Jewel whelped the puppies last Wednesday, September 8. Like her sister, Sadie, she delivered before her due date and very quietly. Also like Sadie, she didn't exhibit any delivery is near symptoms--no nesting, no change in temperature, just the appearance of puppies. I checked on Jewel around noon and she was in her crate, dozing. She was panting a bit but it was a warm day so that wasn't out of the ordinary. She had had a couple of accidents in the house, which was unusual for her but I just chalked it up to late pregnancy. When I checked on Jewel a little bit before 2:00, the first thing I saw was another accident--and a puppy. Jewel was in her crate, obviously in labor. It didn't look like the pup was alive so I quickly got Jewel into the whelping box as it appeared another pup was on the way. She settled in right away and focused on the next delivery, which gave me a chance to check on the first pup. Unfortunately, it was not alive. I wrapped him up in a towel and whisked him out of the room before Jewel understood what was happening. At 2:10, the next puppy was born--a 12 ounce boy! She delivered two more good size males, each in half hour increments, then took about an hour break. At 4:20, it was the girls' turn. Two girls were born half an hour apart and then I thought Jewel was finished. She had an appointment at the vet's for an x-ray at 6:45, but after a potty break and a snack, whelped two more girls before it was time to leave! Even though the "tape measure test" indicated Jewel was going to have 9 puppies, I didn't really think it would be more accurate than an ultrasound. The vet's palpatation of her stomach didn't indicate any more pups so an x-ray was done just to be sure. Surprise!!! One more pup, way up in the horn of the uterus. We quickly packed up the puppies and Jewel and hurried home. The vet's office didn't have any oxytocin, which helps bring on contractions, but since Jewel didn't appear to be in uterine inertia and it was only a little over 5 hours since the first puppy had been born, the vet thought we might be o.k. The plan was to let the puppies nurse, which also helps with contractions, but take Jewel to the Emergency Care Center if the pup didn't appear by 8:30. On the way home, Jewel started grunting--a good sign! We got her back into the whelping box, started the pups nursing and I could see contractions starting. By 8:15, the contractions slowed and stopped at 8:30. I took Jewel to the Emergency Care, arriving a little before 9:00. An x-ray showed that the pup had not moved but was in good position to be born naturally. An ultrasound confirmed a heartbeat and no puppy distress. Jewel had a shot of oxytocin and started with contractions 45 minutes later, but no puppy. By this time, I was concerned about the puppies at home as it had been about two hours since they had nursed. I went home to get the puppies (and a jacket as it was really cold in the waiting room!). Jewel got a second shot of oxytocin and shortly after I left the ER, at 10:50, the last baby girl was born! She was a tiny mite, weighing only a little over 7 ounces. I was concerned at first, as she was not interested in nursing and looked so tiny next to her bigger siblings. But, the entire litter got a chance to nurse at the ER, Jewel got to rest and by the time we left, all the pups had had a good meal.
The first night went well. Jewel is an excellent mother and spends almost all her time in the whelping box, letting the pups nurse as they wish. I slept downstairs, checking on the new family frequently. Jewel had some intestinal upsets which is not unusual for whelping a large litter and I wasn't concerned. I was concentrating on the tiny girl,making sure she was nursing and gaining weight. All seemed well those first 24 hours, then one of the boys was outside of the group. Jewel had been licking him and he was wet and chilled. I dried him off, warmed him up and kept placing him in the best spots to nurse, but he didn't try to nurse. I gave him a little bit of the milk supplement the ER had given me for the tiny girl, which seemed to help. In the evening, he started with seizures and we lost him about 9:30.
The next morning, Jewel's temperature was up and she was agitated. She had had several bouts of diarrhea and I was suspecting the canned food we had recently given her was not agreeing with her. Some post-partum hormones probably was also contributing to her agitation but by mid morning, she had settled back down. We changed her canned food and she's on some pro-biotics, which helped immediately. Jewel is a content girl once again, enjoying her family, which is growing by leaps and bounds! The tiny mite girl is a strong nurser, not letting her bigger siblings knock her off the best meal opportunities. All the puppies glow with good health (thank heavens!) and seem to be much stronger than Sadie's puppies at this stage.
I'm now superstitous about posting pictures to either this blog or Facebook. It seems (at least for the last 3 litters) that as soon as I post a picture, I lose a pup. So, for the time being, no pictures of these puppies, but they are beautiful! We have 2 males and 5 females, not sure of the smooth to rough breakdown but it looks like mainly smooth.
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