1:30 p.m: First, Bobbi is showing some signs of recovery. She's nursing the pups, but grumbled and snapped at them a couple of times when they came close to her face. As long as they stay on the nipples she's fine. I've been supplementing them with a formula I got the recipe for from the whelping seminar I hosted at the beginning of March and pups are doing great. Their weights range from 11 to 16 oz. Since Bobbi's showing no signs of taking ownership of these pups, I've also been stimulating their potties as well. It's a full time job with 10 of the little buggers, but they're all very mobile, very vocal and appear to be in great shape. I moved them out of the incubator box and into the whelping box this morning. Bobbi is sleeping in a baby pool and taking it easy between feedings. She got up for the first time all by herself about 20 minutes ago and wanted to go outside to potty. She's drinking water on her own, but I have to force feed her (read that shove food down her throat like you would a pill) little "meat balls" of hamburger, egg, chicken soup, kibble, and goats milk, just to get some calories in her. I'm hoping her appetite will return by tomorrow. I have to repeat the process of letting them nurse on Bobbi, top them off with formula, stimulate the pottying, put them back into the whelping box, then force feed Bobbi and take her for a potty break every two to three hours. At first Kim was here to help, but she left a little while ago, so now I'm on my own. If Bobbi doesn't take ownership and start being a mommy to these pups in a couple of days, Peggy's going to jump on the train and come here to assist.
Well, I hear someone yelling downstairs, so let me get back to my puppy duties -- I'll type more pupdates when I can, and pictures when I can too!
7:00 p.m: I've just put a photo of the pups on the puppy page for your viewing pleasure. Bobbi's showing more signs of improvement, but still not eating or showing interest in the pups. I'm hopeful tomorrow will be a better day in that department. Puppies are calling -- AGAIN, more updates and photos to come.
4/6/09
4:30 p.m: My first full day on my own and it's been non-stop. Puppies woke me up at 3 a.m. screaming, so I plopped them on their momma and watched them for about 40 or so minutes until they were all asleep. Then I warmed their water bottles and snuggle disc and plopped them back into the whelping box and went back to sleep.
Puppies woke me up around 7 a.m. with their fussing, so back with mom they went while I got everything ready for their bottle feeding and pottying. I also took a moment to put Booker and Rosie outside and give them their breakfast. It takes me about an hour to bottle feed and potty all ten pups. Once they're back in the whelping box, it's time to take care of Bobbi.
Last night Bobbi ate two bowls of ice cream and hamburger on her own. Hallelujah!!!!! This morning she readily gulped down 4 or 5 meatballs (two of them were stuffed with her antibiotic and slippery elm capsules) and a few chunks of liver. She's up and about, gave me kisses and is starting to groom herself. Her eyes are bright and clear and her coat is starting to shine up again. She's still pathetically skinny, but she's eating!!! This morning she took a little time to sniff at the pups, but has shown no interest in taking care of them - and her milk production is still a huge concern. I leave these pups on her for an hour and half or so at a time hoping to stimulate milk and maternal instinct but her mammaries are flat and her nipples aren't protruding like they should be. And right now she'd rather be with me than down stairs with her babies.
So, that's the situation at the House o'Rapscallion. Puppies continue to do well, and Bobbi's health is improving but she's not where I'd like her to be, so we'll keep working at it. I made up a new recipe of meatball for her and she seems to like this one better, plus it's loaded with more calories. The current meatball is ground beef, scrambled eggs, ice cream, goats milk, molassas and liver. MMMMMMmmmmmmm Good! At least Bobbi thinks so, she ate quite a few of those meatballs this afternoon.
Sorry no more pictures, but as you can see, I've been pretty busy and I haven't even mentioned all the laundry, dishes and preparation of formulas and meatballs and all the other stuff I have to keep up with. Whew! I'm getting tired just thinking about it. I'll continue to update as I can.
4/7/09
10:47 a.m: Bobbi has turned the corner!!!
Last night I forced her into the whelping box and took away her little recovery pool. She spent the night with pups and this morning she was licking them. I'm still concerned about her milk production and have a call in to the vet about using a shot of oxytocin to stimulate milk, but she's been with those pups since about 10 p.m. last night and they're not screaming, so they must be getting what they need for now. Bobbi was also ravenous this morning and ate 1.5 cups of kibble and about a third of a pound of her special meatballs. I'll feed her as often as she wants and as much as she wants to help her with her rising nutritional needs.
