there was no DD yesterday.. problem being -- there was no
yesterday just one long 48 hour day
result being 3 lovely pups and a fridge overflowing with
chinese food.
it was--- and is an education worth sharing...
noel is not what you would call an enthusiastic mother
starting with the fact that i have never seen pups born with as little
effort... luna's or chaos's contractions were all body experiences--
in noel's case- it was more-- , she would wander around looking bewildered
and something would fall out
i did not put the exact details in th e explore comments
because things were happening too fast ... now that we have 3 apparently
healthy pups - i can explain our actions a bit better.
george had done an ultrasound and said 4
pups.....
what fell out of noel at 7am had not been a puppy for at least
a week.and i thought.... thousands of people watching and we could have 3 dead
pups next... when she did not have any real contractions and was only slightly
uncomfortable- we finally went to the vets.- thinking ??c-section? it was
somewhere between 60 and 65 days since she was bred.
so they took xrays-- and 2 of the vets thought we should just
wait on any oxytocin ( produces stronger contractions)- they both said 2 normal
pups and one that did not look as big as the other 2.. but suggested we wait til
her contractinos were normal.
we started home - stopping at staples for a quick purchase
-- i came out to find noel had dropped her firstborn in the van-- megan was in
attendence -- and it all seemed normal- so we drove home. -- settling noel in
what was to be her whelping area.- the best she could do is decide whatever that
thing was--it smelled funny.- and we settled in--?3 hours later she passed a
piece of something and an hour after that an absolutely lifeless pup-- i
struggled to get it started with puppy cpr...- to no avail.- by the vet's count-
we only had th e one other pup in there and it did it look as "normal" as the
other 2--
i tried to get the camera people prepared for another
disaster when after 2 minor pushes another lifeless pup was born.. except we
could get this one going... it screamed-- we cheered-- and everyone felt
better we had 2 pups... both nursing...
we did not have the last afterbirth-- so the vet suggested
we give her one shot of oxytocin to see if she would pass it.
an hour later megan took her out to pee, and came back in-
still waiting for the aftrbirth when megan said she thought she saw it coming--
and then said-- it is white--and then " IT IS A PUPPY-- A HARL !!"
turned out to be a female beautifully marked harlequin. who
screamed--normally and nursed right away..... the final 2 afterbirths came after
that.
sooooo ..... for all you "normal" breeders who tell me "go
have an xray to find out....." let us go back ..
i made the statement months ago i didn't bother to have an
xray/ultrasound to determine the number of pups because
i have never had them be right"
george is gonna kill me for that one.
that is a remark that still holds true--- it was at some
point valuable knowledge to know IF there were any pups... but
george said 4 from the ultrasound -- technically he said "at
least 4' so he is covered...
after one born dead-- 2 other vets said 2 possibly 3 when
there were still 4..
how does that make you feel about xrays in
general???
"oh... your arm is not broken" and a few days later "well
maybe you have a slight hairline..."
medicine is an art.... not a science.
today schedule?
we have none
we will need experienced puppy wizzers-- because noel has not
go into the full time care business yet...
