During the past 2 days we have had a tragedy/catastrophe with the V-litter here at Kennel Al-Dahná. Less than two days ago Sasha's temperature started to rise dramatically. She got very hot and lost her appetite completely. In addition all the pups became ill, and lost temperature. Then we had 3 visits to the vet with an awful lot of injections, one operation and other treatments, in additions to many phone calls.
Sasha had a very strong infection of her fallopian tubes, and the pups were dehydrated and cold. We were on our feet the whole time trying to save them. Yesterday was an absolute disaster. First a pup died in the vets office, then Sasha had a hysterectomy and in the evening we lost 6 pups in less than 30 minutes. We received help from a lot of people that came from far way to help or called with advice. We are eternally grateful for the help and support we received.
When this is being written we have 3 pups left, 1 dog and 2 bitches. They are nearly back to normal and have a healthy appetite. Sasha is also recovering, and she is taking in food and water again.
We will publish an article on the website later on about our experience, and what we learned from it. On Monday the dead pups will be sent for an autopsy at the Veterinarian College of Norway in the hope that we can identify what caused this.
Update I
Sasha is now fighting for her life. She has got a very hard infection of her teats and is going to be operated tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. She was to weak to be operated the evening. The pups are hanging in there, but we are a bit worried about the dog. All three are too light. So we are facing another night of intensive dog care.
Update II
Sasha is now through the operation. She over the most critical phases of the treatment, but not completely over it yet. But it does look infinitely better than it did yesterday. She got 40 stitches, and is less a few teats. Now we also know what killed most of the pups. They had drunk infected milk from the udders and that was deadly for them. Since all bar one of the udders were infected, all bar one of the pups got badly infected.
The pups are doing quite well. It looks like they have gained some weight during the last 12 hours. Two were slightly dehydrated, but all 3 were active. The two dehydrated one got an infusion of liquids and all 3 got anti-biotic.
Update III
The earlier worry we had about the dog was unfortunately correct. He passed away around 10 o'clock Friday evening. Words can't describe the pain and sorrow we feel about the loss of so many beautiful pups. We only hope this is the last one to pass away.
Update IV - Sunday 11 o'clock (Norwegian time)
One of the female pups have started to have problems with taking food. It is similar to what happened to the last dog. The vet has done everything that can be done at the moment, so we are left to hope. The last bitch is still doing great. She was always in a much better shape than the other pups.
Sasha is under the circumstance in a fairly good shape. She manages to take short walks and can take in both water and food on her own.
We would like to send a big message of thanks to all the people who call us, send SMS or other messages and emails. They are a big help for us in our hour of need. Thank you again.
Update V - Sunday 15:30 (Norwegian time)
The bitch died at 15:20. This was not unexpected after it started to bleed from the mouth. The vet says that this indicates a multi-organ failure as result from toxic poisoning caused by a staphylococcus infection.
Update VI - Monday 21:00 (Norwegian time)
The last bitch pup is in good shape. We have now found a name for her. From now on she will be known as Al-Dahná's Victoria. Victoria for Victorious. Means "victory" in Latin. Victoria was the Roman goddess of victory. Victoria snuggles up to a toy lion she got to keep her company after she lost her siblings. She is a very determined young lady and fights like a devil when given medicines. Something she does not like at all. Otherwise she eats well, and her weight is steadily increasing. The vet thinks she should have a good chancee as she has survived until now.
Sasha seems to be in a good shape, and is drinks and eats. She misses her pups terribly and continues to look for them. She cries sorely for them.