Patsy’s Adventure
Patsy’s litter - with most of her puppies - some are staying with Helen for a while…..
We are please to announce Swashbuckle Joanna Lumley has delivered the Swashbuckle ‘S’ litter - yes, 3 days after Helen’s ‘R’ litter. The ‘S’ litter is a wonderful healthy Pepper/Salt litter - and the largest litter size ever in Swashbuckle history. But not without some adventure …… here is Patsy’s story.
This Patsy litter was much anticipated - her first litter, just after her 3rd birthday - to the wonderful sire Nichi Stradivarius.
Patsy swelled up like a balloon with little stick legs towards the end of her pregnancy - the initial ultrasound only found three puppies inside, but there were clearly more, looking at her very, very full belly.
Complications arose late in the evening of her whelping (as any breeder will tell you, it is always very, very late in the evening, when all Vets are closed!) For some reason, contractions and labour stopped completely, with the first puppy only half out. We were extremely fortunate to find an after-hours emergency service, so within an hour, we found ourselves at Bong Bong Veterinary Hospital at 5am. The wonderful Dr Lyndon led a large team as they immediately went to work, scrubbed, and went straight to an emergency caesarean. While the first puppy couldn’t be saved, unfortunately, all the remaining litter came out, one-by-one, and kept coming - quickly - and soon there was a boxful of crying, yelping and healthy puppies.
The team discovered a large uterine rupture, which had leaked fluid into her body, hence explaining why Patsy stopped contractions and paused labour - and it saved her life. The decision was made to also desex Patsy - we couldn’t risk her to any future litters. Patsy’s health and well-being not just our #1 priority, but our only priority!
Thanks to the amazing team at Bong Bong Veterinary Hospital we have a healthy Patsy, and a delightful litter of Pepper/Salt puppies. Patsy is doing a great job looking after her large litter - and we will be delighted to share these puppies with the world - Patsy’s first and last litter! We were close to losing Patsy - and we are forever grateful to the team at Bong Bong Veterinary Hospital. Thank you team!
