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Special Stories
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"A RUBY FOR A DIAMOND AT KAEVA" Ruby has quite a story to tell. She was born by emergency caesarian on Oct 7th 2010, day 56 of her mother's pregnancy, when one of her littermates died in utero. Ruby was the only survivor of the litter, weighing 90g at birth, but slipping rapidly to 79g until I quickly worked out what needed to be done for her to survive. She had only a fine layer of hair, little at all under her forelegs and her face was still quite foetal in appearance.
Ruby was kept hydrated by injecting her with dextrose saline until she was ready to suckle, then she received a goat milk, egg, yoghurt mixture and a few drops of cow colostrum from a neighbour who had dairy cows. The photo above was taken 3 days after the surgery. It was 10 days before she was strong enough to let her mother nurse her. Well, at least look after her, since Copper (Kaeva All that Glitters from Acquest), had no milk at that stage, but she knew she had a puppy...and she wanted it badly. It was wonderful to see her bond with her precious baby...
And to find that Ruby was determined to suckle....
Supplementary feeding continued, but Copper came into some milk and was able to help out. Which after 2 weeks of hourly feeds, then another 2 weeks of 2-hourly feeds, was a luxury. Ruby was only 160g at that stage, so we weren't out of the woods. We had some crises, but managed to get through them as she was simply determined to live.
Ruby and Copper came to work with me every day so Ruby could be fed whenever necessary and she has grown into a delightful little girl, so very full of herself... Just seeing her alive, and enjoying herself so much is a huge reward. She adores Stella, my border terrier girl, and despite her diminutive size, takes no prisoners..
Well done Ruby...you are special beyond belief.
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