On October 6, 2008 my 2 year old chihuahua Misty gave birth to two beautiful angels, Miley and Cookie. Unfortunately their birth was a very strenuous one and they weren't breathing for almost 20 minutes. After doing CPR and everything that was necessary we brought our loving angels home. Misty did not take to them at first and was not producing milk even after two oxytosin injections so we resorted to bottle feeding, unfortunately they weren't taking to the bottles so we had to tube feed them. Everything was going fine until the night of the 10th when we had to bring Miley to the LIVS because she wasn't breathing right. They did everything they could but unfortunately a little after midnight the morning of the 11th she passed away. I work at a vets office so I brought Cookie with me to work so I could monitor her and had a vet a few feet away just in case. I knew something was wrong, she was cold but was trying to get away from the heat so I kept her in my arms close to my chest to keep her warm, I asked the dr about this and he said what I was doing was perfect. I got home from work we had he in her box with the heating pad and she fell asleep and seemed fine. When we went to feed her she wasn't breathing just right so we rushed her to West Hills A.H. Where they fed her and gave her sub q fluids. The doctor said we were doing everything we needed and that she seemed to be fine she was even batting her away when he was checking her pulse. We were good to take her home! She wasn't breathing right again on the ride home and we called, they said she should be fine just to monitor her and to call if we needed anything else. By the time we got home and were going to feed her again she started to appear blue. I called the A.H. and told them to call the dr back and that we were on our way and what was going on. Unfortunately at 11:04 she passed away in our arms. We were told that due to their birth that there was a big possibility of brain damage and there was a very slim chance of them surviving especially with it being Misty's first litter. They also said Misty may not have taken to them because she knew they were ill.

Between the passing of Miley and Cookie, Misty had started to show an interest in Cookie and was licking her and laying with her. A week has passed and Misty is still a little down. I noticed her nesting earlier today and a coworker had suggested a false pregnancy and I checked to see if she was producing milk. Sure enough, there was milk. I spoke to the dr and he told me that she is most likely depressed and that I should contact shelters to see if I can find orphan puppies for her to take on to fill the void.

I have called at least 20 shelters and rescues all of which told me they didn't have any and it is a very rare thing to have a nursing puppy.

If anyone can help me to find a puppy that is nursing or point me in the direction of someone that could help me I would really appreciate it!

I would really appreciate all the help I can get.

Dani

I am so sorry for you and Misty's loss. I don't know of any puppies to foster but I've heard of animals taking different species? Maybe there are some kitties that need a momma. Just an idea.

Good luck and prayers for you both.

Monica and Tipsy.

That's so sad I hope you find what you need or that she's feeling better soon.

__________________

Shiver - Mar 4/05
Maggie - Jun 23/06
Storm - Sep 1/96 - Aug 11/09 RIP

So sorry that this happened.

You will probably want to try to get a nursing kitten if you can. Kittens can often replace the missing puppy but you will have to do the introduction very carefully (try rubbing a blanket on Misty and then over the kitten) as Misty could reject a kitten or even a puppy.

Even if you can't find a puppy or kitten to help there are a few other things that you can do as well.

If you can, take her to work with you so that she has various things to look at and get interested in.
If you can't take her to work with you, when she is home - leave a radio/tv on for her.
Take her on 2-3 nice walks per day - exercise will help produce "happy feelings" in her just as it does in us - it also helps if you vary the routes you take so that each time she is seeing something new.
Also you need to be upbeat, happy, excited etc yourself - Misty will pick up cues from you so it is important to put up a brave front.

Misty will get through this even without a surrogate puppy/kitten. It just takes time as she needs to mourn her loss. Hang in there.

__________________

That is so sad, harder when you only have the one dog.

I have lost a full litter in the past and it takes a while for the mother to get over loosing the puppies but she does eventually come good.