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If it weren't for bad luck…

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I woke up this morning at six am to give Solo his morning feeding, and found him in a state of distress. He was listless, wheezing, and had milk coming out of his nose. A quick inspection indicated his chest sounded congested, and his energy level was depressed. This was a 180° change from his demeanor of last night, and I knew pretty much right away what the problem was – aspiration pneumonia.

Aspiration pneumonia occurs when fluids have gotten into the lungs. In this case, I likely allowed Solo to overeat during his last feeding of the night. He vomited, and some of the fluid got into his lungs. He now faces a chance of developing a bacterial infection from the fluid in his lungs.

I had him into the car, and on his way to our vet office as soon as they were opened. Since I don’t function my best with just five hours sleep, I managed to leave the house without my wallet, which wouldn’t have been an issue if I hadn’t stopped for gas on the way. This was one of those times I was grateful to live in a small town, as they allowed me to leave to go back home and grab my wallet, instead of just calling the cops.

Finally arriving at the Vet’s office, Dr. Gomez did a thorough check on Solo, and confirmed he has ‘wet’ sounding lungs – and that we’d caught it right away, thankfully. Solo was dehydrated, so he received 30 mls of fluid subcutaneously (which he didn’t enjoy in the least). He’s now on Clavamox, to stave off possible infection.

He’s also back on every two hour feeding, with the goal of getting smaller amounts of food into him, more frequently, instead of allowing him to gorge every four hours.

Goodbye, sleep, hello alarm clock.

If he regurgitates again, I’m going to have to take the plunge and start tube feeding him, and tube feeding scares the beejesus out of me. I’ll do it, however, if it will save his life.

I find it ironic that on the same morning I was racing around trying to save my single surviving puppy’s life, someone was sending me the following email:

Can you give me some advice on how I become a French Bull Dog breeder? I want to make some part time money and I really like dogs. I had a litter from my cocker spaniel two years ago and it seems pretty easy.

I haven’t bothered to answer them yet. Some days, answering questions like this can’t be done without copious amounts of swearing and tears.

Here’s a video demonstration of tube feeding, for those who’ve never seen it done.

Carol

Happy Boxing Day

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If you live in a Commonwealth country, you’re celebrating Boxing Day today (likely by shopping for discounted Christmas items). If you live in the USA, you probably have no idea what Boxing Day means.

In the most simplistic terms, Boxing Day is simply the day after Christmas, December 26th. The history of the term ‘Boxing Day’ is generally taken to refer to the British habit of gifting their servants and tradespeople with boxes of food and fruit on the day following Christmas (an early version of a Christmas bonus). It’s also been suggested that it refers to the habit of the Church of handing out alms to the poor on this day, taken from the tithes gathered in the Church poor boxes throughout the year.

There may also be a more decidedly pagan history behind the name. Tradition says that the Wren, or King of the Birds, was captured in a box during Solstice festivities. The boxed wren was then taken from house to house, where householders would ask him for the boon of a successful year and bountiful harvest. This tradition is mentioned in the classic book of English mythology and magic, the Golden Bough.

Wikipedia explains the common protocols for decided when Boxing Day will be celebrated:

In common usage, 26 December is continually referred to as Boxing Day whichever day of the week it occurs on. If it falls on a Sunday then in countries where it is a Bank Holiday the Statutory Holiday is moved to Monday December 27th to ensure a day without work. As Christmas Day would therefore be a Saturday, Tuesday 28 December is also declared as a holiday in lieu.

We’re celebrating Boxing Day by eating leftover Turkey for lunch, and Pho for dinner, from the Vietnamese restaurant around the corner from my daughter. After we drop her off, we’ll eat a big bowl of noodle and seafood soup. Then I’ll try to find someplace where I can buy an industrial sized box of puppy pads.

Here’s a photo of Mae’s puppy boy, taken last night. He’s almost completely better.

solopuppy.jpg

Happy Night Before Christmas

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Mae’s baby boy is doing much, much better. He’s gained a full ounce and a half, which is an amazing turn around. I’m still bottle feeding him, now about every four hours instead of every two.

The kids took some photos – I’ve been slacking off in the photo taking department, I fear.

There are some of the Bunny pups, a few of Nicole, Ryan, Amy and Derek, and a few of our tree – which fell over early this morning, smashing some of my imported, antique, hand blown glass ornaments.

Sigh. I knew it looked lopsided.

Oh well, it’s the things like this that make Christmases memorable, I suppose. Nothing says ‘Hey, do you remember?’ like an emergency tree water mop up at 6 am, while the dogs run around your feet, sniffing out their gifts from the boxes under the tree and just generally being happy to see everyone up so early.

Enjoy the photos, and have a great, tree-accident free Christmas. BTW, the rest of the photos are here –
http://flickr.com/photos/frenchbulldogs/sets/72157603537591975/

A much better morning

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After a very LONG 24 hours of every two hour feedings, the little boy seems much better this morning. He’s gained almost .4 ounces, he feels ‘fuller’ in my hand, and he’s back to being active and wiggly. I plan to keep on bottle feeding him for a few more days, and I’m encouraging him to nurse from Mae as much as possible.

I said this once already, but it bears repeating – thanks SO MUCH to everyone for their support. Sitting there in a cramped whelping room with a sick puppy can seem like the most desolate, isolating experience. Knowing people are out there wishing good thoughts your way really makes all the difference in the world.

Carol

A long night.. with more to come

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I’m starting to think I must be cursed. This boy isn’t gaining ANY weight – in fact, he’s lost weight. I was up all night trying to get him to nurse, but he just drops off the nipple as soon as I let go of him.

Some nutracal perked him up a little bit, and he’s since nursed this morning, but he wears out in no time flat and drops off. Mae seems to have milk, albeit not a ton, so I don’t know what the problem is.

Sean’s going to go out and get some goats milk and yogurt, and if he doesn’t perk up by this afternoon I might try to bottle feed him. The last pup I bottle fed, I lost, so this isn’t the best day of my life.

I have a whole house full of kids + assorted boyfriends/girlfriend due to show up this afternoon, and I am not feeling the holidays, that’s for sure.

Carol