Friday, May 20th……
I’ve been sick with the stomach flu for two full days. Today starts day three. I am feeling a bit better, but this morning when the dogs wanted out at 6:00a.m., all I wanted to do was let them out and go back to bed. I put Maggie and Buttercup out the back door in a little fenced in area to potty, then I’m off to let the other dogs out, feed and water the horses, chickens, blah, blah, you get the picture. I’m about half way done with my chores when Buttercup shows up. She goes over fences and that’s what gets her into trouble. Yes, even with her big fat pregnant belly. Granted this fence was only about thirty six inches tall, but she decided she’d been in there long enough. So I scooped her up and put her back in the house while I finished up. So, I’m out in the back yard filling up the bird water bath and I hear “Maggie” whining in the pen where I had put her and Buttercup earlier. I looked at her and thought, “Boy, you’ve got the wimpiest little whine I’ve ever heard!” I continue to listen to “her” whine for what was probably only a minute or so, and then it dawns on me. I raced over to the pen and there’s a puppy in the grass! Oh, Buttercup! By my calculations and her past record, I didn’t think she’d deliver until tomorrow. Of course she had to start this morning, when all I wanted to do was go back to bed!
So I’m thinking I should change my kennel name to Murphy Law Kennel. Guess that wouldn’t go over real well with the public though. Kind of gives a bad impression, doesn’t it? Ha Ha! I’ve got a friend that refers to her farm that way, because weird things always seem to happen. I mean she’s got a small herd of horses; old, blind, Cushions disease, etc, that she calls the “Nerd Herd”. Plus a conglomeration of other horses, cows, dogs, cats and whatever injured, or sick thing that ends up there. But she’s got a big heart and takes care of them all. Sorry, I’m getting a bit off track. (Must be the effects of the flu and lack of food-brain fade.)
So the first thing to do is get the puppy in and warmed up. I rub him down with a towel and stick him in the crate with mom. Plug in the heating pad, and then I’m off to chop kindling to start up the ol’ wood stove. (The dogs whelp there litters in the living room right next to the wood stove.) The fire is started and I rub down the puppy some more as I sit near the stove, its heat radiating towards the little one. When the heating pad is warmed up; I put him back in a smaller crate with mom and cover the whole thing with a towel. It’s a traumatic beginning for the poor guy, but hopefully he will pull through ok.
Ok, this may be a play by play of the day….so the drama continues.
Time has passed and I have done what I know of to help mom along and nothing has happened. So I start to contact the vet about a possible C-section. The first vet I call is closed and has on their message that they won’t even be taking any emergencies through the weekend, to call one of the other vets in town. The next vet that I’ve used quite frequently tells me they are absolutely booked and can’t help me. I call the last vet in our “local” (within an hour +) area. This is my main vet clinic that I’ve used over the years. I like the docs there and they do a wonderful job, but they are overall the most expensive! Now, I don’t mind paying for good vet care, but when you charge twice as much and more (for some things) I’m going to shop around.
I’m still not feeling great and so my son drove Buttercup into the vet while I stayed home to tube feed the one pup. And now, we wait for news…..
Later, the vet calls after she examines Buttercup and thinks we have a big, dead pup in there, but she also hears a heartbeat. I give the go ahead for the C-section, then sit back and wait for the next phone call.
A couple hours pass and I get the vet’s next phone call with happy news! She has delivered three live puppies. Thankfully, there was no dead pup after all.
A while later I head into town to pick up mom and the pups. Three beautiful, healthy babies; two girls, one boy (the little one at home is also a boy). We’ve got colors that we’ve never had available before. Three are black and tan and the last one is a beautiful chocolate brown with some black overlay on her face and back and also lighter tan contrasts on her legs.
Oh, honey…. I think I have the Cavapoo I wanted to keep for myself! *wink*
