o'cockaigne

Saterday, November 21

After I returned from the vet with Cytaugh and the deceased puppy around 6pm on Wednesday (Nov.18), I didn’t feel like burying it anymore. I did this on Thursday after I first weighed him; it weighed a whopping 618 grams, the heaviest of all. And what a beautiful puppy it was!

The first days after the caesarean section Cytaugh had a significant increase, even up to 39.9 Cº, fortunately it is now dropping but it is going slowly. She feels okay and eats and drinks well. She is a loving mother and keeps her offspring clean.

Fortunately, Cytaugh lies still in the whelpingbox and does not get up to turn around so I don’t have to worry (not yet) about that but she likes to stretch her legs regularly, every 2 to 3 hours, and to pee. Of course, this also continues at night! And of course she doesn’t pee right away, she prefers to walk halfway through the forest! You are immediately wide awake again. Of the first 5 days (180 hours) I slept for a total of 16 hours. The annoying thing is that when the puppies are in their little box because Cytaugh has to get out, they are sleeping well and you don’t hear them. But when they are in Cytaugh’s whelping box, you constantly hear one squeak, suck or moan, it is hardly silent for a moment. Cytaugh is also panting a lot, it is too hot for her, especially now that she is also raised.

Sunday afternoon I saw a wound besides Cytaugh’s tail. When I examined it more closely, a lot of thickened anal fluid came out! So it turned out to be a burst, inflamed anal gland. Very strange that it did not smell at all and that Cytaugh was not bothered by it.

Fortunately, Cytaugh’s temperature is going in the right direction, at the beginning of the evening it had finally dropped below 39. Let’s hope this trend continues.

Monday, November 23

It was a very restless night. Cytaugh wanted to get out at 3:00 am and before she finally had a pee I was half an hour further. Since it is quite dark in our forest, I bring a flashlight. We then act as quietly as possible otherwise a dog in the neighbourhood will bark. You really feel like a thief in the dark and wonder when someone calls the police. Fortunately that hasn’t happened yet! The puppies also kept busy and never slept for a moment, so neither did I.

I went to the vet with Cytaugh to have the anal gland treated with an antibiotic ointment. The vet also checked the stitches. At least that all looked good.

The puppies didn’t like the fact that mothers were not there. When she was not in the whelping box within half an hour, they jointly put up a huge throat. Simon was pretty sweet with it!

The only puppy that has doubled its birth weight after a week is the turquoise male. The red female, the smallest of the bunch, doubled her weight the next day and the rest the day after. They grow steadily, but they all sometimes have an outlier or have gained a lot less weight a day. But they shine towards you and are vibrant.

Thursday, November 26

In the meantime we have already trimmed the nails of the puppies with the nail grinder twice. They grow very fast and the brackets that arise are razor-sharp.

Cytaugh now and then jumps out of the box, but as soon as the puppies start to squeak too much, she also goes back. Now it is still feasible to keep the six aside for a while when she steps in, but when the puppies get faster, it becomes a lot of tricks again. Fortunately, she stays in the whelping box all night long.

In the meantime I also have to deal with the other hounds. Now and then they also need to be brushed and their nails trimmed. And especially Cearrean needs regular special attention in the form of search games. He likes this and uses his nose well. He spends a lot of time outside with Cranston and together they “clean up” the grounds.

Cranston continues to grow considerably, he is almost the same size as Brandir! It is a wonderful puppy who enjoys life to the full.

My Croton is also admired every day at the moment, it has such nice flowers!

Friday, November 27.

This afternoon we went to the vet for a check-up with Cytaugh. Everything was fine and I can let the wound close. One less worry. The nights also get a bit quieter. Usually I “sleep” until 5:00 or 6:00 and then wake up Simon, then I actually go to bed and sleep for a few hours, Simon then stays with the pups.

Most puppies are already over a kilo, only the red female is not quite yet but she is growing fastest in proportion! Who knows, she might catch up with her pink sister! The eyes start to open slowly, with several you can already see a small crack. I wonder how blue they become, light eyes are in the bloodline so it can just pop out, I hope not!

