05/20/2025
It’s a better day. Amity Leyna is recovering really nicely. She is such a strong and amazing dog. I have had amazing love and support from so many of you and I appreciate it all. The sun is trying to come out today in more ways than one. I appreciate everybody’s patience and we all want to know what went wrong. I’ve attached Amity’s discharge chart. (in the chart, under diet, replace artichoke with Inukshuk)What’s not in the chart is what the surgeon verbally told me regarding her findings during the surgery. She said absolutely nothing looked unusual with amity’s anatomy. She did say that her uterus was very large with the six puppies. Five were completely developed and looked healthy and ready to be born while the six puppy was under developed and decaying. What we don’t know is why Amity never began her labor. Her surgeon suggested that the placement of the under developed and the decaying puppy may have prevented labor from starting. Two puppies were in the left uterine horn. Two puppies were in the right uterine horn one fully developed, and the under-developed puppy were found in the uterus. She confirmed no puppies were near the cervix or in the birth canal. No other abnormalities were found. We have a follow up appointment in two weeks for staple removal.
Leading up to surgery: I attempted three times at three vets to get her a cesarean  section  prior to the loss of the puppies. I won’t go into all of the extended details because it’s frustrating and upsetting, but the first vet, my regular vet, didn’t feel like it was necessary to see her and & literally said he wasn’t sure a necessary section “was warranted” and to call another (specific)clinic to confirm she needed it. If she needed it, he would “make it happen”.  I called them only to get a runaround, as if I didn’t know whether my bitch needed attention. I didn’t have time to waste with that craziness so I then went to another local vet and asked them to see her. I posted the results of that vent clinic last week. I left there feeling like it was OK to give her another 12 hours as they would be open the next morning on Friday. Friday morning early the second vets clinic staff called to check on Amity and I told them I was looking forward to speaking with the vet to request a cesarean section. I was told he would call me after his morning clients. I checked back at 4 PM only to find he had left for the weekend.  my next option was our closest emergency vet since Friday was upon us and I contacted the two emergency clinics in Little Rock one hour away. One facility did not have a vet equipped for the surgery and the second facility was closed due to unforeseen circumstances. (Severe veterinarian shortage). My next three options were three hours away, so I began to search again for something closer that was 24 hours and I found a clinic in Hot Springs Village . This was at 6 PM on Friday. He said to bring her in. I took her in for evaluation. This is where my lack of experience allowed mistakes to be made. The vet suggested he give her a shot of oxytocin which I now know was not a good idea and that if she was going to start labor, we would know within about 45 minutes or an hour. Not knowing about the oxytocin risk, I thought this was an ideal situation where she could have a natural birth, and if we had problems, she was literally under a veterinarian’s nose to assist and or do cesarean. He sent me several texts throughout the night saying she was Resting quietly with no contractions. I returned early in the morning. We did an x-ray and found none of the puppies were any nearer the birth canal and I immediately requested a C-section. The puppies were still very active on Saturday morning. She was on day 64 and still had zero contractions so I then requested for the third time, a C- section and from his response that morning, I knew immediately that this guy was NOT qualified to even touch my dog. I brought her home to rest and try to clear my head. We took a short nap and I woke up to a blood bath. She did not show any signs of distress, but clearly something had changed and was very wrong. On a prayer I called back to the Emergency clinics Little Rock And they finally had a surgeon on hand. I took her straight in and it was already too late.  I chose to have Amity spayed. Financial considerations: total dollars spent on breeding expenses (stud fee, travel, hotel, progesterone testing, brucellosis testing, etc): conservatively $2800  money wasted on unqualified care, $1200. Money well spent with the right Vet, once they were available  $3800.  total cost for six deceased puppies: $7800.
Total cost in heartache and stress: unmeasurable 
