Goodbye My Sweet Little Friend

My little Lola had her puppies, she had one boy & one girl. We have named them Louie and Lilly, Louie weighs 4 oz. and Lilly only weighs 2 oz. I am so very sad to say that not all is well. I knew we had a chance at not having everything go smooth, but never in a million years did I imagine how things would end. I have lost one of my best friends, Lola. She had a very long labor lasting 20 hrs. and it was just too much for her to handle. It was such a long hard week for her and it is probably best that she is at rest now. Her temperature went down on Wed. Jan. 7, I thought we would be seeing pups within 24 hrs. but her water didn't even break until Sunday at 3:30 pm. I kept waiting for her to go into heavy labor, but by 8:30 that night I hadn't seen anything so we were on our way to the emergency vet. They took x rays and ran a few test and she seemed to be just fine. The puppies were well, and she was in no stress or pain so they sent me home and said we will see the pups by morning. At 7:30 am Monday she started to push, after 2 hrs of pushing I was running back into the animal hospital. We got there around 10 am and the vet wanted to watch her for just a bit longer to see if she could do it. He gave her some meds to help with the pain and we waited. I sat there by her just rubbing her and talking to her until they decided it was time to go in for an emergency c section. By this time it was 12:30 pm. She did so good during the surgery and once she was done she woke right up, just long enough to see her babies and give them a few kisses. The vet then gave her some sedative because she was in a lot of pain after being in labor for so long and going through such a major surgery. All through this she was so strong and she still had enough in her to love on her babies for just a minute and give me a few kisses and wag her little tail. After the sedatives kicked in she went to sleep. Finally around 5:30 that night I was able to bring her home. I carried her and her little babies up to my room and laid them down next to our bed, she woke up to take a few drinks of water and I could tell she was relieved to be home. Well things went down from there, she never really woke up after that and she kept getting sick. I stayed up with her all night trying to get her to come around, but at 5:30 Tuesday morning she passed away in my arms. She just stopped breathing, I tried mouth to snout resuscitation but she was gone. The vet believes it was from kidney failure. As I sit here typing this I am just bawling my eyes out! I am going to miss my Lola so very much. Not only was she one of my best friends and companions, but she was a big part of our family. My dogs are not only like one of my children but they are my therapy. She knew when I was upset or when I just needed someone there to love me. She was so loyal and caring. I can only hope I showed her as much love as she has shown me. I will always remember Lola and nothing could ever fill her place. For being such a little dog she really has left a huge void in my life. But I am happy that she is finally at peace and no longer in pain. I truly believe I will see my Lola again. As for her puppies, they are doing good. The first day I had to tube feed them every 2 hrs. I also have to help them go potty (they cant until they are 3 wks. old) clean them and make sure they stay above 80 degrees. I felt like I was in way over my head so I put an ad in the KSL to find a surrogate mother. I knew that if I could just find a dog that would take them in the chances of them living would be much higher. I got a call from a lady named Tiffany. She had a poodle named Sienna who had puppies 6 weeks ago so she would be able to nurse and has taken in other puppies before! She was nice enough to let me bring her dog to my house! She will not willingly lay down to feed them but with a little assistance she is happy to let them nurse off of her. So every 2 hrs. I take Sienna to the puppies to feed, I then potty them, clean them up, give them some antibiotics and then wrap them in a blankie to stay warm. This will be my life for a while. I am happy to do it, since Lola did so much for me. Sienna may have to go home soon and then I will bottle feed. This week is very crucial to the puppies. If I can keep them alive for the first week, the odds are much better they will live through this. Lets hope these puppies are as strong as they're mommy was. Here is a few pictures of the whole story

Here is Lola when she finally went into labor, she got so BIG!

Here she is just before they took her in for surgery.



Lola on the surgery table, so sad!

Puppy # 1 Lilly

Puppy #2 Louie

This is Louie right out of the womb.

Welcome to the world!

Here is Lola right when she woke up from surgery.

Here is Mommy meeting her new babies!

This was the last time she really got to see them. I'm sure she was proud.

This is us this morning when we woke up.


And here is Sienna!! Thank heavens for her, she has been such a blessing!



Last night we had a little burial for Lola. My neighbors came over to say goodbye, thanks you guys!! I am happy to see she meant so much to so many other people. I took one of her little paws to get a foot print so I can remember just how tiny she was. I will miss my special little stinky friend. May she rest in peace.

We Love you Lola.