Shadow has a poorly tummy. For those of you who have followed her previous litters you will know this has happened before … and it was serious. With both of her first two litters she had pancreatitis. We thought it was due to putting her on puppy food. The first year we did not get a clear diagnosis but last year when she was very poorly we did. Anyway, the first thing that happens when Shadow has a poorly tummy is that she stops producing milk in the quantities it’s needed. The second thing is that she starts producing a lot of wind, but the less said about that the better – let’s just say that my Mistress is less than happy to be in a confined space with her 24 hours a day. My Mistress hoped she was being over cautious making up a special formula diet and freezing it ‘just in case’. Now it seems this is the very case for which it was frozen and it is a God send. Shadow is feeding the pups as best she can, but as they roll off a teat because they can’t find any more milk and start crying, my Mistress scoops them up and gives them the bottle of formula to suckle on to fill the gap. Some feeds go better than others with Shadow having just about enough and my Mistress being redundant, but then at other times it seems to be mainly formula they are having and little from Shadow. Unless things improve significantly today, my Mistress is going to take Shadow to the vet tomorrow. It also means she is going to ring the kennels this afternoon and ask for Aristotle to stay a few more days so she can have the time and space to focus on the puppies. We are still about a week and a half away from the point that they will be able to lap puppy mix for themselves. It can’t come soon enough. My Mistress’s first concern has to be Shadow’s health, but after that it is most definitely to make sure the puppies are gaining weight at an acceptable rate and that their progress is not in any way hampered. Weigh in will give the first real indication of how the formula is going.
Alfie’s Diary – the Book is available at Amazon UK –https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00583ZGSA
You can find short stories to read at www.alfiedog.com
Aw! Hope Shadow feels better very soon… Poor girl! X