Mum’s The Word

21/08/2007

Kaleigh was very restless last night and at 11.35 she had her first contractions so assistant midwives Anne and Ken were put on standby and all was ready to go.

Puppy 1 was born in the first half hour of August 21st. It went on until 5.46 am and we now have three boys and five girls, four black and four yellow. Some of them were really big. Their coats are all different and a couple are quite wavy. They are all so beautiful and Kaleigh is very proud of her little babies.

She was not at all interested in the first two but took more interest in the third one (all three boys were born first) and from then on she has been caring for them. They all found the milk bar very quickly and have been having a good feast. That is, all except the last little girl, who took a while to get here and seemed very weak and unable to suckle. After she had a little rest she was more lively and eventually latched on for her colostrum.

0025 hrs Yellow male Cedar 15.75 oz All yellow, seems to have longish hair

0104 hrs Black male Ash 1 lb 2.75 oz Black. White tip to tail, white toes, white chin and white chest

0220 hrs Black male Rowan 1 lb 1.25 oz Black. Possible tan markings, white bottom. Interesting markings

0250 hrs Yellow female Lily 14.5 oz All yellow

0321 hrs Black female Poppy 14.5 oz Black. White chin (small amount)

0341 hrs Yellow female Jasmine 15 oz All yellow. Wavy coat

0416 hrs Black female Orchid 12.5 Black. Breech birth – ok. All black

0546 hrs Yellow female Rose 1 lb 0.25 oz All yellow. Feet first. Quiet and slow. After a sleep and time at milk bar, much better. Chest a bit rattly at first but after rubbing seems better. Will keep checking

The pictures are after I had cleaned up Kelly who is now drying under the heat lamp. I changed the vet bed in the whelping box and also cleared up everything. I was going to try to get some sleep but I am too excited.

To see these gorgeous little pups with their proud, happy mum makes all these nights on the sofa worthwhile :))

The towels on the sides of the whelping box are not there drying but are there to prevent any possible draughts. The babies are beautifully warm under the heat lamp. Kaleigh seems very well in herself and certainly looks very happy.

The pups are all very strong, it’s amazing how they are getting round the whelping box on the vet bedding already. One was even standing on his back legs! They are all suckling well, Kaleigh seems to have plenty of milk, and they are sleeping contentedly.

Will be weighing them all twice a day to make sure they all gain weight. Also will be examining Kaleigh daily, too.