Cause for Concern
23/08/07
Just a few photos I took today of Kaleigh who has got her figure back very quickly 🙂
The little yellow pup with pink nail varnish (marking system) on her left hind leg is LILY. She is the third biggest.
ASH is the biggest (1 lb 9 oz) followed by Cedar.
Little Rose is the smallest. All have gained 2 or 3 ounces since yesterday (except Rose) so Kaleigh’s milk is properly in now. I am syringe feeding Rose every half hour, just a few drops at a time as larger volumes cause her to splutter and rattle. When at the milk bar she is as greedy as the others but seems to take in more than she can cope with.
Kaleigh is being very good with going outside in the garden when she needs to. But goes straight back to her babies. However, today, for some reason, she decided to dig a hole in the grass round the side. Her little face was covered in mud.
She is eating really well and seems very happy with life now her babies are here with her.
24/08/2007
I have to concentrate on the puppies and feed little Rose every half hour. Kaleigh is really well, and what an appetite now!!! Just as well with all those mouths to feed. She is very slim but not as skinny looking as I had imagined. She is eating two meals of chicken or beef most days, one meal of porridge with egg and honey, cottage cheese and of course four packs (at least) of Naturediet. No matter how much she eats she will not get fat because the pups are having all the goodies.
Little Rose is a mystery. She did not make the rattling sound at the vets and the vet said that she looked a very healthy little puppy, she took her temperature, listened to her heart rate and made sure there was no fluid on the lungs, which I had worried about. She does not have a cleft palate (I had checked for that myself when I saw bubbles from her nose). The vet could not diagnose without hearing the rattle but said that, as Rose was not gaining weight as well as her siblings, to supplement her with bottle or syringe. Well, I realised afterwards that it is only when she is feeding that the rattling sound occurs so, of course, when I used the syringe, the same thing happened. You would never think anything was wrong with her, apart from guzzling her milk. She coughs and splutters and gurgles.
I rang the vet to tell her it is only when she is feeding, but she was consulting so the receptionist said she would ring me back, but she never did. So I rang again and went through to the emergency vet who gave me some advice. She said it is possible it is a congenital deformity in either her throat or her stomach but they would not be able to know without doing an endoscopy. She suggested I syringe a very tiny amount (a drop or two) every ten minutes or half an hour when she is not sleeping, so that the volume she is taking in is controlled – I did notice that it is after she has been at the milk bar for a little while that the rattling etc starts up. If the same thing happens when she has a couple of drops of whelpi, then that means the problem is in her stomach and the food is coming back up from it. If it does not happen with a few drops it means the problem is in her throat.
So, that is what I am doing now. The first vet said we would know more when she starts being weaned because of how she digests the solid food.
She looks smaller than the others who are growing quickly.
I will have to get some more scales to weigh them. Weighing is important. I really need some baby scales for when they are bigger. I know some people use fishermans scales.
Must go and see to little Rose and give her the best chance possible. I have found that with giving her small amounts, she is not having the same problems so the more times I get small amounts into her, the more she will thrive, hopefully. Maybe as she gets bigger the problem will disappear? I have asked everyone to pray for little Rose.
The one good thing is that her problem does not seem to distress her and she does not cry. If she was in pain or hungry she would make a lot of screaming noises, but she is quiet and sleeps well, too. Bless her little baby heart.
I am going to take Rose back to the vet after the weekend if she has gained no weight. Hopefully they will be able to diagnose the problem then. They have said it is probably congenital and think Kaleigh has had a fling with a few different males – it certainly looks as if there are about three fathers to me. It will be interesting seeing what they grow up like. A couple have very thick coats, like velvet.
24/08/2007
Rose has worried me today. Although I can feed her tiny amounts, I can still hear the rattle. When she fed from her mum just now she got quite distressed afterwards and was doing a little cry. I hate to see this.
I will make an appointment in the morning, take some feed with me and let them hear what it’s like. She even seemed to be breathing differently and it does not look good. It might be good for a different vet to examine her tomorrow. Hope I can get an appointment as she cannot go on like this. I dont think she has been so relaxed today either.
The way the milk comes out of her nose makes me think there is a hole further back in the top of her throat which we cannot see, and the milk is going straight up there and through her nose, so she cannot breathe very well. Still no gain in weight. Poor little baby.
25/08/07
Sadly, Rose was put to rest today.