While I'd love to give Renee the pain meds she needs to be comfortable, there's a catch. If we give her pain meds, she won't be able to nurse the puppies. The meds transfer into the milk, and are not puppy-safe. We do have one med that is lower risk, but I am being very cautious.
If we keep the puppies off and bottle fed long enough to get Renee through the painful period, we risk her milk drying up. That means the puppies would have to be bottle fed the whole time. So, for now, we are trying Renee without the meds. If we need to give her pain meds we will try to hand milk her a bit to keep her milk coming in, and possibly feed when the meds are mostly out of her system. If necessary we will bottle feed them all, which we are already doing as Renee doesn't yet have enough milk to feed everyone. But, it's something I prefer to avoid as it isn't nearly as nice a way for them to grow up as nursing their mother.
Anyway, because Renee was away so long we had to reintroduce the puppies to her. She'd not been able to really meet them much at the clinic as she was very out of it when we took the puppies home. When puppies are away from the mom after they are born there is always some risk that she might reject the puppies.
We started out by setting Renee up to nurse, and slowly introducing the puppies to her and letting some nurse. She was a super girl, but really wasn't too sure about the puppies we kept sticking into her face to smell.
What is this puppy doing here?
Fortunately instinct is a powerful thing. I noticed that one of the puppies was starting to defecate. Well, once I put that poopy bum in her face, Renee knew just what to do. She started to clean the puppy, and was all ready to be a mommy! She promptly began to wash any and every puppy I brought to her.
Puppy bath time.
Soon we were able to get small groups of puppies on her, and she was alert and interested in them. What a change from the way she was before. I don't think she had connected the experience she went through with having her puppies. But now that she has them, she's a much happier girl.
Three of them? Where are all these puppies coming from?
Puppies in the basket, waiting their turn.
Of course Renee is still in a lot of pain, so she's not the cheerful mom she usually is. But she's doing great. Despite everything she's not shown any signs of not accepting our intervention and care around her, and other than giving a look of pained resignation from time-to-time, is happy to have her puppies with her.
Look at all those puppies!
Keeping a watchful eye on the brood.
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