no poll result

If you've been checking out my Twitter feed (which shows on the right-hand side of the blog window under the photo slideshow as well as on the news page of the website), then you will know that Taika is indeed in whelp. Sadly I cannot announce the result of the poll though because, whaddeya know, things didn't go quite as planned.

On Friday I had a call to say that the ultrasound machine had broken and could not be fixed. Oh, the timing! A new one has been ordered, but it won't arrive probably until Taika's puppies do. So that left us all at the mercy of Kate's vet who very helpfully rearranged their afternoon appointments on Saturday to squeeze Taika in to have her scan there. The only problem with that, of course, is that vets are notoriously squeamish about naming numbers. I don't know if they are afraid of unreasonable comeback from people after the birth - "But you said she was having sixteen!" - or whether it is simply because they are not radiologists and so do not have the expertise to make any kind of accurate estimate.

That's what's great about using the people who are experts. They're not afraid to name the numbers, and we all know that 4 can actually mean 2 or 7 and that 9 can mean 5 or 10. We just accept that it's not exact - but in my experience, the helpful woman I've used in the past has always known.

So for a fat fee, the vet was able to confirm that yes, Taika is carrying puppies - plural. Strong heartbeats & plenty of space. All seems well with however many are in there. But she wouldn't even say she heard/saw 2 or 4. All she said was she didn't think there were "lots" in there. My question would be how many she considered "lots" to be. "Lots" for, say, a Labrador would be 12 or 14 whereas for a Lappy, "lots" could be 6 or 7, although a vet would be very unlikely to know this.

So, after all this, you would think that in 4 weeks' time we are guaranteed to have puppies, wouldn't you? There are several people who are certainly hoping that's the case. But it's not entirely that straightforward. (Did you really think it would be?) It's true we will probably have puppies. But as with seasons & mating, there are certainly no guarantees, and this is another likely reason vets don't want to name numbers. For example, she could be in whelp with 4 puppies now but re-absorb, say, 2 of them before the birth and so we only end up with 2. Also, stillborn puppies are certainly not rare so they might not all make it. The scariest scenario is that something goes wrong and the mum needs to have a Caesarian. This can also result in one or more dead puppies.

So, in case you have uncrossed your fingers, toes & legs, thinking we were out of the woods now, please just give your limbs all a good stretch and then re-assume the position until all the puppies arrive safe and sound.