30/8/13 my bitch went to the vets for an emergency C-section at 2.30am.
4 live pups born (same as been scanned).

They tried to bring my girl round after the GA, she wasn't really compus mentus..
Then they carried her from the op recovery room to the waiting room in the hope she'd
be more with it and want to get up etc...
Her tongue went blue and she 'crashed' they were trying to get veins up, adrenalin, oxygen etc
After working on her til 5.50am I got told to go home she was now stable.

We then call at 8.30am to be told she's great come get her...which we do and are in the middle of a vet nurse discharge
when she crashes again this time she's bleeding from her C-section wound...she has immediate attention from 2 vets who
rush in and start working on her.

We are sent home, after 5 mins of being at home we are told good news it hasn't hit her organs,
but she's in need of an urgent blood transfusion as her platelets aren't good etc.
But that this also carries risk as she may reject it...
We opt to go for the transfusion...we are lucky it does work and after 4 days the mum is able to come home.
During those 4 days we have had to hand rear her pups, on the Sunday we are told the pups have a staph infection and that they needed antibiotics (jabs) on the Monday morning we lose the biggest puppy..The mum comes home in the afternoon, she doesn't have much milk
but wants to mother the puppies which we let her do, on the saturday 7th September one of the puppies has a nose bleed and she is hospitalised for treatment. Then in the early hours of Sunday the only boy puppy is in trouble think he's constipated (rang vet on call I was made to feel that I was being paranoid etc so delayed taking him in til later in the morning), he has vet treatment sub q-fluids and we
are allowed to bring the girl puppy who had the nose bleed home although she's sleepy no nose bleeds etc. Back again later in afternoon with boy puppy for a check over and who seems to be rallying, sadly when we arrive home from vets he dies 10 minutes later. :(
Then the following morning little girl puppy seems to be flat - have got vet appointment in morning as pups still being treated with antibiotics..she now has chest infection/pneumonia :( she is given more antibiotics and we are sent home with her. Sadly she dies at 4.30am the following morning (10/8/13). We do not know if it was inhaled milk from bottle feeding or from the nose bleed.

We now are left with just one puppy who seems vigorous and alert..but we are now worried to bottle feed just in case she too
suffers the same ordeal as puppy number 3 who died on 10.8.13 but mother doesn't have much milk..so we are caught between a rock and a hard place..

My vets bill is now in excess of £2,300 for all stuff we've had done since 30/8/13..prior to whelping I'd spent approx. £1300 on stud fees and other associated items that I wanted prior to the whelping so approx. so far £3,600.00 on trying to breed my own puppy for the show ring....
We aren't still out of the woods as although puppy number 4 still seems healthy can we be lucky and be allowed to keep her by him upstairs?
We are numb with this roller coaster of a ride (this isn't our first litter but may be our last after the experiences we've gone through this time around) I know we are lucky we still have our girl and hopefully will be allowed to keep the one surviving puppy by the powers that be(fate or divine intervention) but can't help but feel grief and sorrow for those 3 babies that we lost.

This has been one experience that I never want to repeat nor would I wish it on my worst enemy.
Still want to breed now?

How terrible. So sorry that it all went so badly, but so important for new people to read this sort of sad story before they decide to breed, thinking everything will be easy. :-( At least you saved your bitch, and hopefully 1 puppy. x

I hope Mum and pup thrive, and that the pup turns out super, for al your trouble (I expect she won't be going anywhere no matter how she turns out).

Lots of positive thoughts your way.

Keep putting pup on Mum every time you pass the box, supply and demand should kick in, keep weighing her, to ensure she is gaining, so avoiding bottle top ups if possible.

Oh just to be pedantic, I'm sure most people will know you mean 9th month in your dates post whelping.

What a nightmare Kirstine. Hope all continues well with your girl and remaining pup and you are allowed some joy at the end of it all.

M.x

Definitely the sort of post that should be on top at the breeding section for everyone to see. What an awful experience. I'm keeping everything crossed for the last pup to live, be well and be everything you hoped for. Maybe she should be named something like "Gold Plated"!

I feel for you, I had a nightmarish litter like that.
Nearly lost mum after C section and then pups, the costs rocketing through roof...
2 surviving pups that I also nearly lost but managed to pull through.

That was definitely the bitches only litter after the nightmare we had but I did get a little girl, named Xxxxx Costa Fortuna :-).
For the obvious reasons :-) and fortuna is also goddess of faith, and when I was nursing her not sure if she will make it I decided she WILL make it and that is to be her name.

She is lovely and very special. I have not shown her a lot but over a year after she was out last, people still ask me where is that bitch you showed at xxx show&I have bookings for her puppies here and abroad for when ever she is to have a litter.

I hope your survivor turns out lovely but I'm pretty sure if she had 3 legs&2 tails, she is staying put and special to you :-).

I am so sorry to hear about the terrible time you have had, breeding often has its sad and painful times but yours has been exceptionally hard.

Sorry yes extreme tiredness is having an effect on the brain and not writing what thinking...
Pups were born on 30th August and yes they died in September (the 9th Month)

I just wanted to share our horror story so that people realise that not everything can be taken for granted
and that sometimes you can be very unlucky and possibly end up losing your bitch, all the pups and still have a very
large vet bill to pay and nothing but heart ache for your troubles.

Oh gosh this is just dreadful you poor thing.

I'm so sorry for your losses and hope little one makes it - and that Mum continues to improve xxx

This must be one of every breeders worst night nightmares, I hope now things start to look up for you.

So sorry for the absolute trauma you have been through. All breeders I feel just hope and pray that it never happens to them.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us it must have been very hard to write everything down.

Hope that everything goes on well for you from now on and that mum and puppy go from strength to strength.

Boxacrazy I wish people realised how heart breaking this breeding lark can be.

Like you, I will never breed again after my experience a couple of years ago.  I have had enough pain to last me a lifetime.  I do hope that your girl thrives, and the pup turns out to be a smasher.

> Like you, I will never breed again after my experience a couple of years ago.  I have had enough pain to last me a lifetime

What was your bad experience JeanSW? if it is not too upsetting to write about.