A brave 6.5-year-old mum, a mystery illness
Meet Missy. Missy presented to us because she was ill for a few days. It came as shock but, Missy was trying to give birth. Missy had a narrowed birth canal that prevented her giving birth naturally. An emergency cesarean section was necessary. Within an hour of being seen she was Mum to 6 puppies. Talk about your head spinning. Happy times all round? Well sort of?
Missy feeling ill meant she did not produce much milk for her puppies. Her owner had to hand rear the puppies feeding them every 2hrs around the clock. Exhausting times for the family.
Missy’s condition did not add up. Expectant Mums might feel anxious, a little quiet but on the whole not sick. Thankfully were able to process a full blood exam in house within minutes and discover Missy was had a low blood cell count or anemia.
Sometimes our job is a little gross! We discovered onion pieces in Missy’s vomit. How she got the onion is anyone’s guess? Dogs suffer a severe poisoning to eating onion that causes the rupturing of red blood cells and can lead to death.
After careful monitoring Missy is feeling much better now. She’s still a little scared about being a first time Mum. The puppies are now eating by themselves and Missy’s parents getting much sleep.