Some Sad News

Today we had to say goodbye to one of the puppies, and it was quite a shock and so very sad. Our "Big Girl", sweet Miss Orange/#2, started suffering terrible seizures this morning after having a great day yesterday and no evidence of a problem at bedtime last night. This morning she was racked with tonic-clonic seizures and foaming at the mouth. Dr. Gregard at White Rock Veterinary Hospital prescribed some valium to administer during the seizures, but told us that her prognosis was "very poor". When we returned home and she was seizing again, we realized that it was time to let her go. I stayed with her and held her all afternoon at the animal hospital until it was time, and her last hours were peaceful and warm.

Hannah and everyone else had a good day. After the painful ordeal with Miss Orange ("if she could go downhill so suddenly, any of them could!"), we were heartened to see that the other pups grew well today. They are all on antibiotics now in addition to their milk supplement, and they all really like the sweet, fruity-smelling stuff. We are looking forward to just relaxing with the dogs tomorrow and giving lots of TLC to the whole crew. I promise some cute puppy photos tomorrow.

TGIF

Wow. We are baffled by the pups today. #1/Mr. Green struggled all day, but with each supplemental feeding he got stronger and a bit more animated until he was drinking from a saucer tonight. However he still seems unable to nurse for some reason, and he still lost half an ounce, which is discouraging. #4/Mr. Purple, whose weight loss yesterday seemed an aberration since he has been one of the heartiest & feistiest puppies all along, stunned us today by weighing in with a significant loss today. He has lost 2 ounces in 48 hours and we don't know why. He is noticeably thinner and less substantial today. Two days ago, he was the biggest puppy of all, tonight he is 4th. Obviously, I didn't take it seriously enough yesterday, and he is on the "NICU" plan with Mr. Green and Mr. White now. (Tiny Mr. White remains the smallest, and also suffered a small loss today, though he still seems plenty spunky and is taking his supplement like a champ.) We will consult with the vet by phone tomorrow to get some advice. Luckily, since it is the weekend, we can keep an extra close eye and give them extra TLC while we are all three here. We also need to get them wormed this weekend if they are healthy enough.

Hannah did OK today, very soft stools but no diarrhea and less nasal drainage. She ate fairly well-- not as good as the good days, but not refusing like she does on the bad. Maybe this is canine influenza? I've heard it is going around too...

And, since we hate to have only discouraging news on here, when there is SO MUCH darling puppy love going on all day that doesn't get reported, I thought we would share this photo of little Miss Pink/#6 sound asleep in the weighing bowl. If only more of them were this easy to weigh! We are going to need to invest in a bigger scale this weekend.

Mr. Green's Bad Day

I am seeing a pattern: on the tough days, we don't blog on time.

The last 24 hours were tough for Hannah and one of her babies. Hannah had a lot of nasal discharge again, was reluctant to walk this morning, and the diarrhea returned by this afternoon. But her appetite rallied again by this evening and she seems better all around tonight, so hopefully it was only a temporary set-back.

Six of the puppies gained well today. #4/Mr. Purple, was one of the puppies who lost weight, but he only lost a tiny bit and had a banner day yesterday. Also, I came home and found that he had climbed out of the pool and couldn't get back in-- our very first escapee!-- so he may have missed out on some nursing time today. I feel confident that he is going to be just fine, and we are going to move the puppies out of the pool and into a newspapered pen as soon as they are all walking.

We are pretty worried about the other puppy who lost weight tonight, though. #1/Mr. Green is the puppy who was sleepy yesterday and had flat weight gain. He is the only puppy who has not rebounded from Hannah's illness last weekend, and today he had a big weight drop on top of very little-to-no gain this past week. By tonight he was too weak to nurse, even when it was only he and Hannah, and she and I both tried to help him. He is too weak for a bottle or the saucer, but he did take some milk replacement from a dropper. We will continue to keep a very close eye on him. He is very sleepy and weak, but such a sweet little guy... send out a good thought for him!

Two Weeks Old!

On Wednesday, the pups were two weeks old. Our good friends (and fellow dog rescuers!) Dani, Becca, Nathan, & Rowan came to see them for a little while in the afternoon and brought them some darling puppy gifts-- thank you!!!

Unfortunately, it wasn't all good news on Wednesday. Dani noticed that one of the puppies was pretty lethargic during their visit, and later that night that pup, sweet little #1/Mr. Green, showed flat growth. He did, however, take some supplement, and we felt good about that.

Mama Hannah also seemed tired again on Wednesday and didn't eat. She wasn't interested in walking. We babied her all evening, gave her some extra milk supplement, and tucked everyone in early.