Monday, November 16. 03.00 am. After noticing that Cytaugh’s temperature was dropping around noon, I watched this closely. For a long time it stuck at 37.2 before dropping to 37.1 around 7 p.m. and by 9 p.m. it had already risen to 37.3. Since the delivery will not take long anymore, and there are always exceptions, I took it for granted and did not go to bed. Cytaugh did, she had almost all the beds in the house before she got up at half past three and was escorted by me to the whelping box. Here she lay down quietly and finally wanted to drink a few sips of milk. I saw the puppies moving in her belly. At 4 o’clock she started to pant a little but a little later she calmed down and drank a little again.

And so it went on until half past ten in the morning.

Tuesday, November 17, 3.25 am. Simon woke up at 7 and went for a walk with the other hounds. After everyone had breakfast and Cytaugh was sleeping peacefully in the whelping box, I could also go to sleep for a few hours. It only became two hours because at 10.30 am Simon called me that Cytaugh was contracting. It ended here. In the course of the afternoon she had a contraction now and then, but she didn’t really push through. It didn’t get a bit more serious until 3:30 am and after a few contractions a bladder appeared. But it did not continue and the bladder disappeared. I took Cytaugh on a leash and went out. There the bladder appeared again! Back home soon because Simon was out walking with the other hounds and I didn’t want to take in a puppy outside while Cytaugh was half panicked. Hop in the whelping box and then the bladder turned out to be an empty ball of about 7 centimeters in diameter, there was no puppy in it, only moisture!

After about fifteen minutes, Cytaugh went into labor again and started straining. Once again a bladder appeared and disappeared because Cytaugh was not pushing properly. So back on the leash and outside. After a good 50 meters, the bladder appeared and Cytaugh started to push. I collected the pup with afterbirth in a warm towel, quickly shed its membranes and ran home as quickly as possible. Cytaugh in the whelping box, rub the puppy dry, get it started and with mothers. This was a 520 gram male, was born at approximately 4.25 pm and got the turquoise band.

Fortunately, Cytaugh was already giving milk so that went well right away. She was so busy with her firstborn that I didn’t get the chance to take a proper picture of him and in the meantime the contractions started again and at 5.15 pm a second male of 572 grams was born with some difficulty. This one got the dark blue strap.

Three quarters of an hour later, at 6.00 pm, a female was born. I was already afraid that only males would come and that I would again have to disappoint the long-waiting. Fortunately, this lady weighed about 492 grams and got the orange band.

But I didn’t get time to weigh her and put on the band because 7 minutes later another bitch was born. She weighed 450 grams and got the pink ribbon.

Now we had some time to clean the whelping box and to put down a clean fat bed, fresh mats and towels, to give Cytaugh something to eat and to relax ourselves.

While I was busy in the kitchen Simon called me that another puppy was on the way. When I got to Cytaugh the two back legs and the tail were sticking out of her vulva. Fortunately, with the next contraction the whole puppy came out but completely out of the membranes and she had swollowed a lot of fluid. It took quite a bit of effort to get her empty and going but she made it! She weighed only 360 grams and got the red band.

Wednesday, November 18. It has now been 7 o’clock, the puppies are all doing well. Cytaugh shows herself as an exemplary mother, eats and drinks well and gives good milk. She is still quite restless and pants a lot.

10.47 am. It was some work again! A quiet breakfast was not an option. At 8 minutes before 8 another bitch was born! She weighed 494 grams and now wears the green strap. In the photo below she is on the left, without any color.

Noon, Cytaugh is panting again and she has the occasional contraction. So it looks like another puppy is on the way. Over time, the number of contractions diminish and walking outside does not bring anything either. I call the vet and say I’m coming with Cytaugh. After having made an ultrasound it appears that there is indeed a puppy in it and it is decided to first administer oxytocin and see if Cytaugh can manage to give birth to the puppy herself. But that does not work, the few contractions she still gets is not strong enough to expel the puppy. Then it is decided to have a Caesarean section. Unfortunately it turns out that the male has become completely full of moisture and whatever they do, he will not survive. In and in sad, it was such a lovely puppy.

When we got home, we spent hours reuniting Cytaugh with her children. After that affair with Cearrean two years ago, we were really afraid things were going to go wrong. At first Cytaugh really didn’t like her puppies, but after laying them with her one by one and then two at a time, things got better and better and last night they mostly lay with her. It was even the case that after walking for a while at 5.00 am she insisted on having her puppies with her.

It is going in the right direction, please let it continue like this, this was enough stress for the next 10 years!