Dog emergency

@dlkuku (1935)
United States
March 14, 2007 6:44am CST
Last Thursday I had to take my dog to the Vet, she was in labor and was unable to have to her puppies. I have previous dog breeding experience, and when my English Springer continued to struggle, passing green fluid, I knew something was terribly wrong. Calling the Vet, I explained the situation and she told me that she was definately trying to have a puppy to wait about another hour and if she hadn't given birth by then to bring her in. I sat with the dog, watching her and trying to comfort her for the next hour, she kept straining and straining with no results. I then loaded her carefully in the car and took her to the Vet. The Vet examined her and said she would need to do xrays to see what the problem was. The xrays showed a passel of pups, with one just above the birth canal. What was wrong? My dog has developed arthritis in her spine and the way her spine is curved was preventing her from giving birth. In other words, the pups were stuck. Since she had lost a lot of fluid, the Vet wasn't sure if the pups were still alive or not, and we immediately decided that a ceasarean along with a spay was in the best interest of the dog. My dog made it through the surgery with flying colors, along with six of her seven pups. One of the pups wasn't doing to well at first, she was listless and not breathing too well, and we had to keep her warm and rub her to stimulate her. Fortunately, the pup rallied and is now doing just as well as her siblings. I brought my dog home several hours later, the Vet wanted her home because she was nervous and wouldn't nurse. After we got home, she still wouldn't nurse, she was skittish around the pups, I don't think she knew what they were!I ran to the store and bought bottles and puppy formula, and we then proceeded to bottle feed them over the course of the next several hours. Knowing it was better for my dog and her pups for her to nurse them, I then worked on getting her to accept them. I placed her in her kennel, along with the box full of pups, so that she would get used to the sound and smell of them. After a couple of hours, when it was getting close for the pups to feed, I gradually took them out of the box and placed them near her, watching her so that she wouldn't hurt them. The pups made their way to her and started nursing, and my dog just sat there looking at me as if she was put out and disgusted with me. I just watched her for a while, and after a time she actually began sniffing at them, then cleaning them. Ah, success!!Tomorrow, the pups will be a week old and I am happy to report that Mama is taking care of her pups like an old pro! And I don't have to feed them every two hours!
3 responses
@Indiffer (287)
• Norway
14 Mar 07
AAAAW. Im so happy everything went well, you must have been so worried! Great that the mommy figured it all out too and accepted her babies. Have you named the puppies yet? Are you keeping them all or do you have other plans?
@Indiffer (287)
• Norway
15 Mar 07
Just find them good homes. They all deserve that after that rough start. Good luck to you and all the dogs.
1 person likes this
@dlkuku (1935)
• United States
15 Mar 07
Oh, I will, they are so precious! I just hope it won't be hard to find them homes.
@prestocaro (1251)
• United States
14 Mar 07
I'm so glad everything turned out OK. What a scary ordeal. The pic of the pup looks so cute. I love your patience and your writing voice! I can just see her giving you the "oh, brother" look when the pups start nursing :)
@dlkuku (1935)
• United States
15 Mar 07
It was scary and a hard day, it didn't help that I was sick, worked night shift the night before and was going on zero sleep. Thanks for the compliment on my writing! I still laugh when I think of the look on her face, her big brown eyes looking up at me like I did something wrong! LOL
@dlhnola (70)
• United States
14 Mar 07
So glad to hear all worked out well.
1 person likes this
@dlkuku (1935)
• United States
14 Mar 07
Thanks, me too!