Feed Me Chicken! Feed Me Eggs!
Nina wasn’t overly enthusiastic about food today, for the first time (she has been eating well, if slowly). She did eat her breakfast and two small lunches. She wasn’t too excited about dinner, until she got some chicken in with it…then she ate the chicken, but left the rest. And then an hour or so later, she demanded more food, I just fed her a scrambled egg in with the rest of her dinner, and she cleaned her bowl. Much smaller meals now, she has no room, she is big! And the puppies are really kicking now, you can even see them sometimes, a bit will be poking out her side, and then move, definitely xenomorphs. She is checking her whelping box fairly regularly now, checking that it’s there and everything is in order. She was definitely waddling on her walk yesterday, she is normally such a beautiful mover, but the GIANT TUM gets in the way now. She also can officially no longer reach her ears to scratch as of last night (since she carries her puppies way out to the sides, like saddle bags), fortunately she has dedicated servants like Jim to help keep her ears well-scratched. She is mostly still quite content to be the queen, but she is getting a bit uncomfortable when the puppies are running around doing agility in there! I remind myself that dogs survive all the time in quite horrible conditions, and manage to have reasonably healthy litters…who scratches their ears for them? Who makes them scrambled eggs? Nina prefers to sleep on the floor now, I think it is easier for her to get comfortable on the carpet or tile than on a cushy surface.
Myra Savant Harris‘s new book, “Advanced Canine Reproduction and Puppy Care” arrived Wednesday, and I read it in one sitting. I love her books, they make me feel like I am prepared. She talks a lot about c-sections in this new one, about how so many breeders (and vets) rush to section dogs when they may well not need it. Her rule is that if the bitch isn’t distressed, we shouldn’t be either, and that there is such a thing as “the whelping pause”, which happens with a great many bitches, where they may take a break, sometimes a looooong break, between puppies. This is normal, she is recuperating, and if she isn’t distressed, we shouldn’t worry! There is no need for her to have a puppy every hour, they will come when they come. A c-section should be a last resort in most cases (certainly some dogs do need them!), but since the maternal death rate from c-sections in dogs is around 1%, that is frankly terrifying (although it does seem likely that some percentage of that 1% are dogs who are poor surgical candidates, dogs with pre-existing issues, etc.). She also says to leave them well enough alone, to resist the temptation to help with every little thing. I will hold the cord when she is biting it, since that can prevent injury to the puppies, but I will try very hard to sit on my hands and just let Nina do her mother dog work, I felt like I needed to open the sacs and everything last time, but she was such a good mother, I will try to just be there if needed this time.
Just over a week to go! My last batch of supplies arrived, I have my DeLee suction catheters now. This weekend we will buy beef liver (to make liver water for any puppies slow to get going), vanilla ice cream (for Nina), and make sure we are well stocked with coffee!