I know that this video isn't much more than lot frames of wiggling puppies.... I mostly posted this for the kids who are tuned in.
You might wonder why the whelping box looks so messy. Well... it's kind of like organized chaos. No really! The puppies need to have lumps and bumps to crawl over and places to crawl under. If you put a puppy on a flat surface for too long it doesn't' develop it's limbs properly. The circle in the middle of the whelping box is actually a heating pad. The puppies learn to crawl onto the heated pad if they get too cold and to crawl onto another surface if too hot. They will cluster together for warmth or spread apart to cool. Of course the best place is right under mom's front legs or on her head ;) Puppies at this age are unable to regulate their own body temperature so rely on the environment to provide it for them.
This morning:
Puppies had tails docked and dewclaws removed today. Mom and Grandma (Raquel) stayed in the car and I went in with the puppies. Everyone did well and you wouldn't even know that they had had such a long hard trip today.
I'm trying to keep a bout of Mastitis at bay. One of Ico's mammary glands is producing milk but not 'delivering.' I've been putting a poultice of slippery elm and calendula on the area. I then pack it with cabbage leaves steamed in green tea. No, you didn't read that wrong! I know it sounds crazy but La Leche is a big proponent of the cabbage leaf compress and green tea and calendula are natural antibiotics. The goal is to fight off the mastitis without giving antibiotics. The slippery elm is for its soothing properties. Ico if responding well to the treatments (three times a day for 1/2 hour at a time). The cabbage stimulates the blood vessels to open which allows white blood cell to enter the area, reduces inflammation and allows the milk to flow freely.
Aren't you glad I'm not including a picture here?!
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