Shasta is my 4 1/2 year old Keeshond/German Shephard Mix. She is a wonderful dog and companion. On Thanksgiving day she and Buddy, a Whippet mix, mated. This is Shasta's second litter and she did great throughout her pregnancy. On day 53 I began taking her temperature in order to establish a baseline.
On day 59, Saturday 1-23-10, I started checking her temperature more often and noticed that it was indeed dropping. Around 4pm her temperature bottomed out at 9.1*F. So I knew we should be having puppies within the next 12 hours or so. Shasta was already nesting and showing other labor signs. I checked on her frequently throught out the night and the next day. By 2pm on Sunday, 1-24-10, I began to get worried because her gums were quite pale and she was acting lethargic. I called the veterinarian at the Emergency Clinic and they advised me to bring her in.
So I packed up her "whelping kit" just in case she started having puppies during the 45 minute drive. We arrived safely at the veterinary clinic at 4:30pm. The vet drew blood and ran some tests. The tests showed that her glucose was significantly low. While the vet was explaining this to me Shasta decided to start pushing a little while she was on the exam table and the first fluid sac ruptured. The vet very quickly shaved her leg and inserted a catheter to get fluids and sugars into her. He stated that if she started delivering puppies without getting her sugar up we would have bigger problems.
At 6:00pm the vet injected Oxytocin to help with contractions and to get Shasta to push. Her first puppy was born at 6:13pm and the second puppy followed at 6:50pm. Shasta was still clearly weak. The vet did not want to do a c-section if he didn't have to so we opted to give the fluids and sugars more time to work. At 8:00pm another dose of Oxytocin was administered. At 8:35pm Shasta was given an injection of Calcium Gluconate. She delivered her third puppy at 8:45pm and her fourth puppy at 9:02pm. Around 9:30pm the vet told the technician to administer another dose of Oxytocin if Shasta did not have another puppy by 10:00pm. Well, Shasta must have heard him because her fifth puppy was born at 9:50pm! At this point Shast decided to take a very well deserved nap!!!
The vet was working on another canine patient who had been poisoned when Shasta decided to have puppy number 6. However, puppy number six's sac broke while he was still in the birth canal. I could see the fluid seeping out. I hollered for the vet tech who ran to get the vet. I pushed Shast's vulva back enough that the puppy's nose and mouth were out and I quickly used the nasal asperator to get the fluid out of the puppy. The vet came in and said the puppy needed to get out now. He grabbed some gauze and used it to grip the puppy's head, which was fully out now, and with Shasta's next push he pulled the puppy out. He handed the puppy to me and rushed back to his other canine patient. I suctioned some more fluids out and rubbed the puppy roughly to get it breathing. Once she was breathing I gave her to Shasta.
The vet said Shasta would be staying overnight so I went home to get some much needed rest around 12:30pm. Oxytocin was administered an additional three times at 1:03am, 2:30am and 3:00am to no avail. The vet could feel several puppies still in Shasta and could feel one in the birth canal but could not get it out. The vet called me around 5:00am and advised that a C-Section was needed. I arrived back at the emergency clinic around 6:30am but it was too late for him to do the C-Section as they closed at 7:30am. I loaded Shasta and her 6 puppies up and took them to our regular vet, who opened at 7:30am.
Our vet advised that puppy viability for the remaining puppies was minimal. Shasta had the C-Section and boy, were we all shocked. The vet delivered an additional happy and healthy 7 puppies! Shasta and all 13 puppies are doing very well!!!
