Poppy's puppies - from conception to birth
01 Aug 2012
I've been checking Poppy every day for the past month, for signs of her season starting. Later on yesterday there were signs she had finally started and a second check this morning confirmed she most certainly had. Over the next few days the excitement (mine) will build up until I get her progesterone tested towards the end of next week. I'm expecting that the weekend of 11/12 August will see us heading over to visit Ozzie for the first mating.
12 Aug 2012
The deed is done! Friday's progesterone test results indicated what I had already suspected, Poppy's levels were such that mating should take place sooner rather than later. The first trip over to Ozzie, in Cheshire, on Friday evening resulted in a good mating, with a second one this morning. Now all I have to do is sit back, watch and wait. I'll get Poppy scanned at around 4-5 weeks and hope that it will show puppies are due around 12 October.
04 Sept 2012
I've just booked Poppy in for her scan on Wednesday 12 September. The signs are looking good for there being puppies on the way. She tends to lose her appetite in the early stages and is very picky with her food at the moment.
12 Sept 2012
Poppy's scan showed lots of puppies! At this stage they're just small blobs but if I decide to take her back for a further scan later it will be possible to see spines and heartbeats. The woman who does the scans is very experienced and scans a variety of types of animals, so we've a good idea of how many puppies there are - but of course, I'm not telling (yes, I know, I'm a total spoilsport).
19 Sept 2012
I've list of things I need to do before the puppies arrive. In the hope that we'll have some nice weather once the puppies are old enough to venture outside, I borrowed a pressure washer yesterday and cleaned all the stone flags. I intended re-pointing between some of the flags today but the rain put a stop to that. Poppy already looks much bigger than she did a week ago and I'll try and get a photo of her in the next few days.
30 Sept 2012
Here is Poppy, with less than 2 weeks to go. I've been gradually changing her over to puppy food as well as increasing the number of meals I give her. By the end of her pregnancy I'll be feeding her little and often as the puppies take up more and more space.
07 Oct 2012
Last night Poppy and I sat on the sofa watching X Factor - well, ok, I watched while Poppy snored away at the side of me. I had my hand on her tummy and could feel the puppies moving. She's very big now and is getting tired with having to carry all the extra weight around. She's struggling to eat all her meals, which in the past has been an indication that the puppies' arrival isn't too far away.
All the bedding is washed, as are the small towels I use for drying the puppies, the whelping kit is ready and the torch battery is charged. Just got the whelping box to set up, which will be done either tomorrow or Tuesday.
All the bedding is washed, as are the small towels I use for drying the puppies, the whelping kit is ready and the torch battery is charged. Just got the whelping box to set up, which will be done either tomorrow or Tuesday.
09 Oct 2012
The whelping box is set up, along with the baby monitor and it's just a case of waiting for Poppy now. I've got the fridge stocked up with goats milk and goats milk yoghurt, ready for her once she's had the puppies.
10 Oct 2012
When you wake up in a morning you can never be sure what life's going to throw at you and today was certainly one of those days. Poppy had started the heavy panting, which can indicate the start of labour, yesterday afternoon. In the evening there was some digging/nesting around the house, yet another indication the birth wouldn't be too far away. We both had a very restless night, I took Poppy up to bed with me rather than leave her downstairs and the panting continued throughout the night, becoming more frequent. She's always taken her time during this stage of the labour so initially there was no cause for concern. However, at 9.30am that all changed, there were signs something wasn't quite right and we were at the vets within half an hour. It was decided that Poppy would be given an oxytocin injection, with the aim of it speeding things up. After half an hour it had done nothing and I was left with 3 options - another injection, wait and see, or a caesarian section. Giving a second injection would mean waiting another half an hour, by which time the puppies could be in trouble, if I was to wait and see what happened, that again could mean putting the puppies' lives in danger so I made the decision to go with the c-section. My heart was in my mouth as they took Poppy into the operating theatre. The first 6 puppies came out alive and well but the 7th was a tiny girl, much smaller than her siblings, who was stillborn. It's likely that she was the reason for the problem as she would have been lying in the way of the others as they got ready to make their journey into the world. Normally I would know which order the puppies are born in but on this occasion I didn't even know whether they were boys or girls until some time afterwards, the priority was to revive them fully after the shock of them entering the world and I'm very grateful to the vets for allowing me in to help. Eventually I was able to pick them up, one by one and discover there were 5 boys and 1 girl.
I brought a very drowsy Poppy and her puppies home a couple of hours later.
For what happens from now onwards go to the Poppy's puppies 2012 page.
I brought a very drowsy Poppy and her puppies home a couple of hours later.
For what happens from now onwards go to the Poppy's puppies 2012 page.