An Unexpected Situation..
We've been much quieter online recently, and thats because we had an unexpected situation which was very emotional and stressful for us, and Roo. I've been much more focused on caring for Roo, making sure she's ok and I'll admit our online presence has definitely not felt like a priority. But now we're coming out the other end and things nearly feel normal again, It feels more natural to share. Originally I was going to put together an instagram post but it felt difficult reducing what happened to photographic slides and a caption, I believe this space is more appropriate for it..
Below you'll find my explination of what happened, starting with some background context. It's not necessarily an enjoyable blog to read but it's here for those of you who are interested. So let's get into it..
Roo is a healthy and happy 3/4 year old female dog who experiences a heat cycle on average, yearly. When originally adopting Roo, I made the desicion to not get her spayed. Shortly after arriving in the UK and taking Roo for a check up, the vet advised getting her routinely spayed, but because Roo was only around 6 months old at the time, recovering from parasite infestation and malnourishment, as well as having traveled across the world and settling into a totally new environment, I made the decision not to spay Roo. She was in my opinion still a baby and needed to physically bounce back and mature before I'd consider.
Yes spaying is a great way to stop unwanted puppies or heat cycles, and I'm not against it.. but it also removes an important organ which helps the body to function in more ways than just the reproductive system, and if it's not necessary, I didn't believe it was necessary. I had absolutely no intention of breeding Roo, my main goal was to get her healthy again and caught up to where she should be health & development wise. In the first few months after being told she'd be a small dog, she quadrupled in size and weight and went from 4.9kg at 6 months old, to just over 21kg and developing all the muscle mass she didn't yet develop.
Roo usually experiences noticeable hormonal changes and false pregnancy symptoms after her heat cycle, so her having these symptoms are nothing out of the ordinary but noticeable for me, from her mood and appetite, to mammory gland enlargement, bloating and even milk production. So when I noticed these changes after her most recent heat, I didn't think much of it, until time went on a bit longer than normal.. She had all the usual symptoms but unlike all the other times, she seemed less whiney and more affectionate, while very content and unlike her usual bloated belly, she looked a bit bigger and fuller in the abdomen to me..
That's when I remembered she had disappeared into the jungle one morning about 5-6 weeks earlier around her heat cycle. (This is something she's never done before)
I went from being unsure, to feeling confident that she was pregnant, so I started doing research to educate myself as much as possible. Puppies were definitely not the plan, but I was still committed to looking after Roo and caring for whatever additions she decided to produce. Part of me felt guilty that this had happened, I'm aware of all the dogs and puppies already in need of loving homes, however I had to accept that I'm only human and this was just life quite literally life'ing, it's how I dealt with it now which mattered most.
Roo was not really big and round at all compared to what you'd expect to see, but her abdomen was quite full. We have quite a large space where Roo gets to wander as she pleases which she was quite happy doing, she seemed to find usual walks quite tiring so we stopped going out on our adventures and instead spent more time at home.
I'd also built Roo a teepee whelping box out of scrap wood and an old bed sheet. She'd been progressively digging a den in the base of a large tree so as soon as I'd built her teepee and brought it inside, she fell in love with it. Everything seemed to be smooth sailing, Roo was happy and not very big which gave me the impression of a hopefully small litter.
But one day at around 8 weeks, I was sat next to Roo when I noticed a blob of very dark, almost black discharge come out from her which she also noticed and was treating abnormally. Knowing this was not a good sign before labour had begun, I phoned the vets and they confirmed that I should bring her in right away. We left home within 5 minutes and on the way to the vets she had more dark brown, green and almost black discharge.
The vets originally took her in for a xray, and they quickly confirmed that she was indeed pregnant, but they would unfortunately need to preform an emergency c-section on her because she was uncomfortable and the discolored discharge before labour is likely to indicate placenta separation. Everything had all happened so quickly and unexpectedly I didn't really have time to process what was happening at the time. I was worried for Roo's health but felt reasurance that we'd brought her into the vets and it was the best place for her to be in that moment. The vet asked if i'd like to get her spayed at the same time and I agreed, it made sense since she was already needing to have surgery and obviously I would never want her to have to go through this ever again.
After anxiously waiting for around an hour and a half still feeling in shock, the vet pulled me aside to let me know that Roo was out of surgery and all was well, she just needed to come round after her anesthetic before she was able to leave. She explained to me that a pup had died inside and began to decompose which had made everything very toxic, hense needing the emergency c section. She also explained that because of this, unfortunately the pups were weaker than they should be and roughly 1 week premature. (1 week early doesn't sound like much for a human, but for a dog who's gestation period is only 9 weeks, the final week is quite crucial for their development, size and strength.)
