Daffy » Page 1 of 4

What a winter! It's been, long, cold, wet, but also full of unexpected joy. One of the joys has been a wonderful distraction, an unexpected blessing. One that many may not see as a blessing. This little Lab pup has been teaching me a lot about adapting and the ability for the body to heal and/or adapt. A small picture of how the Lord answers pray about even the little things in this life that touches our hearts. In the middle of my series of 8 surgeries our Lab Maddie had a planned litter of beautiful pups but with delivery complication. On the way to the emergency clinic in the middle of the night, Maddie was able to deliver the stuck pup. One huge pup(1.5#). The pup was lost due to suffocation but in the pup's afterbirth, was a tiny pup (4oz.). They were twins, shared a placenta, one got way too much nutrition and the other too little. I thought we had a tiny weak pup but after almost two weeks of hourly bottle feedings, I investigated further. I discovered she also had a cleft palate. Mystery solved. At that point she was growing but tiny, strong but still can't nurse. I had my finger in her tiny mouth 100 times and felt nothing. Anytime I tried to look she would latch on to my finger and nurse. She had a suck reflex but no suction. We struggled with what to do but decided as long as she was thriving we would continue. At about 5 weeks we noticed her back legs were limp. She was clumsily able to get up on them the week prior, but her increasing weight and size didn't work with her weak, small legs. The hips seemed under developed and possibly the spine. Again we took pause, what to do? She was happy, full of life and love. Ok! Back to our original decision. As long as she's thriving and no signs of pain; we give her, time, love, prayer. So now we have a cleft pup who may never walk. We started looking at a doggie cart on wheels and thinking about how to make her life good and active. We got a pleasant surprise! Right at Christmas time she started walking(7wks), it was ugly, but she was walking. She is my little miracle, a gift, a blessing, an answer to prayer! Her spine/hips have caught up and she's walking, running, jumping. Daffy still has a cleft but is adjusting. She is careful in the way she drinks. She eats dry dog food with no problem. The lack of nutrition early in the womb also affected the developement of her baby teeth, they were very small and brittle. Most wore off long before they fell out. I was concerned about her permanent teeth but they are coming in big and strong. She is an active "normal" 4 month old puppy!
Our Daffy got her name, because she quacked like a duck. Instead of the cry of a newborn. That was because of the cleft. We have learned a lot. I now can diagnosis a cleft in seconds and not weeks. We had 4 vets tell us to put her down. I would have missed out on so much! I found teriffic help online. Wonderful success stories with tried methods. I was given much support from wonderful friends and prayer. I don't know the future. We plan for, expect and "hope" for our little girl to have a long and normal life. We will keep to our plan and if that horrible day would come.... I'll know it and Daffy will have had a life, one that she gave more than she took.