Cedar Ridge Beagles
c/o Toni Perdew
crbeagles@gmail.com
(the best method to reach me is via e-mail)
Bedford, Iowa
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here for additional contact information.
Our premises are monitored via video
surveillance for your puppy's safety!
Toni Perdew
3005 Lexington CT
Bedford, IA 50833
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Bottle Baby
At 3 days (above), Ollie weighed 2 3/4 ounces
I shouldn't even make this page, because I don't want to jinx
the fact that he's still alive so far. But I have the flu (at the time of this
writing, September 8), and am tired of
laying on the couch, so will take a few minutes to share Ollie's story so far.
If he stays with us, I'll update the page with his progress.
"Ollie" was born Friday afternoon, September 5th. I didn't
notice him until all the puppies were here, and Haley was quietly laying and
nursing them. She got up, and I saw Ollie in the corner behind where she was
laying. He was tiny, cold, and wet. As animals do, Haley had chosen to
leave him alone to die because trying to care for him could compromise her
ability to care for the healthier puppies.
I helped Ollie nurse Friday night and throughout the day
Saturday, thinking that I had to try, but that there was little hope. He didn't
gain weight, but didn't lose weight either...he wanted to live! I knew he was not going to make it without being hand raised for a few
days or possibly the whole way. So, Ollie is in the house with us, and I am
bottle feeding him every two hours. He has a "corn bag" that I
microwave every 2
hours to help keep him warm.
The girls think that if he lives, we should show him and name
him "CR Against All Odds." Personally, I'm not looking that far forward. I just
want to get him to gain weight and live day to day. But if he does live, and if
we showed him successfully, what a story that would be!
He is 2 3/4 ounces right now at 3 days old. His littermates
weighed 7 ounces to 9 1/4 ounces 3 days ago, at birth. So he was born about
1/3rd to 1/4th of the normal weight.
More updates below...
2 days old. Video taken by Lauren, our daughter.
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September 5, 2008 2 1/4 ounces (about 1/3rd
to 1/4th of normal weight)
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September 6 Weighs 2 1/2 ounces
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September 7 and 8 Weighs 2 3/4 ounces
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September 9 Ollie went to the vet today,
who said he couldn't see or hear anything wrong with him, but "my stethoscope is
too big to fit him right." Guess he's not used to puppies this tiny! :-)
He said, of course, to not get my hopes too high because puppies this much
smaller than their littermates typically have a reason for being so small.
Also, Ollie finally gained a little after 2 days of no gain, and weighed 2
7/8ths ounces in the evening.
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September 11 Still with us, though he lost
weight overnight and became dehydrated. A tiny bit of sub-cue fluid brought him
back around, though I fear pneumonia from the dehydration and/or aspirated milk
this evening. Watching closely, hoping for the best, but will accept whatever
happens. UPDATE, 10:00 PM: This little guy has a fighting spirit! He ate like
three piggies tonight, and is back to his highest-ever weight of 2 7/8ths
ounces. If he keeps going like this, he'll be over 3 ounces sometime tomorrow,
and maybe 4 ounces by early next week. Wouldn't that be great? :-)
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September 13 Yesterday, Ollie took a bad
turn again. He stopped eating and nothing I could do could get him to suck for
more than 30 seconds. Throughout the day, I worked to get him to nurse the
bottle or from Haley, and had no luck. He started passing some blood in his
stools, and slept all the time. So, I put him with Haley, who mothered over him
like the best mother hen you could imagine. She even tried to get him to nurse,
and took him away from the other puppies and sat down with him by himself so he
wouldn't have competition. She cleaned him constantly, I think trying to keep
his blood flowing and stimulate him to nurse. During the night, he quietly
passed away. We are very sad to have lost the battle, but know that he was not
meant to make it. We tried our best, though.
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