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Post by Tiggs on Dec 27, 2009 7:10:12 GMT
Molly nodded and dashed away, realising she hadn’t any boots on when a chipped hardwood floorboard scored a painful hit on her largest left toe. She swore under her breath, apologised to God for using his name in vain, and limped/hopped the rest of the way back to the woodstove. She found the knife and clutching it carefully, blade pointed to the floor, she went back to the radio.
“Hello?” She grabbed the receiver, thinking for a terrible moment that she’d lost the reception. She breathed a sigh of relief when the vet began to speak, and this time she wrote notes on a piece of gnarly old paper with a pencil whose nib threatened to break at any moment.
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Post by Illu on Dec 27, 2009 7:17:51 GMT
“Okay, well done. You’re both doing fine, okay? Relax.
“Listen carefully, we need to establish just where the pup is stuck. If it’s lodged behind the pelvic bone, we’re in trouble because we can’t intervene. Now, if the pup’s cleared the pelvic bone, you can see this because the vagina and vulva swells with the puppy’s body. Sometimes you can feel the baby, from below, in front of the vulva, in the birth canal right in front of the pelvis.
“I’m very sorry for the language, but it would take me too long to think of a euphemism and time is of the essence. Let me know as soon as you can.”
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Post by tingara on Dec 27, 2009 7:34:34 GMT
As Molly dashed back into the hut Sam’s eyes were trained on her. That in itself wasn’t abnormal; the abnormality was that the eyes never strayed below her shoulder blades. Any other time the man might have snuck in a peek at the seat of her jeans but now wasn’t the time to act like an infatuated git, another shudder from the dingo under his hands served to remind him of that fact. Again he willed the girl to come back quickly, his heart pounding as every precious second ticked by.
After what seemed like an age Molly returned with the knife, a piece of paper and a bright red face. She relayed the instructions, obviously forcing herself to annunciate certain words. ”For God’s sake Molly, just spit it out,” the man tried to say gently but again, the lack of time was making his tone forceful. At last all the information had been told to Sam and he did as the vet said. ”Thank God, it feels like the pup is most certainly past the pelvic bone. Now what?”
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Post by Tiggs on Dec 27, 2009 7:45:46 GMT
Feeling strongly that all words beginning with V should be banned, Molly returned to Sam and relayed the message with downcast eyes and bright flushing cheeks. She looked up briefly to glare daggers at the man when he told her to spit it out. If it hadn’t been absolutely necessary, she wouldn’t have said any such words in front of Sam, and this was no time to be questioning her appropriateness when she was doing the best that she could.
At least there was a brief respite with the good news that came from her sullied speech, and she might have been smiling as she turned from Sam to return to the radio, leaving the knife with the rest of the tools. “Okay,” She said, grabbing the receiver, “It’s past the hip.” She was so shaken, even ‘pelvic bone’ was a little too much. She probably sounded useless and feminine, but right now she didn’t care, and at least David wasn’t there to look scornfully at her. The relief in her voice was obvious, however, and it was clear she cared about the welfare of the dingo as much as Sam. She might not ordinarily – nature had its ways – but Sam’s kindness was infectious.
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Post by Illu on Dec 27, 2009 8:00:03 GMT
“The pups’s behind the hip? Okay, that makes it easier. Well done.
“Molly, you need to find something that’ll work as a lubricant. K-Y would be your best bet if you can find it, or petroleum jelly or Vaseline, just don’t get anything that’d burn. I know you’re not very well stocked at the hut and look, I’m not an expert on lube but, probably olive or some sort of vegetable oil... Nevermind. If you can’t find anything, tell me what you got and I’ll narrow it down.
“While you find that, Sam needs to wash his hands with the antiseptic. Make sure his nails are short too. The bitch is very open to infection right now the last thing we need is for her to be dead in a week. Any sort of disposable glove would be nice but I don’t have my hopes up.
“God, I hope you’re taking notes. This is long, sorry.
“After that have him lubricate up the area, then massage the vulva internally. What he needs to do is insert a finger against the outside wall of the vulva and gentle stroke - this generally will bring on a contraction and it’s called feathering.
“If that fails, and the pup is STILL stuck, he needs to pull. If the puppy is head first – it’ll feel like a large hard ball - try and get two fingers behind the head. If the puppy is feet first, try and get hold of the hips, don’t pull on the feet.
“Do that CAREFULLY. I can’t stress that enough.
“What you need to do is WAIT until there is a contraction. DO NOT pull unless there is a contraction. When the bitch contracts, pull FIRMLY and STEADILY DOWN towards the bitch's hocks - the vulva points in this direction and pulling backward won’t help. Usually the pup will slide out.
“If it does, you need to scratch off the membrane around it because the bitch can’t do that herself. Run back here when you’re done. I know it’s a bit much to remember, I'm sorry.”
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Post by tingara on Dec 27, 2009 8:14:59 GMT
Again Sam watched Molly run back into the hut. This time she was gone for much longer than any of the other times. Having her run back and forth reminded the man of tennis, a very high stakes and stressful game of tennis. ”Easy girl, you’re doing great,” he cooed softly, giving the dingo a reassuring pat. Next to the table where he’d snuck before Lucas whined and tried to nose Ammi but was subsequently shooed from the vicinity. Sam had no patience for the Tamasken, it was the dog’s fault the dingo was in this mess.
