Continuing the Line; Keeping the Faith
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Empress before labor day
I realize my last post was six years ago. That was about the same time I got hooked on running and triathlon. Dog showing and commercial grooming took a back seat to my sports activities, but I never abandoned pomeranian breeding.
Six years after, the pomeranian remains a heartbreak breed. I die a little everytime a dog of mine dies. It hurts when a pup does not make it. It hurts more when the entire litter is lost. It hurts most when a bitch dies.
I do not like puppies or bitches dying so I made vigor as my number one breeding goal. I deliberately select sturdy dogs with robust bodies and sturdy legs; bitches who can deliver naturally, give ready milk to the litter and nurture puppies well; and puppies which are vigorous and capable of fending for themselves early. To a large extent I have been successful through the years and have reduced puppy and bitch mortality to less than 10%. Note that pomeranian litter is two on the average so 10% mortality rate is actually a huge achievement.
When Empress came into her nth heat, she was roughly 90% healed, with her coat about 80% full from the usual balding state. In the past, I passed on breeding Empress because of her condition. When two bitches earlier didn't take, I gambled on mating Empress along with two more bitches. Part of the decision equation is acceding to friends' requests for a puppy. Surely I can have at least one successful litter from the three. By play of fate, only Empress got pregnant with Sonny (Perico First Son). My kennel hands think Canton Prince Johnjohn, father of Empress and my most handsome pom whom I used for the other four bitches, might no longer be as potent as he used to be.
The first time pregnancy actually seemed to do Empress well. She actually bloomed in coat and the scratching became less and less. She even became more active despite her baby-bloated tummy. The human food-grade virgin coconut oil we apply on her tummy and dry skin areas actually helped. Everything was playing out normally until the delivery of her first pup, who immediately suckled from her milk-heavy teats.
Things went awry when a water bag got stuck in Empress' vulva. From years of experience, our kennel practice has been to try for normal delivery at home and bring the dog to the hospital once the bag gets stuck for more than 30 minutes. From experience, a stuck pup can still be successfully delivered via Caesarian section up to 2 hrs from water bag stuck. I have told my kennel hand that days before and even left the vehicle key in case he needs to bring the dog to the hospital during my office hours. My kennel hand and I have done this bring to hospital routine at least 3-4 times.
When I came home Friday night I was horrified to learn that the second water bag has been stuck for 1.5 hrs already. To make matters worse, the third water bag was also sticking out. Two water bags stuck together! I have been calling the hand every 30 minutes since the onset of labor contractions. I asked him why he did not bring the dog to hospital after 30 minutes as instructed. Why did he not tell me over the phone? I was crestfallen when he innocently said he thought that waiting time rule only applied to the first pup which was easily delivered. Gusto ko sumigaw ng "Bakit? Ang tanga-tanga mo!" but I held back. I knew he just did not get it. He may be a simpleton but he is a hard-working, trustworthy hand.
We rushed Empress to Animal House in Alabang, along with the nursing pup. The X-ray revealed two remaining pups in normal head first positions, but both trying to get out simultaneously and in the process being stuck. The CS operation took more than two hours, almost double the usual time. The doctor came back with two dead - drowned - pups after minutes of resuscitation attempts. One was dead as soon as it was taken out; the other was feebly alive but succumbed as well.
I tried to revive one pup by myself. I reserved a pup for friend's kid, but I also wanted a pup for myself. Minutes after, I gave up. I focused instead on the remaining live pup who have been waiting for hours to suckle from the mom again. The still groggy mom was bursting with milk but the crying, wiggling pup does not open its mouth for unknown reason. Suddenly, the earlier vigorous pup would not suckle properly. I kept asking myself, the doctor and the aides what the reason could be, but we have none. Eventually, the weakening, hungry pup did open its mouth, but it was gasping for air more than suckling. A breeder's saddest moments are those time lapse periods when you watch life slowly ebb away from a puppy. We stayed at least an hour more to coax the pup to suck properly. We also tried the incubator at some point, but to no avail. We went home with the operated mom and a dying pup. The pup died as soon as we reached home.
We mourn, we wonder, but we take what we can and carry on with life.
Year 2014 seemed to be an unlucky breeding year for me. I have 5 bitches who all went into heat and were mated, but 4 out of 5 did not get pregnant! These are tested bitches mated to proven studs using my tried-and-tested kennel methods and hands. The fifth bitch was Perico Empress, the most beautiful female pup I have produced so far, who unfortunately contracted a mysterious skin disease since puppyhood, presumably from stray cats. For Empress and me, it was almost a 3-year battle with this mysterious skin condition where we tried several doctors, prescriptions, medicated baths, soaps, shampoos, dogfood, etc. Until one day I tried Revolution (selamectin) and it worked.
The first time pregnancy actually seemed to do Empress well. She actually bloomed in coat and the scratching became less and less. She even became more active despite her baby-bloated tummy. The human food-grade virgin coconut oil we apply on her tummy and dry skin areas actually helped. Everything was playing out normally until the delivery of her first pup, who immediately suckled from her milk-heavy teats.
Things went awry when a water bag got stuck in Empress' vulva. From years of experience, our kennel practice has been to try for normal delivery at home and bring the dog to the hospital once the bag gets stuck for more than 30 minutes. From experience, a stuck pup can still be successfully delivered via Caesarian section up to 2 hrs from water bag stuck. I have told my kennel hand that days before and even left the vehicle key in case he needs to bring the dog to the hospital during my office hours. My kennel hand and I have done this bring to hospital routine at least 3-4 times.
When I came home Friday night I was horrified to learn that the second water bag has been stuck for 1.5 hrs already. To make matters worse, the third water bag was also sticking out. Two water bags stuck together! I have been calling the hand every 30 minutes since the onset of labor contractions. I asked him why he did not bring the dog to hospital after 30 minutes as instructed. Why did he not tell me over the phone? I was crestfallen when he innocently said he thought that waiting time rule only applied to the first pup which was easily delivered. Gusto ko sumigaw ng "Bakit? Ang tanga-tanga mo!" but I held back. I knew he just did not get it. He may be a simpleton but he is a hard-working, trustworthy hand.
We rushed Empress to Animal House in Alabang, along with the nursing pup. The X-ray revealed two remaining pups in normal head first positions, but both trying to get out simultaneously and in the process being stuck. The CS operation took more than two hours, almost double the usual time. The doctor came back with two dead - drowned - pups after minutes of resuscitation attempts. One was dead as soon as it was taken out; the other was feebly alive but succumbed as well.
I tried to revive one pup by myself. I reserved a pup for friend's kid, but I also wanted a pup for myself. Minutes after, I gave up. I focused instead on the remaining live pup who have been waiting for hours to suckle from the mom again. The still groggy mom was bursting with milk but the crying, wiggling pup does not open its mouth for unknown reason. Suddenly, the earlier vigorous pup would not suckle properly. I kept asking myself, the doctor and the aides what the reason could be, but we have none. Eventually, the weakening, hungry pup did open its mouth, but it was gasping for air more than suckling. A breeder's saddest moments are those time lapse periods when you watch life slowly ebb away from a puppy. We stayed at least an hour more to coax the pup to suck properly. We also tried the incubator at some point, but to no avail. We went home with the operated mom and a dying pup. The pup died as soon as we reached home.
We mourn, we wonder, but we take what we can and carry on with life.
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