Several years ago, we had a dog named Sadie. She was a beagle and we loved her very much. Two of our friends had adopted two of her brothers. When we found out that Sadie was going to have puppies we were all very excited, and I thought it would be a great learning experience for my children.
The day Sadie had her puppies was a very chaotic day. She had five puppies that all seemed healthy and well. We left her to care for them and continued on with errands, etc. for the rest of the day. All day long, I would see her throughout the house in a squatting position. We had trouble with housebreaking her, and I thought that maybe because of having the puppies she was reverting to some old behavior, so when I would see her squatting I would put her outside.
I went to my book discussion group that evening as usual, and came home to find her very restless. The puppies would be crying so she would get in the box and lay down beside them to nurse them and in a second she would be up and squatting again. I started to think she maybe had a bladder infection. What never occurred to me was that she had another puppy stuck in the birth canal. Regardless, I found an emergency vet a 45 minute drive away, and loaded her up with her puppies and took off. The vet delivered the terrifying news - I had been putting her out all day and she was still in labor. There was one puppy stuck in the birth canal that was deceased, and two puppies behind it.
Everything started happening very fast. They said she needed immediate surgery to save her life and the lives of her puppies. They said they could do the surgery, and that I needed to sign this paper and that paper and the other paper, and everything was spinning until the lady told me that I would need to promise to pay them $3000 in 30 days! That cleared the chaos in my head kind of like sniffing one of those ammonia capsules. I KNEW there was no way we could pay them that amount in that amount of time. The only other option they gave me was to sign custody of our precious Sadie over to them, and they would perform and pay for the surgery - but I would.not.get.her.back. The details clarified, I would keep the puppies she had already delivered - but this was the only way to save her life. I was heartbroken, but I did what I had to do for her best interest.
We had these five gorgeous puppies, two of them that I am able to visit at the homes of my friends to this day. We commenced bottle feeding them some formula we got at the local farmer's supply store, and found many friends who were more than willing to help. We loved those puppies, but they did little to diminish losing Sadie.
So if I am nervous about my kitty cat being pregnant, you may have a better understanding now of why. She is a tiny girl, and her belly is getting so huge. I hope that it is a mass number of kittens and not big ones. I know that not a sparrow falls apart from the will of the Father, but in the meantime it is my heart that breaks for the furry friends that I love.
Oh, I am so sorry for your dear dog. $3000 is outrageous! Too bad you weren't in Romania. It would have cost $30 tops. We had a boxer there and she had 11 puppies in one litter! All went well with the delivery and all but one puppy survived. 11 was just too many and it was weak. We tried bottle feeding him but it wasn't successful. Keep us posted about your sweet cat!
ReplyDeleteI remember the Sadie story. Anita and I had to pull a kitten out of one of my cat's butt once for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteHope all goes purr-fect this time.
HOLY SMOKES! # babies stuck inside, no wonder she couldn't nurse the other pups. Can you imagine and no way to tell you what she was feeling.
ReplyDeleteWell, we had an experience with an intense vet service. Our cat came home with one leg dangling. After $2400, major surgery, 3 hr drives plus the time waiting at the office, once per week, you cannot even tell she ever had an injury. However, we had another cat who we had to have euthanized when the hubby ran her over. We cheaped out and did the least expensive thing. I felt so guilty. When the hubby asked why, I said I don't know. They looked at me like I was dirt. He reminded me that they were playing on my emotions, and not the facts of our financial situation and the fact that it was a 18 yr old cat.
ANyway, never dealt with babies, so I hope it all goes well.
I'm so sorry to hear about your dear, sweet Sadie. That is just heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI will be praying about your cat and her kittens; for a quick, safe and successful delivery.