After a very quiet (and white!!) Christmas, we welcomed a new addition to the crew here this morning. We didn’t think Missi’s breeding had even taken since she was showing no signs. Suddenly, a week ago this past Monday, her mammaries were slightly swollen. Since we had plans to both go down to visit my father in Houston the Friday before Christmas, I figured we better take an x-ray as I figured if she had anything, it would be just one – and the radiograph confirmed just that. Pup looked pretty big on the x-ray too.
The next stop was getting her to our repro specialist (Dr. Esmond and crew at Josey Ranch) for progesterone testing to determine more about a possible delivery date (the tie was on 10/19 with an estimated due date of the 20th). Thursday’s progesterone showed that the little muffin was not completely baked so Victor stayed home on watch. We got a phone call from one of Dr. E’s partners (Dr. Cortiaus) asking if we wanted to bring her in for another fetal heart rate check to make sure the pup was in no distress (the vet had come in to do AIs, although the clinic was actually closed) – all was fine. So back to watching the pot.
We were getting text messages from the vet over the holiday checking in on how Missi was doing – she managed to get through the holiday with no issues and this morning Victor dropped her off at the clinic. We had scheduled a c-section based on prior experience with singletons and the fact that the x-ray had shown a very large puppy inside our diminutive girl.
Dr. Cortiaus delivered a robust and active 13 oz. girl! She is quite the handful! Missi is still a bit groggy over the whole experience but looks like she will be a very receptive mother once she’s “back to earth.”
First day photos are online at http://gryffynsaeyrieborzoi.com/gallery/missipup
She is listed as being sired by Darkun – but we will be doing parental DNA before making a page for her on the main website. We became doubtful of Darkun’s abilities after several failed attempts, so had gone to “plan B” – which was Pasha, another virgin. Then on to Deuce – all nice matches for a pairing with Missi, although my heart was with Darkun as I had hoped for this breeding for a while (as had several others who were on my waiting list). In the end, we witnessed a tie with only Darkun – but will be making sure through testing.
Now it’s time to watch as she nurses and Missi takes on the job of being a very good mother like her mother and grandmother before her. The pup is so vigorous, it warms my heart as I watch her. So thankful since sometimes when I’ve had such a large vet bill, the outcome has not been so positive. I look forward to watching her grow and explore the world – and hopefully one day, to show her off in the ring!