Jen has a Secret ;)

=) Polly. I have a story to tell you. It starts with a bitch named Sandra, a puppy that I have loved from the get-go. She's been a bit of a pill her whole life, super sweet, but everything is her way or the highway. ;) Sent her off to be finished, and to shorten this part up, before she came home I had this premonition... For no reason. What if she has a stricture? Now mind you, I have had this line for years, and have never had a stricture. This is similar to a hymen in women, for those wondering.

Anyways, so she came home, had her health testing done (after age two) and promptly came into season. I had been planning to breed her to Ron, and he did his thing, except he couldn't... get it in. (ok that's a bit coarse, sorry). I thought hmm... and did an internal exam, and sure enough a stricture with it's own zip code. I proceeded to do AI's on her, but alas, she did not conceive.

Her next season, she came in a month early (of course) and I had to go to Idaho to dog shows, so I had been doing cytology and taking the slides to the vet, and prepared to drop her and Ron off to stay at the vet. They would run progesterone tests and do the AI's since I would not be home. Both separate breedings were done at the same time frames in her cycle. She missed again, after costing me the equivalent of a stud fee to my own dog. Plans were made to do a surgical implant, as they said the stricture could not be surgically corrected.

BTW, strictures are usually hormonal, not hereditary.

So after talking to my very good friend, who had been through something similar with her bitch, she assured me it was a timing problem, that she probably ovulated very early regardless of how she acted. I had bred Minion and Friday (as you know) and prepared to do cytology on Sandra, just to get a baseline of what was going on. Her slides were all over the place. She was fully cornified for one day only, day 8. I continued to do cytology, and on day 10, the inside of her felt "different" with the swab. I thought hmmm... On day 11, after the cytology, I did an exam, and sure enough that stricture was SUPER flexible, and I thought if I can do this, she can be bred, which means she can have puppies (we had planned to have a c-section, when I did the surgical implant in JUNE.)

So due to the fact that we had bred her at the same times two separate seasons and she missed, and that her slides said she had ovulated early, I thought to myself, if I do a natural breeding, this stricture might go all the way away! I felt 95% certain she would not take, and then in June, my PLANNED time to breed her, I would not have to AI her!!!!!! Well. All I can say is.. BEST LAID PLANS.

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She is hugely pregnant, due March 4th, and I think I will now completely lose my mind. I am trying very hard to look at the bright side, that when this is all over and done, I am DONE FOR THIS YEAR, and hey, quite possibly the next. ;)
 
Sandra is the apple of Jen's eye. I'm so happy that she took, because Sandra is a Bubba Girl!!!! And we are all Bubba fans!!!
 
I am coming to the conclusion that baby cockers aren't found under cabbage leaves. Congratulation Sandra and Jen!
 
Wow...congrats to you and Sandra!! It is truly amazing that you figured out the correct procedure!!
Can't wait to see more new babies :)
 
LOL Yes sorry that was a little... more info than most people need I guess. I really WANT to be excited about this, but I am more stressed than anything else. I just want the puppies on the ground and doing well. My brain is quite full of all the horrid possibilities, and sleeplessness, and I kinda just want to cry.
 
Kathy, I didn't figure anything out at all. For all intents and purposes, and all the tests, and prior breedings, this girl should not have taken. YES I know technically, you breed a dog and a bitch and get puppies, but ... that hasn't worked before LOLOL But again, it's always about Sandra, it's always HER way LOL so I guess, this is quite typical for the little stinker.
 
But thank you so much for your congrats... =) I am trying really hard to be excited! I've planned this particular breeding for a LONG TIME. =)))
 
Please do not cry! Cuddles of cocker puppies will be everywhere but we are all here rooting for you and them. We know you can do this!
 
OMG. I hear the pitter patter of lots of puppy feet at your house. You are going to be busy for a long time. Sandra is a pretty bitch, can't wait to see those babies. Congratulations, exciting news , also stressful. I know how you feel Jen. Hope everything goes well. By the way, exciting story.
 
for those of us slightly on the dim side.... could you explain a bit more? Did the 2nd ai take after all? Will she need a c-section?
are she and Minion due at similar times?

Sorry for all the questions I know exactly zilch about breeding puppies and I just live vicariously through others!

ETA Congratulations I'm looking forward to seeing more puppy pics!
 
