This afternoon, I took Ty out to throw a ball for her. She loves to chase the ball, although frankly I think she could use a sports bra - it looks painful. She doesn't complain.
We got back into the house and I opened the pen and she trotted happily in, to be greeted by a bunch of hungry mouths ... Desdemona was first (as always, the lil porker), followed by Caesar and Romeo, Othello and Puck, and Antony and Ophelia. I noticed that lil Juliet wasn't too interested - she just stayed in a corner, not quite sleeping but not moving much. I jotted a note for Allison to have a glance at her, make sure she was OK.
Later in the afternoon, the puppies were getting rambunctious - wrestling and growling at one another, tumbling in a pile. I took Ty out again, just for a quick whiz, and then let her back into the pen and once again they all crowded towards her, each latching on for supper.
Except Juliet.
I looked at her a little more closely, and noticed that she was thinner than the rest. She was listless, uninterested in eating. I put her right to her mom's body and she just turned away.
I called Allison in. Allie picked Juliet up, looked her over, then motioned for the phone. She punched in the number for the Humane Society and the veterinarian who runs it, Els Cawthorne. Els led her through some simple tests, then asked us to bundle the lil girl up and bring her in.
On the drive in, Juliet seemed to gain a little bit of life, but it was clear there was something wrong. Once we got there, Els looked her over and felt pretty sure there was something wrong with the puppy's breathing - it was laboured and shallow. But, like most Animal Shelters, there wasn't much in the way of diagnostic equipment there, so Els picked up the phone.
She called the Atlantic Veterinary College, part of the University of Prince Edward Island, and explained to the lead intern (it was evening by now, and a skeleton staff on duty) what the problem was. After a couple of minutes, Els said "We'll bring her over. I trust your judgement on this. If we can help her, we should help her, but ..." - she glanced at us apologetically - "... nothing heroic."
I get that. I mean, there's a reason puppies come in eights. Mother Nature (the bitch) expects some attrition. And if the puppy's health will be compromised in the long term, that makes her unadoptable, and leads to all sorts of other problems. So, if there is a serious problem ... well ... we don't have to talk about it, but we all know what has to happen.
We took the lil darlin' in, and they were very kind. Took her and put her in an oxygen tent to help her breathe better and they'll run a bunch of tests tonight. It's quite possible it's pneumonia, probably "aspirated pneumonia", meaning some food went down the wrong way and caused infection. And if that's the case, it could be treatable with antibiotics, although a three week old puppy doesn't have many resources in the way of an immune system. So even that will be tough.
If it's something more - like, say, an underdeveloped esophagus or congestive heart issues ... well, that's a less hopeful scenario.
I hope things turn out, I really do. And hey, if you have some spare good vibes, fire 'em along. It's just a teeny puppy, one of eight.
But ... she's sweet. Be a shame. So ... let's hope.
Update! Late Friday Afternoon:
The vet, a lovely woman named Melanie, called this morning to tell me she's quite happy with how Juliet is doing. They put her in an oxygen tent in Intensive Care and her breathing eased almost immediately. They put a mist into the tent and that helped, too.
The diagnosis is what they expected: aspirated pneumonia (see above). So, with luck, a careful program of appropriate antibiotics can sort everything out. She's not out of the woods yet, but things are looking much better.
You're all a bunch of sweeties for sending kind thoughts and good vibes. Thanks, kids.
Awww, nooo. I'm sending good vibes in spades for sweet lil' Juliet.
Posted by: Ern | October 20, 2006 at 02:44 AM
Bless her heart...I hope she's okay...lots of good thoughts for her
Posted by: Sandy | October 20, 2006 at 03:28 AM
All of us here are sending lots of good thoughts your way.
Posted by: twisteduterus | October 20, 2006 at 07:19 AM
Poor little puppy. I'll be sending good thoughts her way...
Posted by: CircusKelli | October 20, 2006 at 09:39 AM
I really hope she doesn't live up to her namesake's fate. Poor little thing.
Hoping/praying for the best.
Posted by: candace | October 20, 2006 at 10:39 AM
I will say lots of prayers for her!
Posted by: Mas' Mom | October 20, 2006 at 12:21 PM
Oh--poor Juliet--glad you saw she wasn't doing well! I hope she's OK...I remember when one of our dogs had puppies--Molly had a litter of 6 and one was smaller than the rest. It was so sweet and small--I loved it immediately. I tried to take care of it and feed it, but it wouldn't eat. Poor thing died and I cried and cried.
Posted by: Effie | October 20, 2006 at 01:33 PM
OH, I'm so sorry to hear Juliet isn't doing well. I'm thinking good thoughts for her and I hope it's something she can recover from and be healthy.
Posted by: Katherine | October 20, 2006 at 02:13 PM
Poor little pup. Sending loads of good thoughts her way. Nature can be cruel sometimes - but little animals can be very strong. Both my former dog and my cat both got very very sick when I got them - they were both the runts of the litter - but both suddenly turned a corner and you would never know it now. I'm hoping Juliet will be the same. x
Posted by: platypus | October 20, 2006 at 05:17 PM
Hpoin' and prayin' for little Juliet. xxx
Posted by: ortizzle | October 20, 2006 at 06:12 PM
Just read the update - fantastic news! I have everything crossed that she continues to improve. It makes walking tricky but I'll do it for the cute puppy. :)
Posted by: platypus | October 20, 2006 at 06:22 PM
Oh Nils...that poor little pup! Consider good vibes by the ton from California!
Um...she'll be one of the ones you keep, huh?
Posted by: Sara Sue | October 20, 2006 at 09:48 PM
Whether there's one or eight, it would be a shame to lose even one of them. It's so hard seeing something so tiny struggle to breathe. I'm glad you guys were observant enough to figure out that things weren't going well. I'm betting even a picture of Juliet in a tiny oxygen tent would be cuteness personified.
Posted by: wordgirl | October 21, 2006 at 12:33 AM
I'm SO glad you updated that 'cause I kinda skipped over the last few paragraphs of the original post as the tears in my eyes were starting to well up...
Posted by: The Kept Woman | October 21, 2006 at 03:49 PM
Nils, I am beyond touched that you not only noticed Juliet's onset of symptoms, but gave a damn. She is, as you said, only one teeny pup of eight in a litter, and the world won't notice much if she's gone. But you did. In time to do something. Something small, granted, but... something small is all it took in this case. And if you hadn't bothered, the outcome for her would be the difference between life and death. It's like that story of the man tossing starfish back into the sea after an anomaly had washed thousands of them ashore to their certain deaths, and an onlooker says, "Do you really think it matters?" And the man replies as he tosses another starfish back into the surf, "Well, I bet it matters to this one."
Posted by: shari | October 21, 2006 at 10:02 PM
Brings me to tears. I made the difficult decision to let my precious 15 year old baby go 4 days ago, and my heart still aches. She was so ill and fought the good battle,but enough was enough. I'm sending puppy prayers for sweet Juliet. Good luck to you all.
Posted by: Lyn | October 22, 2006 at 11:58 AM