Like before Molly eventually returned, still looking slightly uncomfortable at what she had to tell Sam. This time however, the words flowed easier much to Sam’s relief. He listened carefully then followed the vet’s instructions to the letter; first he washed his hands in the bucket of water, oiled his hand with a nearby bottle of leather oil then set about trying to remove the stuck pup. The man stuck his finger where he was told and tried to feather the dingo into a contraction but it didn’t work; he was pulling the pup out manually.
Memories of Nutsy’s foal came to mind as he gently reached for the pup. It didn’t take long before Sam’s hand came into contact with what felt like a ball, the head. Breathing a sigh of relief he got two fingers behind its head, waited for a contraction then pulled it gently down towards the dingo’s hocks. As it slid out, the man could have whooped for joy but instead he scratched off the membrane and told Molly to relay the news.
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Post by Illu on Dec 27, 2009 8:27:09 GMT
“Hah! Praise the Lord. It’d be normal for it to look a bit dead after all that time being stuck, so listen close.
“Ideally you’d want to let the mother lick the pup and cut the cord, but that’s a little impossible. If the pup wasn’t born with its own placenta, it should be expel next. Tie the umbilical cord pretty close to the puppy's abdomen and then cut it with the scissors or kife at about 2.5 cm of distance from the pup, between the thread knot and the placenta.
“Keep all the placentas by the way. The bitch needs to eat them later. Normally we’d give her a shot to replace the nutrients instead but we’re low on options... so... sorry.
“With one of the towels get Sam to start rubbing the pup. It’s okay to be a bit vigorous, just don’t hurt it. You need to get the blood going and get it to start breathing. If it looks like the pups not waking up, it’s probably a lost cause. It’s unfortunate but happens sometimes. If it wakes up put it on the teat immediately even if another ones already started to be born. The pups sucking promotes more contractions and makes the other births quicker.
“Sometimes the second pup will start to be born quickly, other times it may take up to two hours between pups. I’ll stay on the line, just monitor her and tell me again if anything goes wrong. Make sure she’s breathing right and everything. Good luck.”
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Post by Tiggs on Dec 27, 2009 8:42:07 GMT
“Okay, got it.” This was sounding to be like a more normal birth from now on, and Molly was feeling more confident. “Thanks David.” She scarpered back to the other room and directed Sam to start rubbing the first pup with a towel. Her nails were already fairly well kept, and after cleaning her hands with the antiseptic, she came over to the table to help.
Asking Sam to hold off on the rubbing (though it didn’t seem to be working), she tied off the cord with steady hands and with a smooth flick of the knife, the pup was free. The dingo still seemed stressed, but something was happening on its own this time. Molly had grabbed a tin bowl and when the bloody mess of placenta came, she gathered it into the bowl. Only mildly disgusting if you’d handled animal innards before, which she had.
Nature was taking over, and she told Sam the rest of what David had said while the dingo puffed and rolled her eyes. Something about the mother’s breathing was not quite right, but there was another pup emerging before she could relay the message to David. Sam had put the first pup down on the far end of the table as a lost cause, and so Molly handed him the second. She tied off the cord again, and this time they were rewarded with a small squawk and flailing limbs.
Molly grinned her triumph at Sam, and she realised it was the first time she had done more than smile politely to the man. She sobered immediately, turning her face down to the task at hand. This was not a time to get sentimental. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Sam lay the pup oh-so-gently by the mother’s abdomen. The small pup was surprisingly dark in colour, and she looked to the father, “Oh Lucas,” she mumbled, “What trouble have you gotten us in?”
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Post by tingara on Dec 27, 2009 9:18:16 GMT
It was disappointing that the pup they’d worked so hard to retrieve had been a lost cause. With a saddened sigh he placed its body at the far end of the table; once everything was over he’d put it in a box and bury it. The second pup came quickly and the story was a much happier one. As Molly grinned at Sam, Sam grinned back as he cradled the tiny animal in his hands. It registered that the girl’s smile was the biggest she’d ever given him and it made the man flush in pleasure and embarrassment, distracted for a split second from puppies.
It took almost another hour but eventually five pups were suckling greedily at their mother’s teats. By now he was positively exhausted and almost deliriously happy. What had started out as a potential disaster had turned into five more hungry mouths to feed. The man just hoped that the poor dingo could cope with all the strain on her body, she looked weak enough already. Still, Sam couldn’t help but laugh at what Molly said to Lucas.
”He’s gotten us into a lot of trouble, I’ll go let David know what’s happening. I’m still not happy with the mother’s breathing. Thanks for your help Molly, I don’t think I could have coped without you here,” Sam smiled warmly at Molly before moving past her to the radio where he relayed all the new information to the vet on the other end.
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Post by Illu on Dec 27, 2009 10:12:43 GMT
“Oh excellent. That’s perfect. Shame about the first one but it could have been a lot worse.”
Nervous laughter sounds from the other end of the line.
“I can’t really tell what’s happening with the bitch from all the way in Warragamba, sorry. If you can find a closer vet who can actually go see her it might be a good idea. All I can recommend is to keep her warm, fed, and with the least stress possible until you can find out more.
“I got a rabid bull overdue to be medicated, so I’ll leave you to it. Take care of yourself, thank Molly, and tell Lucas to stop fooling around with the locals. Good ta hear from ya, mate. G’Night and all luck to you.”
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