idea:

Sparkle-Care Bears

[doctorbeth]

U-Chan the pink bunny

U-Chan's person's mom wrote:

"Hello I am interested in your services for repairing my daughter’s #1 love - her bunny."

I'm sure many of you could empathize with that description of a stuffed animal! And the bunny was very well hugged indeed. Here is her diagnosis photo:

There were many options for her repairs... just repairing holes, lining her, recovering all or part of her, to clean or not to clean. Her family decided to recover her pink areas (with the most balding and holes) in new fabric but keep her white areas original, just stitching any injuries there. And she would get a full spa to spruce her up as well.

Here she is in her bubble bath (patients always have a bath first, if they will get one at all, because then all fur is matched to clean and fluffed fur):

Then it was time to choose fur. There were many shades of pink and lengths of fur. Her family was leaning toward a shorter furry fleece, closer in length to her white fur, but wasn't sure. So I recovered one back panel in it and sent a photo for approval:

Approved! surgery would proceed. :-)

Here's here heart being made and installed with a bit of her original stuffing:

And here she is all better, feeling like a new rabbit, but still her original self. All her original pink was under new fur, and her original white was all visible:

Looks great! wrote her family. So U-Chan flew home to Minnesota ready for more hugs and adventures. :-)

[build-a-buddy]

RED ALERT THE BEAST IS IN MY HOUSE I REPEAT IT IS IN MY HOUSE

[squeekbeep]

before and after teddy restoration

he was found in a house that was neglected for 20+ years, and in rough condition. he was very stinky and dirty. i think he feels boatloads better after a weekend at the spa! :)

[utsuutu]

[dreamdropcompanions]

11/29/23 blurry DD system here. we had am Endoscopy today and spend the day in the hospital. we took Cheese with us for support. it was a lot. we had a lot of feelings. the doctor said our stomach looked normal but they are gonna do testing to see if theres any inflammation. today was a very hard day cause we started processing some childhood trauma. it's beem a lot - The Dreamdrop System

[kaizokuseb]

dear tumblr,

how do you wash a big teddy bear? for a small one, i would be willing to put it in the washer and then dry it once or more, but this thing is huge, too big for my washer. i keep it on my bed, and i’ve never washed it before, but i spilled beer on one of the paws. i’m hoping that’s good because it’s not on the main body, but it’s also not shallow enough to spot clean.

i truly have no idea how to handle this, and i’m going to be really sad if i have to get rid of teddy because of mold or some shit. should i take him to a laundromat? a dry cleaner?