RIP Dante

Dante appeared to be doing fantastically. He spent some time with my hubby and I last night and was running all over us, and so enthusiastic and just 'well' looking.

Then I found him this morning. He had passed away sometime overnight.

I don't really understand what went wrong. I have spoken to other breeders about babies that fail to thrive, and 99% of them don't survive longer than a few days/weeks.

My theory is that there was some kind of congenital issue with one of Dante's organs - maybe heart, maybe digestive system, could have been a combo even? And that despite our best efforts, his organs failed him quite suddenly, and he passed away.

I've had to break the news to his prospective new family, and that now leaves Dash as the sole survivor of that little family. But Dash is really doing very well. He is fat, and strong and not taking any supplemental feedings from me at all anymore. I think he is perfect.

I took a little video of Dante's enthusiasm at meal time on monday night, and only got around to looking at it yesterday. Here is the link if you feel up to it. It's a bit dark, and a bit blurry - but the best I got.

RIP Yeti and Simba

RIP Little Simba (26/1/12 - 28/1/12)

I woke this morning to firstly find that Simba had been trampled on by his mummy Crumble (she has just been really silly lately, and I think he was just too tiny to get out of her way). So that was a more than crappy start to the day. Yeti was still alive though, so there was some hope. I called the vet and we got her in for an emergency visit.


(Yeti as a little bub)

Sadly it was just too late, and she didn't survive long enough to even have an X-ray. The vet thinks it was a pneumonia, which could have been bought on by our disgustingly soggy weather for the last 2-3 weeks, the stress of birth (she may have been a carrier of the bug, and the stress/lowered immunity from the pregnancy/birth may have been enough to allow it to take hold), and/or the change of bedding for a few days this week when I ran out of dry fleece (used supposedly dust-free wood shavings).

Her boys are now fighting for their life as well. The vet didn't think their prognosis was good as they are so young, and have been exposed to Yeti. But I weighed them both this afternoon, and little Dante is now 65g (up 10g in 24hrs!) and Dash is a decent 110g (up 20g since birth on monday). So I'm trying to remain optimistic. I have antibiotics for them both, critical care and milk... and they're eating fantastically... all we can do from this point on is try.



RIP Yeti - May 2011 to Jan 2012.

RIP Sahara

I am so sad to report that little Sahara did not win her battle for survival, and passed away this evening from what was probably a toxic combination of blood poisoning/retained placental infection, mange mites, incorrect diet/housing, some kind of growths or tumours and goodness knows what else.

She was a beautiful, gentle little lady, who even though she was probably in a lot of pain, never struggled or resisted. She spent her last 60hrs on earth nestled in amongst some fresh hay, fragrant grass and fresh veg. At least she isn't in pain any more.