"Attie"
"Patuxent's Formal Attire"
DOB: December, 2006
View Attie's Pedigree Below
I have been reading so many different Christmas stories about litters whelped over the recent holidays, and I would like to share my story with all of you.
I have been in this breed for 4 years now and in the show ring for two years. I have now whelped 5 Papillon litters, although three of them have been singleton pups and the other two litters were two pups.
I am fortunate enough to have a neighbor @ one minute drive away who breeds and shows Chi’s. She was there for my first Pap whelping and came again last fall when my champion delivered a large (8.2 oz) singleton, breech puppy. It was a difficult delivery, but pup and Mom were fine, thanks to Kim’s expertise.
Fast forward to December 15th. I had bred my almost 2 year old tiny girl, “Smidg’in”, who is @ 5 lbs. This is her first litter. Although the sonogram showed two pups, the x-ray a few days before her due date showed one large pup. My vet was certain that the pup would not make it out on its own, but felt that, seeing as this was her first litter, she should give it a try naturally. Smidg’in’s mother is 4.5 lbs and has free whelped all of her litters without any problems. I, too, firmly believe that daughters tend to whelp like their mothers, as a rule – with exceptions, of course. So, I was hoping that Smidg’in would be a trooper, like her mother.
Her temp dropped to 96 on the 14th. I am an elementary physical education teacher and have my own office that is, believe it or not, quiet and private. So, Smidg’in came to school with me in her whelping box. No pups that day or night, but the next day, Friday, she began panting and digging in my office at 9:00 A.M. I called my friend, Karen Stout, to come sit with her at work while I taught my classes – to watch for pushing and to time contractions. Karen took Smidg’in over to Kim’s an hour later.
There was still no pup by the end of my school day, so, I headed over to Kim’s right after school. Kim was concerned that the delivery had not progressed as it should have. I sat down next to the box and soothed Smidg’in and she immediately began pushing. The puppy, within minutes, was close to presenting (head first). Smidg’in started digging again and she rolled over on her back – and fell asleep!!! At first we thought it was cute and silly – and then I got a bad feeling – a flash back to my first litter of Brittanies @ 27 years ago. The bitch did the exact same thing and the change in the direction of gravity mixed the order of the pups’ presentation all up and the bitch had to have a section. So, I turned Smidg’in over and we did another internal and the pup was nowhere to be found. Kim suggested that we get to the vets immediately. I had two vets on call for an emergency section – mine – and Smidg’in handler’s vet - a 24 hour vet. This was 3:30 in the afternoon, so, my vet told me to come right in. Off we went.
When we got there, my vet put us in an examining room to wait while they got the OR ready. Smidg’in had not pushed at all since her little nap. I told her that she really did not want to have this surgery, and that she should try to push one more time and would you believe – she gave 6 good, strong, hard pushes in a row right there in her whelping box, in the examining room. I did another internal and the pup’s face was right there – but large – too large to get out without help. At this point, we had not given any oxytosin or calcium. I called the vet in and asked for oxytosin – he brought in a shot and gave it to her and said he’d be back in a few minutes. Smidg’in started pushing again and the head came out, but the shoulders were stuck. So, I asked for calcium to make the contractions stronger. My vet felt he could maneuver the shoulder free. We took Smidg’in out of the box and stood her up on the table. I could catch the pup’s shoulder from under her pelvis bone with my finger and hold it there so that it did not slip back into the birth canal. As Smidg’in pushed, he worked on the head and I held the shoulder in place – and also pushed from the outside of Smidg’in’s belly – much like a pastry bag with each contraction. What a little trooper – she did not give up pushing and out came the pup – squealing, at @ 4:20 She was 5 oz – a little tri girl.
Well, all seemed to be well - we went home after paying the vet 50 bucks for his time, the use of the examining room and the oxytosin shot (far better than the cost of a section, thank goodness!) But, Smidg’in was a nervous mother. She was far too busy to mother the puppy. As a novice breeder of toys, looking back, I now realize that I should have confined Smidg’in in an enclosed area where she could not get out. The confinement may have forced her instincts to kick in. But, I had her in a port a crib where she could jump in and out. Smidg’in also has inverted nipples and over the next two days, the pup was not getting enough milk. She only had gained 1 ½ oz in 3 days. (The thread on birth weight and gains frecently on one of the lists was prompted by my friend Karen Stout who was very concerned about the pup’s low weight gain).
Monday morning, Smidg’in had the beginnings of mastitis. Her 4 upper teats and two lower teats were affected – a little heat, hard and lumpy. I called my friend, Kim, again. By the grace of God, she had had a litter of 6 Chi’s the night before Smidg’in’s pup was born. She told me to bring her to her house immediately. Kim put three of the Chi pups on Smidg’in’s teats. She bottle fed Smidg’in’s pup and noticed that she could only suckle if the nipple was far down her throat (impossible for the pup to do on Smidg’in’s inverted nipples!). Fortunately, the puppy readily took a long puppy nurser nipple (after trying every other type of nipple.*** I have never had any luck with puppy nursers in all my years in dogs – until now. I have better luck with the preemie nipples that R.A. mentioned)
It’s been touch and go, but Smidg’in’s puppy is now being raised by the Chi mother who readily took her in I(and does not have inverted nipples!) – and Smidg’in has adopter three of the Chi pups!
At 1 1/2 weeks, Smidg’in’s pup has only gained 3 1/2s oz, but she seems to be active and her eyes opened today. She does have that “pear” shape to her – that worried me for a long time, but I now can tell that her belly is always full. She is being bottle fed twice a day – taking in a full oz/ feeding sometimes! She has caught up to her surrogate siblings in size – but they are one to three oz heavier that our puppy.
There are pictures of Smidg’in with her Chi pups(one is B&W, but is, in fact, a Chi), and Smidg’in’s pup with her Surrogate family. Smidg’in’s puppy is the B&W (tri) with the Chi mamma.) We still have a long way to go, but I am feeling a bit more confident that this little girl will make it. Smidg’in and her three Chi pups will be returning home to our house tomorrow, and her puppy will be raised by the Chi mom. Smidg’in will have nothing to do with her as far as nursing her, but she is intent to keep cleaning her. On the other hand, she is a wonderful mom to the Chi’s! All I can say is that it is a Christmas miracle that my neighbor had this Chi litter one night before Smidg’in had her pup, and because of this, Smidg’in’s pup is still alive and beginning to thrive. I am forever grateful to my Friend, Karen, as well as my neighbor, Kim, for helping us through this. We are calling the puppy, Patuxent’s Formal Attire, as she looks like she has a dinner jacket on. Her call name will be, “Attie”
