Early this morning I received a call from one of the local shelters... A litter of five Chihuahua puppies needed to be bottle fed and fostered for the mom was going to be humanely euthanized...
When I asked why, they told me that her uterus had inverted, but agreed to hold off until I could get to the shelter... Enroute to the shelter, I had already called my vet and they were unable to give me solid information to make an educated decision without seeing momma in person... It was an intense drive to the shelter, trying to put my thoughts in order and remove emotion from any decision...
I have been doing rescue for at least thirty years now and been a 'dog person' since I was but a child... Raised on a farm, I have probably been exposed to a lot more of things than most people have... But none of my experiences prepared me for the absolute emotional and visual shock I experienced once I got to the shelter and first saw Piper...
Trying to avoid being graphic here, just allow me to say the uterus had inverted itself during her delivery and the swollen tissue was outside of her bottom and about the size of a large navel orange... This momma is about 6 pounds, so use your imagination here... It had already become necrotic and full of pus and infection... Green as a matter of fact...
And then she turned and looked at me... I can't explain with words adequately enough, but the look caused me to think to myself "This is not her day to die... she wants to live... " so we decided to pull Piper and her 5 pups, then head off to the first available vet...
We had no sooner gotten inside the truck when the Simi Valley Spay & Neuter Clinic had called me back and said to bring her in - that they'd do the best they could... Direction... A plan... And in those 35 minutes driving, my mind was racing about as fast as my heart had sped up, trying to think through it all and second-guessing myself about the decisions I'd made in a very short period of time...
We arrived at the clinic around 2PM (about the time they normally are closing down for the day) and after looking at her, I was cautioned that she was already in shock and there was a very good chance she'd not make it through the surgery... We got her pups home and bundled up, nice and warm while I doubled back to the clinic as instructed...
Standing outside of the operating room, I was humbled and in awe of the magic Dr. Amsel was creating in front of my very eyes... Someone told me that she wanted to live and was fighting to do so - it was VERY reassuring to me, but I remember 'hearing it from afar' and filing it, ya know?
Dr. Amsel motioned me into the operating room and although I had filed the emotional side of me, I kept hearing inside my head all the times people had told me God did not exist... And here I stood, watching as the power and majesty of a power greater than ourselves unfolded... I discovered Dr. Amsel was a highly experienced vet who also specialized in zoological veterinary work... At each and every turn in this journey, amazing things continued to unfold in front of me!
Three hours later, Piper had survived the surgery and was ready to go home with me... Given detailed instructions by Dr. Amsel, I left with Piper almost in a state of numb... On the way home, my daughter had called to let me know none of the pups were willing to bottle feed... Would Piper, despite all of the pain and agony, be willing to accept her pups back?
Keeping my fingers crossed (and just about everything else), we had prepared a comfy and warm bed for Piper, then added her puppies in with her... Groggy beyond reason, she nudged them a bit and saying a few prayers, I begin my vigil throughout the night...
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