Quitters Never Win

I woke up at 6:30am to a puppy making the sound that all breeders dread. It is the sound of a puppy who is cold, hungry and starting to fade. Little Maroon with the M on her chest had found her way to the outside of the pile and was lying on her side moaning. If you’ve ever heard that moan you know that it’s the last hope of a puppy to get attention for rescue. It’s a sort of intermittent half-whine half-groan when they breath out. She wasn’t really cold and was still trying to right herself when I flipped her over so there was hope yet.

She did still want to eat but didn’t have the strength to hold on – even when I held her and kept the other puppies out of the way she nursed for only a little bit and then seemed to give it up as too much effort. She was not interested in the bottle at all either and I decided not to force it. Rule one is never feed a cold puppy as their intestines start to shut down and they can’t digest the food so I got the warming box ready instead. I put the heating pad on with a folded a towel on top, put her inside and put the lid on with a crack to allow for air. I made sure she had space to get away from the heat if she got too hot and before leaving for work I checked the temperature to make sure she was nice and toasty but not over-heating. She was sleeping so I crossed my fingers and headed out.

I called my mom when I got to work and she had some suggestions like giving her a little dollop of corn syrup to boost her energy and also to boil some liver and give her a few drops of the water it was boiled in.

At lunch I made a mad dash into Safeway to pick up supplies and when I got home there she was. Toasty warm and looking for food. Heat works miracles apparently. She was kicking and wanting to be fed so I heated up some goat’s milk – put some corn syrup in it and she ate like she’s never been fed. Poor girl. She dropped right off to sleep after that meal. I tried to get Halo to clean her but she just sniffed and wouldn’t lick her. I flipped the baby over to have a look and lo and behold here’s the answer to the mystery. I think she has a little urinary infection as there is pus coming out of her little hoo hoo – vagina for those not familiar with my vernacular.

So I wiped it up, pressed more pus out of her bladder and made sure she was comfy. I put her back in the warming box with a full tummy and we’ll see how she has done this afternoon. If the pus hasn’t cleared or is worse I’ll take her to the vet for a mild anti-biotic shot and see if that helps. I want to give every puppy the best chance it can have at life.

I suspect that she may have developed the infection because of Halo’s lack of attention. If the area is not being stimulated and cleaned and pee is collecting in the hair then I can see how a puppy would develop a little infection. With 12 puppies and Halo’s on-again-off-again relationship with her puppies I’m not surprised one of them may not have gotten the attention required. Add to that a young puppy’s fragile little body and it’s a recipe for disaster.

Thankfully I caught my fader relatively quickly and hopefully she’ll pull through. We’ll see how she is when I get home in a half hour.