Now that we made it past day three, this morning we moved Suri and her puppy into our normal whelping box and we placed the box into my bedroom so that my husband and I can both keep an eye on and feed Hope. The move went well and Suri seems to enjoy the additional company and human interaction.

I also switched to the powered form of Goat’s Milk Esbilac this morning since it had been 72 hours since I opened the can of ready made formula. Still using the 1 cc syringes, Hope adjusted to change without a fight, but there is one things that I did notice this evening. She seemed to be a bit more bloated than normal after I fed her. I like to see a full belly after her feedings but her belly seemed harder than normal.

With Suri stimulating Hope yesterday, I wondered if the change in milk replacer ceased the stimulation today. I studied what happened after our early evening feeding and Suri clearly hadn’t given up – The poop did! Hope then started to cry when her belly was rubbed. Hard has a rock and uncomfy. Houston, we had a problem!

I  needed to make sure that Hope hadn’t become dehydrated, which is a common cause for constipation. The skin on her belly was supple and full of elasticity so that was not the culprit. Could it be the stress of the move? What ever it was, I had to get the poop out!

After trying to give her a bit of Kayro syrup (which can usually soften the stools a bit) as well as inserting a piece of Glycerine into the anus, we were left with one option – A distilled water enema.

 

My 1 cc syringes were a bit too large for Hope’s tiny anus and a bit too stiff too. I dug around in my supplies and realized that one of the nipples in my Puppy Nursing Kit had a narrower tip and of course, was more flexible. Voila! 2CCs of warm, distilled water and whamo! We had poop.

We also found the reason for the stoppage. Her stool was hard and pebble like. Never again will I use powdered milk replacer! Poor baby – that had to hurt!

Now with all of that back-end and belly drama, I am proud to announce we did not have a weight loss today! She actually remained the same weight as yesterday. Sustaining is the next best thing compared to a gain – I will take it!

 

 

 

Amazing Day Three
Much More Comfy