The computer hated me yesterday and wouldn't work so today's entry may be longwinded.
Saturday I worked which was good if unexceptional. Sunday though was Kaylee's day. She started at 11:30am and by the end (last one was born at 7:16pm) there were seven new babies - 4 girls (all solid liver) and 3 boys (1 ticked and 2 solid liver). The largest, and first born, is the ticked male. He weighed 18 ounces. Most of them were about 14-15 ounces except the Peanut (my nickname for him so far) who was only 7 ounces. I'm worried about him. People talk about how much hard work it is to breed a litter but they don't dwell on all the hard decisions that go with it. If a puppy is having a difficult time surviving, do you baby him and do your best to keep him alive or do you accept that sometimes Mother Nature knows better. It seems like so often you pour everything you have into a wee pup and spend day and night caring for it (and in the process becoming so attached to it that it isn't funny) and then it passes away anyway because of an internal defect that was undetectable at birth but prevented the puppy from surviving once it reached a certain size. On the other hand, I can't just let them pass with no effort on my part. I think the Peanut and I will be going to the vet for a second opinion.
Apparently Blade and her hubby had a great time aboard a tall ship, the Lady Washington. I am so envious. Sheer Pirate Heaven. I think Red is right. We Pirates shall have to take a trip aboard one together. See Wesley's blog for pictures of the ship.
Monday was spent at the lab having more x-rays and ultrasounds done on my knee and then off to work. They called today and I'm back to the doctor's on Thursday. They confirmed osteo-arthritis but that was all they'd say on the phone. There's nothing like privacy and doctor-patient confidentiality to frustrate a patient who wants to know what's going on.
I've downloaded my itinerary for the flight on Thursday. Then it's off to Boise! (Whoever thought I'd be excited to go to Idaho???)
Wow, is that Peanut in the bottom picture with the ticked male? What a big difference in size. I hope all goes well for Peanut.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you going to call this litter?
Thanks for posting the picture. You have satisfied my yearnings for tiny closed-eyed puppy pictures (for now).
If the decisions we as breeders need to make ever get easy it's time for us to move on... Hoping for the best for Peanut :)
ReplyDeleteOh Heather NO ONE is excited to visit Idaho!! And pack some long johns an evil Canadian cold front has moved in - sorry.