We've Been Adopted!

I talked to Lost Paws today and Smokey and Darcy have both been adopted!! I am so happy to know they have found 4ever homes that will love them even though they have cataracts!

Darcy was the first born, 1 of only 2 girls. She was the one that alerted us to the fact that there was a problem. She has full cataracts in both of her eyes. While she was being fostered her foster family said she never acted different than the other puppies. She is well adjusted for being visually impaired! WTG Darcy! I hope you have a great life!

Smokey was the one we picked out for my father-in-law. When we had his eyes looked at he had a large cataract in his left eye and a smaller one in his right. I am hopeful that his right eye won't develop into full cataracts and that he is also happy in his new home! Smokey was one of our favorites! I am elated that he will be cared for by a loving family! Here's wishing you happiness Smokey!

The rest of the puppies are being fostered together and getting big! I hope they find 4ever homes soon as well. They all have a special place in our hearts and I hope they lead long and happy lives!

Good news! I talked to Lost Paws today, the puppies are doing GREAT! Their foster mommy says that they are really cute and that Darcy, the most blind one, doesn't even know she is different.

She also said that they have some potential adoptees coming to look at them on Saturday! I am happy for them! I hope they find good homes!

Fluffy

Grizzly

Darcy

Scar

Tubby

Fluffy

Smokey

Puppies playing outside on the day we surrendered them.

Surrender Day :(

I have been in contact with Lost Paws, there is a local branch in Salem. They have agreed to take on all 7 puppies to see if they can help them medically and/or find the perfect 4ever homes for them. I am meeting with them tomorrow to surrender the puppies.

They have been so awesome and understanding with our situation. I totally support this organization!! If anyone ever has any time, items or money to donate to a good cause please consider this organization! I don't know what I would have done if I wouldn't have had Lost Paws to guide me through this heartbreaking situation. Here is a link to their website:

http://lostpaws.net

If I hear from Lost Paws about the condition or adoption status about these puppies I will post it here. I will also give this blog address to Lost Paws and hopefully they will share it with whoever adopts these puppies and they will also share stories about them.

Escape Artist in the House?

I don't know how she did it but the little sable girl (we have adoringly named her PIA- Pain in the A&&)... anyway when I woke this morning I looked down the stairs to my basement to see her standing at the bottom of the stairs staring up at me.


We keep them in a exercise yard that is 2 feet high. Not high enough for a determined puppy I guess!

Worst news EVER!

I have been too depressed to blog about the news about our puppies eyes. I think I am finally coming to terms with their uncertain future.

I might need to back up a little...

When we discovered a while back that the black girl puppy (Darcy Jett Blak, we named her because we were considering keeping her until we discovered that she wasn't the only puppy with problems) was having a hard time seeing things, like the walls she was walking into, funny and sad at the same time. We took her to our regular vet and he examined her and gave us a referral to Eye Care for Animals in Salt Lake. We made her an appointment and took her to see the eye doctor. She confirmed that she indeed has cataracts in both eyes. Her cataracts is pretty severe and she will require surgery and medication her whole life. The swelling in her eyes could get so bad that her eyes may need to be removed!

We took 2 of the other puppies to her appointment and our worst fears were confirmed. They also have cataracts. One of them has a small one in each eye and the other has his left eye more involved than his right.

So last Wednesday I took the whole litter and Abby up to the eye clinic to have all of their eyes checked.

The worst news ever is that ALL of the puppies have cataract to some degree. 3 of them are severe enough that they would be good candidates for surgery (at a hefty expense) and they will need medication for the rest of their lives.

The remaining 4 have a 50/50 chance of the cataracts not progressing but they will need routine eye exams to monitor their condition and there is no guarantee that they won't loose their vision.

Luckily Abby's eyes are healthy. The vet said she would certify them if I wanted her to. I don't see any point in certifying her eyes because we are planning on getting her fixed. I love puppies and Abby is a great mom but these puppies are too heartbreaking to test fate again. This condition is most likely hereditary.

We feel so helpless with these adorable babies!

I work with a nurse that has a daughter-in-law that works at a no-kill animal shelter. I have been in contact with her about these puppies. I haven't had the heart to call her and tell her that the remaining puppies also have cataracts. I am hopeful that if I surrender the puppies to this organization they will be able to find the perfect 4ever homes for these babies.

I just don't feel like I am qualified to properly screen potential homes for these guys. They will need medical attention for the rest of their lives and their "people" will have to be prepared in case they do loose their vision.

I wish I could keep ALL of them. My heart is big enough, but I am afraid my home isn't. Plus financially I don't have the means to give them all the care they would need and deserve.

De-worming

Sounds gross, but it is necessary.

I gave the puppies some de-wormer today... what an adventure. You have to wait till they are hungry so they will eat. Well they are always hungry so no problem right?!? After letting them holler for as long as I could stand it I thought they were hungry enough to do it.

1st one up was Smokey, I put the amount on some food just like the lady at IFA told me too, well apparently he didn't like that I tainted his food.

Plan B: squirt it in their mouths like the vet does and let them eat like usual when I am done.

