I never thought I'd have to write this, but we have decided to spay RumChata after she finishes nursing. Being that she's the female spirit who brings us our iconic Resting Grinch Face kittens, this has been very hard on the Head Bartender. Each litter she has had very large kittens, but this time they were XXL when born, and she could not push them out. A sign of trouble is when there are contractions and no progression (baby coming out). It was just blood.
I knew right away she needed to go to an emergency clinic... and I felt like the husband who is driving through stop signs and speeding because their pregnant wife is in distress. Thankfully there were no police out on the road in the middle of the night. She kept her hand out of her crate the whole time for me to hold because even she knew something was wrong.
Almost all of her babies came out crushed... and that's exactly what they predicted after looking at her ultrasound. While she was 100% not even a day later ....wanting to eagerly help feed Guinness' babies and the couple she had alive... I swear if I would have given her a vacuum cleaner, she would have cleaned up her birthing area as well because she really is a super mom. She can do it all and is super strong ...never letting anything bother her. However, her experience did not set well with me.
As a breeder, you have to decide how important a line is to you. Does the risk of the same thing happening again outweigh your need to keep her line alive.
I have come to the conclusion it does not. If I had to push out 8-10lb babies each pregnancy with no meds and it took everything out of me... I would not have had 4. I thought pushing 5-6lb babies out was God showing me a glimpse of what hell would be like, so... I just cannot make this girl do this again.
She will be staying at our bar, so we do NOT need any designated drivers.
