By the next morning, we knew that we needed to go back to the emergency vet because Myiah had shown some signs of going into labor but she was not progressing as she should, and our experience of 16+ years told us instantly that she needed a c-section or at minimum she needed oxytocin to help her have strong contractions if she did indeed start to give birth.  We arrived at the emergency vet and originally they agreed that Myiah needed a c-section and they started to prep her for surgery when she was able to push out one puppy after they shaved her belly -- this can sometimes happen but it does not mean that a dog has the strength to birth a whole litter on her own.  Often when small-breed dogs have larger litters their uteruses can be "stretched to the max" and unable to contract properly without oxytocin or perhaps an eventual c-section.  The vet decided to pause the c-section and see if Myiah could birth on her own.  Please note that it is a new vet every 8 hours at this clinic, so we saw a different vet than the previous day and there was a shift change right at this point where we went from the vet who was going to perform the c-section to a young and inexperienced vet.

 

They set us up in a quiet room with Myiah and her singular puppy (or so we thought) to continue birthing if Myiah was able to do so.  We found out after being in the room for about an hour and a half, when we called them into the room to request oxytocin because Myiah was not showing signs of progressing (puppies should arrive approximately 1-ish hours apart or less, or at least show signs of contractions or pushing on a puppy over 1.5 to 2 hours), that there was actually a second puppy born naturally and because they were not monitoring her properly before they brought Myiah into the quiet room where we to assist her birthing naturally -- the second puppy had apparently passed while "under their watch" from actually not watching.  This infuriated us (inwardly), because we knew that this would not have happened under our watch, but they used that second puppy as an excuse not to give oxytocin and not to progress with the c-section because it hadn't been 2 hours since that last puppy (which we weren't told about initially).  And when we mentioned that she was getting lethargic again, they tried to tell us that birthing was a big deal and that she would be naturally tired and if she hadn't passed another puppy in an hour or so that they would send a tech in to check her calcium levels and we could discuss oxytocin.  We expressed that we would prefer to go ahead with the oxytocin, but we were dismissed by the young vet who proceeded to tell us that a dog could go up to 4 hours between puppies.  While this is true in some cases, it is *only* acceptable to see a dog go that long if she is resting or "pausing" after birthing several (3-5) puppies to rejuvenate her body -- a female dog can pause for a bit, but she still shows active signs of labor -- this was not the case for Myiah.  We explained that to the vet about a pause, but this was not a pause -- it was a stalled labor because there were no signs of progression and Myiah was in a lethargic state -- and in our 16+ years we were seeing signs that pointed to Myiah needing help and that there should be signs of another puppy by then.  This made the young vet a little angry and she said "I know about birthing, I'm a doctor" and proceeded to leave the room.  We were stuck waiting and begging for oxytocin or a c-section, after calling around again, to confirm that other emergency clinics were still full.  We passed the 4 hour mark, and they refused in that time to check the calcium even though they said they would in order to give oxytocin and we ended up going to the front desk and demanding another vet because of the young vet's attitude and refusal to listen to us, and we were concerned for Myiah's health and the health of her unborn puppies who were by then showing signs of distress visible by the discharge from her "back end" (green discharge) which indicates that the placentas were starting to deteriorate (a puppy's lifeline).  We told them we were not comfortable with the young vet and that she wasn't listening and we needed a c-section for Myiah and another vet to attend to her asap.  

 

We didn't know it previously, but the vet that was going to do the c-section earlier that morning was actually the owner of the clinic who lives next door and they called him in and he immediately agreed that she needed the c-section and we were able to get things underway for Myiah again.

 

Here is the next strange part -- after the c-section the owner/vet came out and told us that he and his team "took out 11 puppies during the c-section" and that all went well and we'd be able to see the puppies soon after they set up a room again, as we requested to be with Myiah immediately so that we could monitor her as they had already lost a puppy on their watch and we didn't trust them anymore.  He specifically only came in to perform the c-section but we were stuck with the young vet until the next shift change after the c-section was performed.  We clarified the puppy count and asked a technician if there were 11 live puppies knowing that they had already lost one puppy -- the technician confirmed 11 puppies (and the 1 deceased puppy made 12).  But when they finally brought Myiah and her puppies into the room, we were shocked, saddened and disappointed to only see 10 puppies -- please also bear in mind that the x-ray shows 12 puppies.

 

We confronted and questioned them as to why there was only 10 puppies in the box and demanded more answers, and sadly they would not admit what happened or the cause of death for another puppy, but we demanded answers, and it was finally agreed to financially compensate us through a minimal discount for their negligence of loosing two puppies and the stress they caused for Myiah and ourselves.  The bill was still atrocious, but they at least owned up to their mistakes in a small discount. 

 

Myiah was not coming out of her anesthesia well and was nauseated, throwing up, and still lethargic. We tried to get anti-nausea medication for her, pain meds, and anti-biotics to help her along, but they refused on the basis that some medications can be passed through the milk -- we listed off ones that we knew were safe based on our past experience -- but they were too arrogant to look up safe medication for Myiah and left us alone in the back room for another couple of hours.  And after several more hours of asking them to check Myiah, asking for more care, getting very frustrated, they finally told us to take her home to monitor her and that she should improve. 

 

We knew this wasn't going to be the case due to her condition, but they obviously were not willing to do more for Myiah, and we were forced to return home (driving from 12am to 5am after stopping several times for care of Myiah and her puppies).  By 8am, just 3 hours after arriving home Myiah was showing signs of possible infection and unable to keep down liquid or food (experience tells us that it's from ruptured placentas).  All other emergency clinics were once again full, and we were forced to go back to that same clinic and demand proper medication and care.  After 3 trips there and back again -- we were understandably very frustrated and not feeling as though they were going to help, but we were surprised to have the owner/vet back waiting for us and he had the young vet there to apologize to us and smooth things over. The owner/vet looked up "puppy safe" medication for Myiah that is not be passed through the milk to her puppies, and he confirmed that she had a fever and he got us anti-nausea meds, pain meds, and anti-biotics.

 

We're home now with Myiah and she has had her first dose of meds as of 5:30 PM -- so far she is keeping food and water down (first time in 2 days) and we are continuing to monitor that she is improving while balancing a fine line of letting her puppies nurse (because they need to receive colostrum from her), supplementing with puppy formula (which also contains colostrum, although nothing is as good as mom's milk), making sure she eats, and that all is now on the track to improvement and recovery.

 

We're sharing all of this so that maybe you can glean something from this experience where a vet won't listen to you -- it's important that you firmly repeat what you need for care and to advocate for your dog.  In emergencies you can get stuck going to the only clinic that has capacity to take your dog whether you like it or not -- medical care is needed, just don't let them silence you because your gut instinct is always right.

 

We will take better photos of the puppies within the next couple of days -- and we will let you see Myiah with her babies, but we need to look after Myiah and her puppies to ensure that they continue to do well. 

 

There is 1 Red, 1 Black (may lighten with age), 1 Tri-colour (black and white with tan eye-brows), 1 Brown Sable Phantom, and 1 White, and 5 White with Red Patches.  From our experience with past litters we can tell you that any Cavalier mix puppies are often born with lighter patches that will darken and become more prominent -- the puppies have more markings on their faces than are visible at this newly born stage, and any lighter areas around the ears, face, or on the back will darken on any puppies with lighter patches.  It all depends on how much fur a puppy is born with which will vary from puppy-to-puppy. And all puppies that are white with patches of colour (regardless of colour), will often have flecking or freckles develop over time with age for more cute colour!  Here is a photo of the puppies that was snapped at the vet clinic when we received them in a room after the c-section: