Bitty-Vince Litter

I am brokenhearted and so very sorry to have to post this. Bitty lost all 3 puppies born this morning. I am too upset to discuss it currently and we do not know exactly what happened, but I knew many were waiting on the birth announcement of the litter. Please keep us in your prayers.

Deb

I am so sorry.
I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

I am so so sorry to hear this ...I will be sure to add all of you to my prayers

So sorry thoughts and prayers are with you

I am so sorry, my thoughts are with you

Oh no! I am soooo sorry! Thoughts and prayers are with you!!

oh no that is so sad. My thoughts and prayers go to you at this time.

So sorry for your loss

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers everyone. I was just too horrified yesterday to type the story.

Bitty is doing absolutely fine, but I will be taking her to the vet this morning to have her checked out just in case.

I knew she was in labor as her temp had dropped in the afternoon and at around 7:00 PM she got in her whelping box. I expected her to deliver here on the couch with me like Alafaire insisted on doing, but she obviously wanted to be alone. She was not having contractions, but would occasionally reposition herself in her box all night. So, I stayed awake with her until 5:30 AM and she went to sleep. I dozed off here on the couch by her puppy pen/whelping box believing when she woke up that I would hear her and she would be ready. At 6:30, I woke up and she had 2 puppies, both cold, laying in her box. She never even made a peep It seems like she was waiting for me to go to sleep. Next, after 1 1/2 hours, she delivered a tiny puppy that was born not fully developed (open abdomen) but it did take a few breaths. She also made no sound with that one. I feel horrible that I fell asleep and believe I could have saved the first two puppies had I stayed awake.

Anyway, the 2 puppies that she had on her own were girls (a beautiful shaded red and a beautiful shaded cream!). Just exactly what Tracy & I were waiting for, 2 girls The other puppy was a boy, maybe another cream. The first 2 were both a whopping 8 oz! So, maybe it took her a long time to pass them? I believe that it probably just took her too long to remove the sack form the first 2 puppies' faces. Maybe waiting until after they were delivered? I can't believe as little as she is, that she had pups this large!

Bitty has had no ill effects, no temp, no bleeding, her milk did not continue to come down, and she is already shrinking back to normal breast size. Thankfully, she is not looking for the puppies either. I am shocked at this. She is being her "happy-go-lucky" self this morning. That is a blessing.

Again, thanks for all of the support.

Deb

So sorry for your loss and glad your Bitty is o.k. I am sure you did everything you could have thoughts and prayers are with you

You can't beat yourself up over this......those pups may not have ever made it. There could of been something wrong with them that you could not visibly see.
Unfortunately...these things happen and it is never easy!!
((HUGS)) to you my friend!! I do know what it is like to loose a whole litter.....I lost one a yr ago and it was horrible.....I also almost lost the mother. It is never easy and I know we beat ourselves up with "what if's"...........
Time will ease your pain......but you never forget!!
Again.......my heart aches for you at this time!!

I know what it is like to lose a whole litter as well and time heals all wounds. My only chocolate/cream to have ever been born died a week later from the litter i lost...all the rest were dead inside this female and had caused massive infection...even one was born alive with a rotten off bottom jaw that had to be euthanized. The mom of course was spayed due to infection...so i lost her as a breeder and her only pup that she had remaining a week after birth. Although its a sad situation and anyone breeding will eventually be in your shoes it is something that happens and you cannot blame yourself. Even if you had stayed awake there is no way of knowing if the two girls would have survived. At least the mom is still breedable and you can try again next time and use a different male instead.

I am sorry for your losses..unfortunately this is the dark side of breeding trying to do everything right only have it go terribly wrong. It is devastating - like others have said ...time does heal all wounds.

Last July, I lost a mom and 8 of 10 puppies...nothing we did could have prevented it and let me tell ya we did everything we could: emergency spay to clean her out, calcium injections, iv fluids, antibiotics, hand feeding puppies, nutri-cal, rice and lots of TLC. It was extremely hard to deal with as we lost the pups one by one then the mom within a week of whelping. Searching for answers, I looked at all the vet records as well as my own (feeding, cleaning and bathing schedules) to find something that led to this so I do not have a repeat in the future.... I didn't find anything as there was nothing out of the ordinary except low calcium for having such a large litter.

I am sooo glad Bitty is doing wonderfully despite this tragedy....I will keep you both in my prayers as your wounds heal

Hi Everyone,

Bitty is doing great. Yesterday, I took her and the puppies to my vet. He gave Bitty a precautionary antibiotic shot, but did not see any evidence of infection. I left a puppy with him for autopsy. Then, he called yesterday afternoon and said that he did not find anything wrong, but that mother dogs "know" and that sometimes things just happen. He said the puppies were probably born dead and there was no evidence to indicate what could have happened. However, he did make me feel a little better by saying that what ever the cause, I probably could not have prevented it and that Bitty may have well been waiting for me to go to sleep so she could "take care of business" knowing something was wrong. He added that he especially believes this because she is not looking for them, no milk has come down, etc. He also said she may even had picked up a "bug" from a one of us, a visitor, or, even at his office when I had her there last week for the xray. She could have fought off something like that, but the puppies possibly could not. I LOVE my vet! How many would mention the possibility of something being picked up in their own offices? None of this is what I wanted to hear, of course, but at least it is some closure for me.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and other condolences,
Deb

Bless Bitty girl what a sweetheart and bless you glad you have a bit of closure .