congrats to mommy and guardians,,, may your house be blessed with puppyness !

kris (also proud)

Day 3 :<)

All is well ! Mommy has adopted a "normal" mothering aspect and last night was left alone with her brood.

I wiped the pups bums yesterday morning and cleaned them up a bit , and she dried them off (standard basenji licking up water) and that seems to have turned it around , once she started licking .
I was expecting her to eat the poop , and she didnt , so it got a little messy. But now I cant see any poop so I presume she has dealt with it.
She is reluctant to leave the pups now and only seems to leave to poop (at a previously proclaimed private carpet ? - never mind) , so all is peacefull.
My home made whelping box with a built in warmer is working well.
Weight increase of the pups is approx 15% , will keep monitoring as I am concerned she hasn't enuff milk. Her appetite seems OK.

@ Saba , I think that 24/7 supervision for the 1st 36 hours is mandatory if you are concerned. Your B's personality is a mirror of mine, but as you see , in my case its working. Mine's initial roughness and subsequent death of the pup was probably due to her pain and disorientation from the op and anesthetic. If I had read the above before the event I would have been more vigilant , so I suppose I am to blame , but in retrospect , I dont believe she has enuff operational teats - so the fight for available food would have meant a weaker litter - so I am OK with the outcome (altho a little sad).

Kris & Zinze and 4 bundles of joy

Thanks Pat & Ivoss you give me hope kris

UPDATE

Mommy's attitude has been corrected , i suspect by a few stern rebukes from me , and mostly by nature. She is calmer and more tolerant now , but I still dont trust her. The pain meds are still being administered (runs out tomorrow ) and she is moving normally considering the large cut.
What she is not doing is cleaning up after the pups , I expected her to lick up the poop , but she is ignoring it. She prefers the chewing on the umbilical cord bits - which I have admonished her about. weight gain is between 17g & 31g in the first 24hrs , but we are looking after the littlist and ensuring its get first pick so that gap might narrow. weights are currently between 276g & 239g.

Its a process….

Hi all , not sure if I already introduced ourselves , so
Owner Kris Steyn Cape Town S.Africa Reason for living = Zinze (sometimes Zinzi) now 4 years old - first litter.

I have finally managed to get everything done (all the tests etc.) and her water broke at 9pm, Things were a little slow , so we ended up at the vet 11pm and eventually had a Ceasar. , collected her 3am and came home. This has been a mission , but one I was prepared for.

She came out of anesthetic just before we collected her and first time she saw her pups was in the car - they were in a box. As soon as we got home (she was still a bit woozy) , we put her in the whelping box with her mewling pups and let them suckle. She was obviously confused. Zinze has never been very pro puppy , and altho quite sociable , normally shows any puppy very quickly with a snarl that she is not a toy. But I never expected her not to have maternal instincts with her own. 1 day later and she is "tolerating" the pups and we have a 24/7 watch on her.
She was very rough with them at first and one died , despite me rushing back to the vet with it. So I am concerned that an irritated , post op , sore titty caused by puppy problem might cause her to snap at another pup and do another injury. Her teats appear to only have 5 working out of 9 and of those only 3 working well. Pups have all gained weight in the last 6 hours , between 4 and 10 grams , so am not too worried about the milk but got (hills) supplement on standby for when the demands exceed supply. Pups appear to have all been very healthy with no problems.

Questions …

The "not natural birth / aggression" towards the pups ; is this normal , and what else do you think I might try ?

what is the normal weight gain for young pups ?

apart form feeding her puppy food , is there anything else that may stimulate her milk production ? I have been rubbing her teats and "stimulating" them regularly for the last month to attempt an early readiness , but they seem under-developed.

When I allow her a rest in-between the constant suckling , to go away from the pups (for a pee/poo , or just a change of scenery) , assuming the pups were sleeping , what is a reasonable length of time to be away ?

Thanks in advance for all input , Kris Steyn

Than you all for your input - took Zinze in the canoe today and she jumped out to investigate the ducks She is showing no discomfort at present.

I looked at the photos from her pedigree forebears and 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations appear to have similar front feet. I will monitor it carefully and assume my lack of knowledge is most of the problem - will be seeing the breeder within the next couple of weeks for an update.

On a happier note - Gosh but she has an international pedigree - from all over…
She has lotsa B sparkle and chased an English Mastiff down the beach recently - takes no prisoners

glad I found this site

Kris

This is the first time I have had only 1 dog - not my choice but thats how it is. Always seen the other dogs "check" to make sure the portions and quality were "fair" and any crumbs hoovered up. any dog that wanders away from its food is obviously finished and doesnt need any more - and his is always tastier than mine anyway…
1 pair always ate half (as quick as possible) and then swapped bowls - other one said "dont even think about it".

But now with just the one - seems she has all day and doesnt mind - I havnt really worried about it - she is a little princess and has rights you know !

Hi - just wondered if any other B's were so messy when eating - My B is the worst messy eater I have ever seen - only got her at 5 months - so not sure what started this - but she will take a full mouthfull of food and then walk over to the cleanest part of anywhere she fancies and chew/gulp/dribble food - just like a baby… She then ignores the crumbs and repeats the process. I have tried various things , like feeding smaller qty's - but nothing has improved her "manners". Currently only have 1 dog - so perhaps some competition would improve it - but dont want to do that now.
She is also very picky about "treats" being offered by hand - sniffs it first , nudges it , then licks it - whilst I am standing waiting and then curls up her lip and tries to nibble it....
So I just drop it and let her get on with it....

Anybody else have a messy food eater ?

kris

My previous posy got lost
She seems to have no pain - only slight discomfort - I can tell by the duration of the "dancing" - but unless you compare what she was like before - you would never tell.

pain appears to be relative - she shows no sign. But I do try to minimise stress to the fore-paws/legs - always pick her out the car and put her down , always place her gently on the ground after cuddles.

My previous pedigree hound involvement was with Irish Wolfhounds - so am well aware of joint problems…

Am kinda busy at present and Zinze is currently in a good space with no hassles - so will leave her for now. Really wanted to get a feel for what you guys had to say and then factor in all that when I approach the breeder.

all contributions greatfully received

kris

Pain - this animal has a pain thresh-hold way above normal !

only 3 times I have heard her cry was when the indenti-pet was done, the biopsy on her foot , and when she applied brakes too late chasing a big bird off the deck and landed 12 foot down (just bounced) in the garden - altho the last was more fright than pain. Her paws seem to have no nerves and altho she isnt as active as I would expect , given a squirrel or neighbours cat to chase - she tries to break the sound barrier…

She has a delicate tail that doesnt like being bent "the wrong way" , but when I play with it, she lets me bend it anyway I please ??? go figure...

kris

thanx for the tip on the treatment - will enquire...