Bijou, puppy #3, passed away tonight at 3am. I got up for my regular puppy check and she was barely breathing. I tried to resuscitate her with cpr, and I listened for a heartbeat with our stethoscope, but she died in my hands a few minutes later.
I just finished taking her away from Luna and her litter mates, who were thankfully sleeping. Earlier in the evening we saw that Bijou had a really distended tummy, so we got some simethicone from the pharmacy and gave her 2 drops. Simethicone helps colicy, distended tummied, puppies become less gassy. She had seemed to be doing a bit better and had quieted down and her tummy seemed less distended..
I am really sad. I can’t believe how much I grew to love her in only 2 days.
Goodbye, my little jewel.
It is amazing how quickly and intensely you can fall in love with new beings. Aside from lack of sleep, I feel pretty great. Luna is not a very good mother, so Katt and I are both taking on some of her duties and trying to teach Luna what to do with her pups. 6 of the 7 puppies are very healthy and growing, and one little girl is lagging behind and is not eating well. We took her to the vet today and the vet feels she may be a ‘dumb puppy’ or even have an infection(as evidenced by the well celaned pups bad smell). The pup, who we call Bijou (means jewel, and she’s the only one with a name), is on antibiotics and a milk replacement. She has been losing weight in her 2nd day of life does not suckle on her mama’s teat very much on her own.
We are feeding her every hour with the meal replacement and giving her the antibiotics as ordered. Because she does not suckle, we are having to feed her with an eye dropper syringe and introducing Luna’s nipple to the pup frequently to try to get her to suckle. So far, she refuses 95% of the time, and when she does suckle, she suckles for a few minutes, and then drops off.
The vet says there is a high probability she won’t make it. It is hard to fall in love with her and have the thought that she might die, even with all that we are doing.
We educated ourselves really well before going into this process so we knew all of the joys and challenges, and all of the to do and not do’s. Thankfully the vet we have is really awesome and really went out of her way to make time for us today and give us really good information.
So, wish us luck and please send some healing energy to our little Bijou.
Well, pug X boston terrier puppy grandparents to be specific. Luna has given birth to 7 beautiful puppies; 4 girls and 3 boys! The birthing process sook just over 3.5 hours, and each puppy came out hungry and wriggly. Luna and babies are now sleeping in the whelping box. 4 puppies are suckling and sleeping, and the other 3 are close by.
Photos to be posted soon.
I am still here. Just not feeling like writing.
