Yesterday, two batches of puppies came into the shelter, essentially without mommies. My coworker ended up taking one batch home and I took the other. I don't know what the story is with his and I don't remember seeing them.
The litter of puppies I got originally had seven puppies. By the time they got to the shelter, there were five. One died soon after. From what I understood, these people had the mother and her puppies. She had a wound that metastasized and they wouldn't let the puppies nurse. I don't think they ate since they were born. They were only a few days old- their eyes are still closed, they're definitely nursing and you can still see their belly buttons. Mom was brought in with the pups but was put down soon after because of her condition. That left the puppies on their own.
I guess because I had taken the kittens last week, I was asked pretty early on if I'd be willing to take them. It was the foster coordinator's day off and they couldn't reach her, so they were having trouble finding a foster. I said sure, if it was okay with my husband. I figured he wouldn't turn them down, even though we said we were going to take a week off, let our apartment recover and get cleaned. Maybe have a break from the stress.
I was told to not expect too much from the puppies; they'd already lost one and didn't really expect two of the four left to make it. They wanted to make sure that if one or more died I wouldn't hold myself responsible. A vet tech found me later and told me essentially the same thing: They're in bad shape, just do what you can. Feed them, clean them and keep them warm. That's all you can do. Don't worry about the blood.
We lost our first one early on. I don't even have a picture of him. I didn't start taking pictures until things started settling down and we got into a routine. I was told to check on them every hour, feed every two. Healthy puppies usually only cry when they're hungry, so you'll know when to feed them, but these also cried when they pottied and sometimes just because. They're not well. Mom had hookworms, so they got dewormer, too. I guess they still aren't in the clear yet, but I think the three left are doing fairly well. Two are fighters. The third is about a third bigger than the others but quite lazy. She's quiet and will take the bottle, but not with nearly as much vigor as the other two and she drinks less than a quarter of what they do. She was just born big, she's no hog. Her belly is nowhere near as big as the others because she won't drink enough.
Losing the baby boy was rough. My husband was still up at that point. The puppy just cried and cried and cried and wouldn't drink. We kind of knew we were losing him but didn't want to say it out loud. I should have known when he was quiet that something was wrong, but I didn't notice until one of his sisters started pooping and I was clearing everyone out to clean up. He was on the bottom, still warm but not moving. I went to wipe him off and his little leg wasn't moving; rigor mortis was already setting in.
Even though we knew it was probably going to happen, it didn't make it any easier. We both sat and cried for a little while; I held him in my lap, just making sure that he was really gone. It's been a while since I've lost a little one. It was hard, wrapping him up and putting him away. Just writing this has brought on the waterworks again and I guess I'm not okay with it. We both knew we couldn't help it, but that doesn't make it okay.
Those people should go to jail. I hate them.
The three left are Hope, Champ, and Cosette (I'll have to get around to changing their names, they were originally Hope, Grateful, Miracle and Blessing). Hope, the big one who is light brown and , is the one who wasn't eating and I was worried that she was going to die, too. She would cry but not drink, so I would hold her in my lap and she would sleep there.
I honestly have trouble telling the other two, a little boy and girl, apart. I thought for a few hours that I had one but I had the other. One has a wider stripe on its head, but I can't remember who is who. If we get them back, I'm sure I'll get it eventually.
They each have their own feeding needs. Champ needs to be held firmly to take the bottle and does best when eased down on his side. Champ and Cosette are both fussy when taking the bottle. They want it, but reject it and then go frantically looking for it. Hope will take it, but only for a tiny bit. She needs to be set up on her butt, sitting vertically. She can be propped up or held. She got my ear earlier this morning and it felt strange for like 10 minutes.
My husband took them back to the shelter at 8:30 this morning and I finally went to bed. Because they had been starved, they wanted to eat every half hour instead of every two hours. I got some 15 minute naps in there, maybe 3 or 4. I laid on the futon with them while my husband was in bed. Lucky things seem like they can eat in their sleep.
They're supposed to go somewhere else, because we won't have time to care for them past Friday. They got in a mommy who either is done nursing or lost her puppies, so they want to see if she'll accept the pups. If she will, they want us to take them all. We have a problem saying no.
UPDATE: The mother refused to nurse the puppies, but they went into foster and all three survived. The mother dog was adopted, too.
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