I walked into the room to see Roo laying there (still under anesthetic) and 6 tiny puppies laying next to her and honestly, even thinking back as I'm writing this, I felt speechless. I sat with Roo as she came round and these 6 tiny babies. I think I was in so much shock that the conversations I had with vet staff at the time are a blur. They were so small and delicate looking, I'd got my head around having 3 to 4 healthy little puppies, but this was totally unexpected. By the time Roo had come round and got the ok to go home, one of the pups had passed away and we left the vets and headed home with Roo and 5 precious premature pups in a box with towels and a hot water bottle..
Dogs have incredibly strong natural instincts, (especially Roo who buries snacks and digs dens) and I'm fairly sure that even as a first time mum, she knew they weren't quite as strong as they should be or feeding properly. They were wriggling around and trying to feed but didnt seem to have the strength and mobility to latch on and feed properly. I spent the rest of the evening sat with Roo to give her my support. I helped each puppy individually feed every hour or 2 and let them rest in between, obviously checking to make sure everything was ok.
I think I knew inside that it was unlikely they would all make it, but I did everything I could while really vouching for at least one to pull through, not for me, but for Roo. It was so hard seeing her go through all of this and the thought of her loosing them all while trying her very best was heart breaking. They had only just began to grow fur, they were all black and tan with 1 browny/ginger female who seemed the strongest.
I woke up in the night to check on them and unfortunatly 2 had passed away, and by the morning, the remaining 3 had also passed. Despite my efforts, nature took it's course and I had to accept and trust that it wasn't meant to be.. They'd been inside a toxic uterus for possibly 2 weeks prior to this which likely effected them in more ways the eyes can see. Although it was very upsetting none of them made it, I think most of the emotion was felt for Roo. She'd already been through so much and knowing that she'd lost all her babies was harrowing. Not knowing how long it had been since they passed, I left them with Roo for another 30 minutes or so, so she had the chance to understand what had happened incase she hadn't already. I believe she knew because she'd check on them, but was not attentive in the same way as before.
My partner dug a hole in the garden to bury the puppies and I found myself picking 7 yellow flowers from the nearby vine to bury with them, representing all 7 of their precious little lives. We also planted a young guava tree ontop as a way of paying a tribute to them. They were not here for very long, but that doesn't make them any less special. One day we will pick guavas from the tree and that alone brings me some form of joy.
It had been an emotional rollercoaster. Not even 24 hours since our emergency trip to the vets, everything kept happening so fast it felt like I hadn't had the chance to catch up and fully process myself. Not just loosing the puppies, but the fact Roo had just had major surgery. Luckily she was ok, but this meant a few weeks of close care and recovery.
I have been very reluctant to share this story, It's hard for me to write and re-live, but it also didn't feel right not to share it. I'm sharing this experience for those of you who are invested in Roo and love her as much as I do, I'm also sharing it knowing that some of the information I've shared could possibly help others in similar future unexpected situations.
Roo's been doing really well and surprised me from day 1. Obviously she was prescribed anti inflammatory & antibiotics to help her recovery progress, but she was smiling and eating like her usual self the same evening after her surgery which for me, was a great thing to see.
The whole thing I personally found a bit traumatic, I've not had children of my own, nor had any surgeries, so after loosing all of the pups I was definitely keeping a very close eye on Roo.
We don't have a 'safe' enclosed garden and not wanting her to do anything crazy or catch herself on anything, every potential toilet trip in the garden meant putting a lead and collar on to go out while supervising closely. Always subconsciously preparing myself for worst case scenarios, I'd even find myself checking Roo was still breathing when she'd be sleeping peacefully.
After 2 weeks we went back to the vets again to get her staples removed which was a huge relief and weight off my shoulders. She was definitely anxious to visit the vets again which was totally understandable, but she had trust in me and did walk through the door on the second attempt, she was very happy as soon as they were removed of course!
Although she's basically good to go after-op wise, Roo's body had still endured a lot. Dogs may not feel things the same way we do, but they defintly feel things. She had pretty much experienced a full term pregnancy and had lots of milk which also meant she's experiencing hormonal changes and the loss of her puppies. She's physically fit and well but her hormones and instincts are still effecting her.. Although she's spending much more time snoozing in her usual spots around the house again, she still often likes to find a 'cosy' spot and doesn't want to spend as much time outdoors yet, but if she does, she'll find a safe den like spot and stay there. She's also wanting me to be around her even more than normal.
I didn't want to remove her teepee to early as she was enjoying it as her safe space, until the night before she had her staples removed.. she slept on the floor all night instead of the teepee, and the next evening after her staples were removed, I could sense it was giving her bad vibes, she even whined to me too which for Roo, that really means she's trying to tell me something important. Of course I took down the teepee straight away and converted it into a new bed/space which she immediately appreciated and felt comfortable using.
It's only been just over 2 weeks since it happened and although Roo isn't 100% back to her usual self, I'm still seeing small improvements every day and can't wait to be able to go on a celebration adventure together again!
If you're still here, thank you for taking the time to read and we look forward to sharing our adventures with you again soon!
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