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| Heidi with her precious babies. She is an amazing mom! |
Cabbage Patch Mom
A breeder’s (or a mother’s) life is not without its challenges. This week Heidi contracted mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary gland, usually the result of an infection caused by a little bite or scratch. This is not uncommon in large litters and not serious when diagnosed and treated in its early stages. We opted for two courses of treatment: the medical solution of a regimen of antibiotics and the homeopathic one of strapping a cabbage leaf to the affected area. Heidi’s malady improved very rapidly, but the rest of the pack sure was curious about this mobile salad bar.The big news this week is that the puppies have opened their eyes – the windows to their little souls. While they can initially only differentiate between light and dark through a kind of haze, this will clear up very quickly over the next week or so until they experience normal sight. The little ones are able to hear quite well as soon as their ears have opened and they certainly have no difficulty in making themselves heard. Their sounds range from squeaky toys to little babies to pigeons depending on the mood they’re in and what they feel they need to communicate.
Since their body temperatures will not have been regulated until after week three, the little gang relies on mom and each other for warmth. We use a heat lamp for good measure, when mom’s on her break. It never ceases to amaze how the puppies sleep, all piled atop one another. As they lie there asleep, they are constantly twitching. These involuntary actions, referred to as “activated sleep”, help strengthen their leg muscles affording them the mobility to stagger around the whelping box when they set off in search of a snack or a sibling to use as a pillow.
Besides sleeping, the puppies’ other favourite pastime is eating – something they seem to do virtually non-stop. They’re fun to watch with their little fists pumping and tails twitching as they nurse. This group is rather well-organized at the milk bar, lining themselves up very neatly like big rigs at a freight terminal. The results are evident with some of the group already tripling their birth weight. For some puppies, the incessant desire to nurse continues even after Heidi has left the whelping box for a well-deserved break. This certainly causes some confusion among the rest as they find a brother or sister trying to latch onto one of their body parts or another.
That’s it for now, but be sure to join us next week for another fur-raising installment of “Puppy Tales”.
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