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Jen Elwanger said:
LOL Yes sorry that was a little... more info than most people need I guess. I really WANT to be excited about this, but I am more stressed than anything else. I just want the puppies on the ground and doing well. My brain is quite full of all the horrid possibilities, and sleeplessness, and I kinda just want to cry.
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Do I ever know how you are feeling right now....a full mix of emotions!!!! Congratulations because I know this is what you wanted but the timing is just off so to speak. I hear you loud and clear! Hang in there Jen!

In cats you cannot do AI -- so it is hit or miss and happens or doesn't. We can do hormone testing of course but not much you can do about it so that is rarely done. I have one girl who never calls when in heat (cat's don't "have a period" like dogs). So I have no idea when she is in heat or how many times. So I had to put her in my room to live with my male. The hard part is that I have to work and my breedings are as precise as I can get them so I am not eating up my vacation on deliveries and waiting....I did confirm that Bunni took but had to date her due date based on her pink up date. What a mess! I was home but didn't put her up in time and she delivered behind my washer and drier. ALL survived by a pure miracle. But here I am...needing to breed her again....UGH! Her kits from last year are going to be a year on April 16th. With cats...there is no break from breeding (they must be bred once a year or risk pyo) so I envy that you get to take a break.
 
<<for those of us slightly on the dim side.... could you explain a bit more? Did the 2nd ai take after all? Will she need a c-section?>>

Sandra was bred twice before. The first time, by me, via AI's as I had found the stricture. The second time, via the vet, with the accompanying vaginal cytologies and progesterones, and multiple AI's, as I was in Idaho at dog shows.

She had natural ties this time. My reasoning was there was NO WAY she would take, based on prior experiences and my cytology results, and my hope was that the stricture would completely and totally go away with the natural ties. The vets that I have talked to, including my other research into strictures, state that this is hormone based, and hormones change the stricture. The onset of labor, if there is ANY stricture left, should dissolve it. Should. Crossing fingers that it will. If it doesn't, then we will opt for a section.
 
Wow Jen!!...and this is why I leave the breeding to the professionals!! It does amaze me to read and learn about it.

Heather I had no idea that you "had" to breed cats every year...what is pyo?
 
Well all I can say is congratulations, and I hope all goes well. One puppy is a handful....... You may need some wine, some anxiety pills or something :)
 
Kathy said:
Wow Jen!!...and this is why I leave the breeding to the professionals!! It does amaze me to read and learn about it.

Heather I had no idea that you "had" to breed cats every year...what is pyo?
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Kathy this might be more info that you wanted...I'm sorry I'm long winded.

Dogs and Cats are both susceptible to pyometra (pyo for short)...and every set of stats, it seems, say dogs are at higher risk but even my vet says the cats seem to go undetected too easily so she thinks the stats are off...LOL Pyo is an infection of the uterin horns and can kill them if not treated....or at the very least mean a spay. There are two forms -- open (draining) or closed (not draining). In 12 years of breeding, I have had two cases of open pyo that were able to sucessfully be treated and those girls went on to have babies (well we are waiting on Jezzie's babies to arrive in March) but I did have one closed case and lost my girl to sepsis. I try not allow my queens to cycle more than 5 times to prevent this from happening but it isn't always perfect.

Just for added information...and please correct me if I am wrong. But I believe bitches cycle twice a year (spring and fall)? Cats however cycle as close as 1 week on and 1 week off. And it happens in both the spring and fall and sometimes in between. They litterally cycle in and out for several months and then stop....then start again...this could me many heat cycles between litters. The more cycles, the higher the risk of pyo. I try to weed out heavy cyclers in my program when I can. Most of my girls don't even have their first litter until they are 13-16 months old and don't start to cycle heavy until they reach 3-5 years old...about retirement age. For the health of my girls I only breed them once a year but as you can see they can easily be breed MUCH more often...but would not be healthy. Raising a litter takes alot out of mom.
 
Wow Heather. I sure didn't realize that cats can go into heat so often. We sure are learning!
 
Crazy stuff, these cat mommies! Yes, bitches come into season twice a year. Well, they are supposed to. lol And I absolutely going to need a barrel of wine and anxiety pills. ha! I tell you, I am over the top stressed these days. It's magnifying everything. But that's another thread. lol
 
Jen Elwanger said:
Crazy stuff, these cat mommies! Yes, bitches come into season twice a year. Well, they are supposed to. lol And I absolutely going to need a barrel of wine and anxiety pills. ha! I tell you, I am over the top stressed these days. It's magnifying everything. But that's another thread. lol
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{{{{{Jen}}}}} We are here for you!
 
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