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| Biscuit - Where did he come from? |
Well yet again it didn't go to plan. I obviously missed the temperature drop overnight and really got caught out. Sammi ate half of her breakfast, had a small bit of lunch and at 5pm an egg and a carrot. I went to eat my dinner and could hear some activity in the kitchen. I went through and took her for a wee. Her waters broke and by 6pm puppy Biscuit was already here, with Fudge close on his heel by 6.30pm, and then it all stopped, there was nothing.
Two hours is a normal time to wait between births, I've waited longer but during that time have seen activity within the bitch as the little ones make their way to the world, but Sammi just stopped. She was not tired, the boys had come out so easily, but nothing was happening. I walked her around the yard and on advice I gave her calcium to try and get her going, but nothing. Sammi was happy feeding her boys, washing them and relaxed and calm. Though she was fine I become increasingly concerned that something was wrong, I repeat but everything had simply stopped.
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| Biscuit and Fudge |
I called the vet at 9.30pm and was told to give her 30 - 45 mins more. I said I would give her 30 mins then call again. I did and off we went. Beth and Ken were there waiting for me and they agreed there was nothing in the birth canal. By now my fear was that the remaining puppies had died ... but Sammi was of course my priority. I was told that the safest cause of action was to go ahead with a cesarean. I agreed, but I was honestly terrified.
Ken described her condition as "Uterine inertia." I googled it after coming home ... "The main symptom is the inability to initiate the process of birthing (parturition) at the end of the normal gestation period. Often the patient is bright and alert and does not appear to be in distress. In some cases, the bitch may deliver one or two fetuses normally, after which labor ceases, even though there are still more fetuses in the uterus." Well yeah that was exactly it!
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| Wake Up Winnie |
The cesarean went well and I was over the moon to be involved in helping to bring the puppies round. Winnie, Ken and one other really struggled and were very very flat. I wonder how much longer they would have lived without intervention? I kept asking .. "Is Sammi Ok?" I bet they were sick of it, but seeing your bitch in that position with her insides hanging out kind of scares you. I guess it would be more fascinating if it wasn't your pride and joy. Saying that Steve stood there watching every stitch Ken made whilst the rest of us tried to get the puppies going.
It's much harder for me and no doubt the bitch to be faced with 7 hungry puppies in one go than it is during natural birth when you can identify them and make sure they feed individually. We did our best and it took a few hours for the family to settle and become warm and content.
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| First photo at home |
Sammi is great but imagine going to sleep having two babies and waking up to nine, bless her. But at least it will help that she gave birth to two naturally. I also remembered to bring home some of the afterbirth for her to eat .. it really does help to bring down the milk.
Of course we are not out of the woods, the first 36 hrs are critical, there must be adaptations at birth to the major body system, especially the heart. liver and lungs. I won't be relaxing for some time yet!