Success!

Trickiest part was keep track of who had the medicine already. I had a helper tho! My 2 year old was so much of a help I can't even begin to put it into words, especially after 3 hours of sleep this morning because I worked last night!

Next Week: 1st shots, that should be equally entertaining.

5 Weeks Old!

"Scar" silver sable male. Scar may not go to live with our nephew depending on the fate of the black and silver female. It's a long story.

The girls... black and silver "visually impaired" female, and the silver sable female who has been picked to go to her forever home.

Brown sable male, this one is the bigger of the 2 brown sables. "Tubby" as we like to call him. There is another brown sable male, he had his head buried, he was too tired for a photo shoot. He looks like "Tubby" except smaller and he has one ear up and one ear down. The ears don't stay up permanently until about 6 months of age so we are not too concerned.

"Smokey" this little guy is going to live with pop.

The other male, pretty sure he will have a large mask with tan features. He is really cute. Cameron calls him "Grizzly" because he kinda looks like a bear.

Homes and Heartache

This is a picture of the puppy we call "Smokey". He is a charcoal gray color, Chad's favorite and hopefully going to live at his 4ever home with Pop.

This is "Scar", this was on the day he was born. The only thing left from his traumatic birth is a bump on his nose. The vet checked him today and said he would be fine. Our nephew is seriously considering making him a permanent part of his family.

The silver sable female was picked today by the grown daughter of a good friend of Chad. She will be going home in 2 weeks as long as she is ready. Her human mommy is excited to take her home. I think these girls will be great together!

Now for the heartache... This is the black female. She was the one that was born first, bottom first. I was so scared. I was home alone with just the kids and a laboring Abby. Oh my what an adventure. Luckily Chad made it home quickly. NOTE: she slept like this in my friends daughters arms for HOURS one night.

We started having suspicions that her vision was not what it should be... when we saw her walking into walls... my heart aches. We also noticed that she would not initiate a wrestling match with any of her siblings. She would respond to them only after they started it.

We took all the pups and Abby to the vet today for a check-up. He examined her eyes and closely compared them to those of her siblings. He said "there is a definite deficit". Her pupils are slow to react to light and he was not able to visualize her retina. He suspects it could have happened during development on the womb. There is a vessel that is suppose to become her retina and sometimes (tho not seen in his 28 years of practicing veterinary medicine) dosen't develop properly. OR it could be cataract, unlikely because she is only 4 weeks old. We got a referral to the eye clinic in SL and we will be taking her there to have further tests and a more definite diagnosis. We are hopeful that her vision will be able to be corrected with surgery ($$ in the thousands probably). She is so sweet and my heart aches for her. For now she may or may not be able to see shadows, unlikely. We will just care for her until we can get her better.

It was our decision to breed Abby, so her puppies are our responsibility. Just like if she had chosen not to feed them I would have taken over that responsibility also.

Every one of her puppies are special to us. We feel a sense of responsibility to make sure they all make it to 4ever homes and are loved and cared for. Even if they are not perfect.

Abby is doing well, still very underweight. It was recommended to us that we completely wean the puppies in order to give Abby a chance to gain some weight back. They are doing well on soft puppy food so I suspect things will go well. With most of the puppies teething in their back molars I think Abby will not be too sad about weaning the puppies.

All the puppies got a clean bill of health. Clear lungs, and healthy hearts.

Video Clip of the puppies playing

4 Weeks Old

From left to right... black and tan boy, brown sable boy, black and silver girl, silver sable boy.

Silver sable female

This one is "smokey" he was the first to have his ears up.

This is one of the girls, silver sable. Chewing on my pants.

This is the other girl the black one. Possibly a black and silver.

Wrestling match with the black girl and one of the sable boys.

The puppies are 4 weeks old today. I can't believe it has already been 4 weeks. They change so quickly in a short amount of time. They went from helpless little furry things that couldn't see or walk to healthy, playful puppies.

They are eating "puppy mush" which is just dry puppy food, water and some puppy formula. They eat that 3-4 times a day. They seem to really like it, to eat it and to walk in it also.

They are still nursing from Abby, her enthusiasm is decreasing, I can't say that I blame her... they have sharp little puppy teeth!

The puppies were whelped and raised in our family room. They are handled by us on a regular basis and are given the opportunity to play and explore outside of their "play pen". They have been exposed to our other dog, friends and family. They are adorable and well socialized. All of them are developing little personalities. We are able to turn them on their backs without a struggle.

So far it looks like we have 2 brown sable colored males. 2 silver and black sable colored, 1 male (Scar) and 1 female. We have 2 black and ? (tan) not sure if they will be traditional saddle back black and tan, black and silver or bi-colored. They most likely will have a medium to large mask. 1 is the 1st born, a female and the other is male. We also have another male, he is almost a charcoal color with brown or tan. The charcoal colored male was the first to have his ears stand up. I was so excited when I got home from work on Sunday morning and saw him I took him upstairs and woke my husband up so he could see. Apparently he had seen them the night before. Oh well, nothing like a 7 AM wake up to see something you already knew about right?