With Bobbi taking on more responsibility, I'm hoping to have a little more free time to take photos. I'll keep you posted.
4/8/09
3:20 p.m: All has been pretty smooth today. Bobbi's had responsibility for her puppies for more than 24-hours and she's making progress, but still learning how to be a mom. This morning I awoke to the shrill squeals of Naked Boy being sat upon! I quickly fished him out from under mom and put him in a safer spot. She's also not a benevolent, gentle mom but prefers to correct pups with a growl and a snap. I don't think she realizes they can't HEAR or SEE her yet! If I had to characterize her motherhood style, I have to go with Drill Sergeant! I still hope time and experience will calm her down a little, but in the meantime I dare not leave her too long with those puppies all by herself.
The good news is that she's eating well. So far today she's downed 2 Cups of kibble and about 2/3rds of a pound of her special meat balls. I can see she's putting on weight and her coat is starting to really shine again. The other good news is that her imaginary friend made a special appearance early this morning! I call that good news because I know she's feeling really good when he makes an appearance.
I've uploaded LOTS of pictures today, so be sure to check the puppy pages and read their bios.
4/9/09
2:45 p.m: Whoever said raising puppies isn't for the faint of heart sure got it right! This morning I woke up to Blue Boy screaming his head off non-stop. Not a good sign! I tried to potty him, thinking he needed to poop. That didn't work. I tried to feed him -- he refused the nipple. I put him up against my body to try to warm him. That didn't work either, so I frantically got out the incubator box once again and warmed up the heating bottles all while holding Blue Boy and calling the vet to tell them I was on my way with a fading puppy. Then I noticed Green Boy didn't look too hot either so I scooped him up as well.
We got to the vet and Green Boy's temperature was 91.3 (or somewhere there abouts) and his glucose level was 60. Blue Boy's temperature wouldn't even come up on the thermometer and his glucose level was at 14! A normal glucose reading should be between 50 and 120. According to the vet "14 is almost incompatible with life." Still, we put him on oxygen, put the two of them between some warming bottles and gave them both a shot of glucose. Against the odds, Blue Boy started perking up, and I came home with two LIVE puppies! He's not out of the woods yet. I've got him in his incubator box and I'm bottle feeding him every couple of hours. Please keep Blue Boy in your thoughts and prayers.
Everyone else seems to be doing well. I gave them all a supplemental feeding from the bottle just to make sure they have enough nutrition because yesterday Blue Boy was one of the strongest of the litter. And he was fine at 1:30 this morning when Bobbi got hungry, so whatever happened between 1:30 and 7:10 this morning, I have no idea, but when they fade, they fade FAST.
7:10 p.m: Well, I can add tube feeding to my resume. Blue Boy hasn't rallied like Green Boy and is too weak to nurse either mom or the bottle, so I've had to take a crash course in learning to tube feed a puppy. And, I may have to learn how to administer sub-Q fluids before the night is over as well. I won't be getting much sleep tonight. All this "excitement" over the puppies, I've been too busy to feed myself. I think I've had half a cup of coffee, some strawberries and a banana all day. I haven't been eating much throughout this whole experience because of the stress and my pants are starting to feel a lot looser. This is not, and I repeat NOT, a recommended weight loss plan!
4/10/09
12:10 p.m: We've gotten through the first 24-hours of this crisis and I'm still tube feeding Blue Boy. He tries to nurse but can't keep hold of the teat. He did, however, make it abundantly and persistently clear last night that he wanted to be with his littermates and not in the incubator. He woke me up with his distressed little cries around 4 a.m. It was just about time for another feeding anyway, so I got up and got everything prepared, but when I pulled him from the incubator he was still pretty fat from his last feeding. I burped him, pottied him, tried to feed him, cuddled him, did everything I could think of to get him to stop crying, but still he persisted. I was ready to give up on him and let nature take its course, so I put him back in the whelping box and he immediately cuddled up with everyone else and slept peacefully the whole rest of the night. He was still alive this morning, so I tube fed him again, made sure he was warm and put him back with his mates. He has some vigor, but not much inclination to nurse, so I told him that as long as he still had some fight in him, I'd fight with him.
Oh -- and I FINALLY got photos of Aqua Man and Yellow Boy up on the puppy pages!