To call these precarious times would be an understatement, but thankfully, dogs are still here to reprieve us from the doom and gloom of the coronavirus pandemic.
Two-year-old Cali, a Alapaha blue blood bulldog, has just given birth to a litter of puppies. Not one, not two, not even five or six – but 20 pups.
The lovely new mum, was predicted to just being able to bear six of them, but has managed to have nearly two dozen healthy pooches during a gruelling 24 hours, starting on Wednesday (18 March) evening.
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‘It’s been chaotic and crazy but quite fun,’ said Cali’s owner, Amber.
‘Seeing all those puppies together has been really heartwarming and sweet – but it does test your patience sometimes.
‘When we first took her for a scan the vet told us to expect six or at most eight puppies.
‘That was how many I expected in my head. It happened last Wednesday. I said: “Cali looks like she’s panting a bit”.
‘I was staring at her – and then she just started to push!
‘Within two minutes there was a puppy – and they just kept on coming. It got to the eighth one and it didn’t look like she was sIowing down.
‘I was shocked but delighted.
‘She calmed down a bit after the first 12 so we rushed her to the vet.
”They gave her an injection to help give her contractions and push the last six out.
‘It was a bit of a traumatic birth and Cali’s water broke before some of them were ready to come out.
‘The others are happy and healthy, fortunately, and we’ve stocked up on beds and dog food for them.’
Amber, 20, from Swindon, Wilshire, stayed up with Cali during the birth.
Unfortunately, despite the dog’s and the veterinarian’s best efforts, nine of the puppies died.The other 11 are alive and well.
‘We are so proud of Cali, she’s done so well, all things considered,’ said Amber.
‘This was her first litter and it was tough to see her go through so much effort but she’s been such a good mother.
‘She was very tired for a few days but she’s started wagging her tail again and is back to her funny, ditzy old self.
‘I’m running on empty now, but it was so worth it. Even though they are only a week old they have grown so much.’
While the deaths are undoubtedly tragic (we’re sobbing, too), Cali is lucky to have 11 pups survive the difficult birth, explains her human.
The little ones don’t have names, barring the last surviving pup, who is called Bambi.
Amber said: ‘The vet said he was surprised there wasn’t more [deaths]. Cali did well to push out the ones that she did.
‘We haven’t decided any names yet other than Bambi, for the last one.
‘I thought about going with Disney princesses for the females but after calling one of them Ariel, I decided that it didn’t really suit her.
‘When a new owner buys them, they can rename them.
‘This is my first breed – I have just registered as a breeder. I still work part-time but I’d love to go full-time as a breeder.’
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You know what self-isolation is the perfect time for? Looking after a newborn puppy – and Cali’s brood are for sale.
Once they are old enough, the pups will be sold to their own forever homes.
Do you have an adorable dog story of your own that you want to share?
Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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