The Birth Of The L Litter

Morning all, I've spent a reasonably comfortable night on the camp bed. Only the light from the heart lamp bothering me a little, I do like it dark! Maybe I need a bin bag over my head. I gave Kaiah a drink at around 2.30am and took her out just after 6am. It was then an early wake-up call for Steve (with a cup of tea in bed I hasten to add) I fed the family, but it was too early for Ross, so he's had to go without, eat it or lose it young man! I was then in bed just before 7am and up at 10 ish. After missing a full night of sleep I was shattered. Anyway who cares? On to the matter in hand!

The Pups are now heading towards 36 hrs and that is the first sigh of relief, pups with internal abnormalities usually fade within 36 hrs. These chaps look plumb, round and content. I watched them feed for a while overnight and thought how much easier it was than with Sammi's brood. With the K kids I was continually having to make sure the smaller ones got their share. There is room here for all to feed together in one sitting, and have seconds, no one will miss a meal or have to go on a second sitting .. these will probably put on weight a lot quicker. 

It was around 9.15pm on the 8th when Kaiah's waters broke. She then spent what seemed like an age ripping and digging bedding. This is believed to be a response to normal moderate pain, bitches in difficulties never do it. I was unnerved by her screaming and rang Steve at 10 pm to come and give me some back up. Just having him in the room helped me. When Kaiah leaked fluid but no puppy I investigated further, I was not overly concerned as it was not green fluid which is a danger sign before the first puppy. What I discovered was that there were two back feet presented at her vulva. Lots of puppies are born this way, it's not of any concern, unless it's the first puppy! The first puppy usually "opens the way" for the others. It's a tight road anyway and without the puppy's widest part going first it becomes difficult bordering on impossible for a natural birth. Luckily The Book Of The Bitch talks you through such scenarios, and you have to get your hands dirty,  for the sake of your bitch and the pup you have to get on with it. Steve held her head and with my fingers inside the birth canal I had to twist and gently pull with every contraction. The bag had already burst making it even more difficult for the pup to slide out. Kaiah screamed, but we got there, she soon forgot about the pain when she saw her firstborn! After that the next 4 came out without any difficulties at all. Boy puppy no one was with us by 10.50pm and no 5 arrived at 1.45am. It was all going so well, too well!

Kaiah was having a break, I was not concerned, I could see movement and the odd mild contraction but with every hour that went on I became more worried. Unlike when Sammi just stopped I could see contractions. I walked Kaiah around the snowy yard several times, I offered her drinks but as time went on I became more concerned. With our track and the road into the village closed with snow I had Ceri and his 4 x 4 on standby so I decided to ring the vet. My concerns then became pure frustration when I was confronted by the most ignorant, arrogant most unhelpful vet ever. He was so patronising, I may not be an expert but I do have a degree of knowledge and experience. He told me basically that I should just leave Kaiah to it as whelping can take 12 hrs and more, yes it can but not in between puppies. When I told him I knew there was more to come he said I couldn't possibly know that. When I told him she was scanned for a baseline of 6 he said the scan could be wrong or the puppies reabsorbed. He told me if I needed further assistance I should get her to the surgery for 8.30am! This is where I lost the plot and I told him no, if there was no further developments then I would phone again within the hour. 

After an hour passed and I called Ceri, I got my heat pad and bedding ready to take, I found my mask and on returning to the kitchen I found Kaiah delivering the puppy, a little girl, but she was already dead. Steve and I tried for ages to get her going, using life drops, massage, heat, mouth to mouth, but she was gone. Kaiah was very concerned the whole time, and we gave her the puppy for a good 10 mins so she could accept that she was dead. This is  what hurt me the most, Kaiah didn't seem to accept the pup was dead, she cleaned her and rolled her over and over to try and get her going. When we tried to take the pup away she pulled her back and tried again. I swear I sobbed buckets, the death was bad enough, but Kaiah's unacceptance really got to me. In the end I took Kaiah out for a wee and Steve took the puppy away. My emotions went from sadness to anger at the vet, I knew there was another puppy there and I feel her death could be at his hands. If he'd got out of bed hours ago and given her an oxytocin injection this puppy may well have been born alive .... something was alive in there I saw movement! The boy pup who was delivered many hours later was also dead. We had to watch Kaiah again as she tried to revive him, god it broke my heart. Maybe he had been alive initially and his sister blocking the way had caused him to lose his chance of survival, hell I don't know, I never will. One thing is for sure though, I will be complaining to the senior partner about the vet. The outcome may not have been different but that is not who you want on the other end of the line in a crisis! 

We are not big breeders, we are not a huge show kennel, we feel the loss of the individual lives. I accept that some don't make it, some are too special for this world. We won't forget the 2 little L Litter kids that didn't make it, they are now buried on the mountain with Winnie, but now I have to concentrate on the living, and I'm already loving every minute of it!

The pups date of birth will be 9/1/21. Whilst 2 were born on the 8th, more were born on the 9th. I always go with the date where the largest amount were born. Funny though Sammi's date of birth is the 23/12/13, but I always remember she was born on the 24th - my little Xmas present!