12/13/2025
Yesterday did not go as planned...
Kit started emptying out Thursday as expected at around 3:00pm. Occasional panting. Stage 1 labor had started. This can last 12-24 hours.
Rob and I took two hour shifts throughout the night to watch Kit. Which means constantly being with her 24/7, so we know all signs are progressing normally and we don't miss a dropped puppy. Rob and I are 64 years old now and have been sick with a pretty nasty bug for the past week, so we have been pretty run down. But we took turns watching over Kit, taking her outside constantly as she felt pressure and a constant need to empty out. We shared notes, gave her calcium, nutritional gel, and water. She even ate breakfast and dinner (typical lab)! However, Kit just seemed a bit more distressed than what I felt was normal. Like I told Rob, I was very distressed while I was in labor... So monitoring continued through the night. But, I kept hearing my vet's comment in my head, “Is she progressing...?” Kit appeared to be, but, not quite as usual. Then, while she was outside she kept checking herself, spinning to get into position. This was not normal. By this time it was 7:55am and I called our vet knowing it would go to the answering service, but they would contact the vet on call. He returned my call within 15 minutes, in the meantime, I also texted my regular vet (same facility). I had asked as this point should I give oxytocin? Dr Ferguson said yes, but also head their way as it is a good 40 minute drive and if no puppy within 45 minutes after giving oxytocin, Kit would need a c-section. Injection was given at 8:15am. By the time we reached Lolo, no puppy still. So I called our vet to let them know we were ten minutes out. They were prepared for us when we arrived. We went right into the back. A few questions asked and straight into anesthesia. While Kit was getting prepped for surgery on the table and on her back, Rob said, “There's a puppy...” All he saw was a little black peaking out from under mama Kit's tail. Dr Pruyn (my regular vet) immediately reached inside and re-positioned, pulled, tugged, re-positioned pulled and tugged, and tugged some more. It took a bit of effort. But he manage to pull out a big chocolate male that was stuck. Apparently, Kit had managed to get it that far during the drive, but it was barely noticeable. My first question... “is it alive?” And Doc said, yes! We proceeded with the c-section, the vet handed the puppies he pulled out off to Rob, who then handed the puppies off to Dr Pruyn's vet tech, Ella, then to me. We suctioned, stimulated, checked umbilical cords, and dried the puppies. Then put them onto a blanket, on a warming pad, into their sink. One puppy, however, was also stuck inside Kit's uterine horn. Folded in half (think bending over to touch your toes). That puppy likely caused Kit so much pain she couldn't push. That puppy would not have come out on it's own.
The good news... we made all of the right calls, at the right times. We were very fortunate that Rob saw that puppy, as Doc said he would not have been able to get to it from inside during the c-section and it would not have survived. We are very fortunate to have a healthy mama who is a great mother, who even took to her puppies while recovering from anesthesia. We are very grateful all of the puppies survived!!! Six puppies!!! 1 chocolate male, 1 black male, 2 chocolate females, and 2 black females. And of course, we are very grateful to Dr Pruyn, his Blue Mountain Veterinary Services, Dr Ferguson, and all of their wonderful staff!
We would like to wait for up to two weeks to place these puppies to make certain everybody remains healthy and are doing well. So far so good. They are all eating well and gaining well. Mama Kit is moving well and recovering well. She even wanted to stay outside with Rob and the other dogs for an hour this morning!
Additional note: Rob was back at the vet this morning to check Shelby's progesterone levels while I stayed home and kept watch over Kit and her puppies. Shelby will be bred either Monday or Tuesday!