Odd Couple

Next to White Tips, the next two puppies we could easily distinguish from the beginning were #5/Mr. Blue and #3/Mr. White because they have always been the largest and the smallest. Mr. Blue was MUCH bigger than anyone else when he arrived, but a few others are catching up. Mr. White, on the other hand, was one of three small pups at the beginning, but the other two have started catching up with the other pups now, leaving Mr. White as the "teeny tiniest".

Mr. Blue, aka "the Biggie" or "Tank", has consistently been almost exactly twice as big as Mr. White. He is a great nurser, wedging himself in and displacing the other puppies easily anytime he is awake. He also loves the supplemental milk, and even though he hasn't missed many meals with mom, he never turns down any extra. He is so big now that we probably won't be able to fit him in the weight bowl much longer. He is also the loudest so far, making cute little muffled barks. He is a very content puppy... eating, then sleeping, then eating... then sleeping some more.

Mr. White may be small, but he is not weak or lagging developmentally at all. In fact, he is quite precocious. He was one of the first to have his eyes open and is doing the most beginning walking. He caught on quickly to lapping the supplements from the dish. He spends a lot of time nursing, but sometimes he gets bumped off by the jostling of the bigger pups. He comes back again and again, though, and just has so much heart. He is so sweet, and nuzzles our necks when we hold him. A foster mother tries not to have favorites, but this tiny fellow is the one I search out each time I come to their den...

Taking a Chance

I started this post last night, but it got too long and seemed rather grim, so I decided to sleep on it and try again today, and I am so glad I did.

Yesterday's vet appointment revealed that Hannah may be in real trouble. The tentative diagnosis was possible Canine Distemper Virus (CDV). It isn't easy/possible for us to get a definitive diagnosis, but her history (there have been cases at the shelter she presented at, though they made an effort to isolate her), and symptoms (diarrhea, nasal drainage, staggering/weak gait Sunday night) seem to point to it. A second opinion was obtained from our dear and trusted family vet, and an honest look at the potential course and prognosis (for both Hannah & the pups) was reviewed with him as well. And then we talked to Andy at PawMatch for some "spot on" observations and support.

Our little family then sat down and talked about what this could mean, including that if it is CDV one or more (or even all) of the dogs could heartbreakingly die or need to be put down. And we voted unanimously that we are all in: we promised them a chance, and they will get their full chance from us. They pay us back every day, Hannah with her touching loyalty and the pups with the joyful experience of getting to be near puppies and watch them grow. We decided that no matter what, they will have known love every day of their lives with us, however long that is.

With that decision firmly made, we went on with the business of caring for Hannah and the pups. We did an extra good job disinfecting their whole area of the kitchen. The puppies were cuter than ever-- several of them attempting to stand and walk around now, and several with their eyes at least partially open. They moved around on their towel in the middle of the kitchen while I worked on their den. And with the help of the supplementation, they all managed to gain some weight. They all seem very healthy.

Hannah was started on antibiotics and metoclopramide, to both help with her tummy troubles and her milk supply issues. She is also now getting some of the puppies' milk supplement, which she really enjoys.

This morning, Hannah greeted me at the gate, ready to walk. It was the first time in days she hasn't had to be coaxed or even carried out of bed. She ate very well, skipping the wet food she had eaten bites of from her bed over the weekend, and moved straight over to the large bowl of dry food, which she finished. She also drank plenty of water, and lapped up her milk supplement. We took a short walk with no problems: there was no sign of weakness or staggering. She doesn't have a runny nose. When we got back to the house she started fussing over and cleaning the puppies like the attentive and wonderful mother she had been before she got sick. In short, if Hannah is still sick, someone forgot to tell her! We feel cautiously optimistic today about her recovery!

If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy...

Sorry for the lack of updates this weekend, we have had our hands full because Hannah is sick. She did not eat well on Friday (which we attributed to the stress & disruption of the vet visit), Saturday, or most of the day today. She seemed extra tired and returned to being reluctant to get out of the pool, and her stools got progressively looser until she was having lots of diarrhea last night and today. By tonight she also had a nasal discharge, and when we weighed the puppies we discovered that they had all lost weight in the last 24 hours. Hannah will go back to the vet in the morning, though gratefully her appetite returned very strong tonight and we are hopeful that she is turning a corner. The pups were not complaining, but we started supplementing them anyway due to their poor growth over the weekend. We tried three different replacement milks before we found the one they would take, and a few different feeding methods. Only White Tips (Miss Navy/#8) was willing to take it from a bottle, but eventually 6 of them were coaxed to drink it from little bowls and saucers.

On the bright side, the puppies all seem fine-- no evidence of any illness. This weekend a few of them started making hobbly starts at getting up on their feet and walking-- we will try to get some video of that. And White Tips has one eye a tiny bit open! This should be a very exciting week!