what a night

Last night was a difficult night.

My biggest concern at the moment is getting enough nutrients and liquid into Neka and I have a constant low-level worry about her getting dehydrated. I'm aware of how big a drain 9 puppies are being on her, and it's difficult to get her to eat puppy food, which I would like to see her eating prodigious amounts of. So I've been trying all the stuff she normally loves: scrambled eggs (in lots of goat's milk and Lactol), cottage cheese, yogurt, chicken soup, cream. By mixing these things in with normal puppy food, I hope to make it palatable enough for her to eat. The only thing she's good with is the sloppy egg mix. Everything else is a struggle, even though she used to love yogurt, she won't touch it now. I gave her a small bowl of plain goat's milk & she up-ended it. You get the picture.

So last night soon after we went to bed, I woke up for no apparent reason. I went to check on the brood (of course) and discovered that Neka had pooed on the floor and then eaten most of it. (You don't try to eat while you're reading this blog, do you?) Unfortunately, this event is not as rare as you might think for a dog who is very fussy about what food she eats. Normally, if I can get some food down on top of it then it settles her stomach and all is well. Last night she tucked into her bowl of soup-soaked puppy food and then settled down. Off I went back to bed.

Then the vomiting started. And wouldn't stop. And then, while I was panicking about her getting dehydrated, she lay down in the grass in the rain and wouldn't get up. So there I was, quite exhausted and having trouble thinking clearly, standing in the middle of the park in my pyjamas, crying. What a picture I must have made! It's funny today, but last night we were so worried.

When I eventually got her back into the house, I took her temp. Normal. That made me feel a little better. I sat up with her until about 3:30 and eventually she had a few good drinks. When she finally ate her Markies, I knew it was safe to go back to bed. She got me up once more for a normal trip to the grass and then this morning it was business as usual. She's her usual smiley, waggy self and she gobbled up her eggs.

Her milk should be coming down today, and I'm going to try to get a little video of the nursing babies & their wagging tails to entertain you with.