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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Much Awaited Pet Update

Much Awaited Pet Update

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First, some closeups of the piglets, who I think have doubled in size since they got here just a few days ago.

loveynursing

thurstonnursing

And now, the video:

I’ve never nursed anyone, but I think my nipples got sympathetically chapped just watching that.

For the record, going from two dogs and one cat to three dogs, two puppies, and one cat does not feel like doubling the number of pets, but there is some sort of multiplicative effect. It feels like I have 85 animals in my bedroom. Last night, at around 3 am, Thurston Howl the 1st rolled out of the crate, and I think his mom can no longer pick his fat ass up, and he started making this ungodly squealing noise. This caused Lily and Rosie to freak out, and Lily scratched the hell out of me trying to get out from underneath the covers to see what was going on. It took about five minutes to stop the barking, and another 45 minutes to get everyone calmed down and back to sleep. It took me about two hours, and then fatass Steve woke me up at 6 am for his breakfast.

At any rate, Thurston is just massive. I think I am going to start bottle feeding them in a week in addition to nursing, just to give mom a break. Speaking of mom, she is soooo bossy. When she wants something, she wants it now. When she decides she is hungry, she comes and sits next to me and barks every fifteen seconds. Not an annoying bark, just a “Hey human, I need food.” kind of bark. When she gets done eating, she comes in and does the same thing to let me know it is time for a potty break.

She also decides when it is time for her to have treats. She woke me up at around 1 am the night before, and I figured she had to go to the bathroom, so I took her to the kitchen to let her out, and she just stood by the refrigerator and would not go out. I finally said to hell with it, and went back to bed. Fifteen minutes later, same thing. Finally, she did it a third time, and I realized her treats were on top of the fridge, so I gave her a treat, she took it, did an about face, and carried it back to her bed and ate it. Didn’t hear from her again all night.

My mom and dad had four kids, two cats, a dog, and goldfish, and I have officially decided they were out of their damned minds.

Reader Interactions

85Comments

  2. 2.

    Pogonip

    Yay, pupdate! Thank you!

    I would definitely talk to the vet about supplemental bottle feedings for Thurston.

  5. 5.

    Rugosa

    @julie:

    Having nursed a baby myself, absolutely. Thurston Howl (love the name!) is so big, he’s taking a lot of calories from Ginger.

  9. 9.

    mai naem mobile

    That nursing looks painful. It looks like their eyes are open. They look like they’re going to be huge doggies.

  11. 11.

    Anne Laurie

    I think I am going to start bottle feeding them in a week in addition to nursing, just to give mom a break.

    Talk to your sister, or another experienced foster — by the time the puppies have their eyes fully open, they *may* be developed enough to ‘supplement’ with a feeding dish of puppy-gruel (canned puppy food, thinned with extra water) instead of bottle-feeding.

    And the rule of thumb used to be that a nursing mother needed twice as many calories as she’d “normally” take in. Since Ginger was probably chronically undernourished before she came to Devon, giving her some extra high-calcium treats wouldn’t be a bad idea, either!

  12. 12.

    CaseyL

    Yay for the pupdate!

    Gawd, that nursing vid… it’s like watching a taffy pull. Poor Ginger.

    Extra food for Mom, definitely. When Jeannie was nursing her kittens, she ate like there was no tomorrow and still stayed almost wispy-slender.

    Thanks, John. What a happy, squeaky, barky, boisterous home you have!

    …. Steve must be feeling awfully outnumbered, being the only cat.

  13. 13.

    Pogonip

    @julie: That one sure does, seeing as how she’s feeding The Pup Of The Baskervilles. Lord, Thurston’s enormous! No wonder she wouldn’t give up till John remembered where the treats were.

    I thought he said she came from a puppy mill but I must be mistaken. I don’t believe puppy mill dogs know what treats are.

  14. 14.

    Villago Delenda Est

    My mom and dad had four kids, two cats, a dog, and goldfish, and I have officially decided they were out of their damned minds.

    Clearly, the goldfish tipped the scales to the way of madness.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I can’t remember your vet’s name (Hal? Hank?), but I do recall he’s a friend of yours. Any way he could just casually drop by some time to take a look at Ginger and her pups? — not an official consultation or exam, you understand, just checking them out in situ and sparing them all the immediate distress of packing them in a carrier and a car (which may evoke some unhappy traumatic memories).

    The pups are adorable, and I think they are really going to be a handful now that their eyes are open.

    Edited to guess at the vet’s name.

  19. 19.

    TrishB

    Not so oddly, this brings back memories of a Lab dad/Yorkie mom litter near where I lived a few years back. Six pups. That still makes me go hmm. And ouch. Good luck to John, Ginger, et al.

  24. 24.

    Shana

    I remember sitting around with my mother-in-law (mother of four boys, Hubby’s the youngest), brother-in-law (parent of four) listening to stories several years ago. At one point mother-in-law said “once you get past two kids it doesn’t make that much difference.” Brother-in-law leaned over to me and said “Mom lies.” We have two. Nun said.

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne

    O/T, but bwahahaha! I’m going to have to send some money to the national Democrats — they have a new car magnet that says “We won both of them.”

    Must. Have.

    LOL.

  28. 28.

    jl

    Thanks for the pet pix and pupdate.

    That goldfish must have been one high maintenance goldfish for your folks. Sorry to hear about that.

  30. 30.

    TaMara (BHF)

    When I was foster to the kittens, I almost drowned one trying to bottle feed him. He was the runt, there were five kittens and I mistakenly thought Missy couldn’t handle feeding them all.

    But, I weighed them every day and they all gained the same amount each day. Though Sam was (and still is) the runt of the litter. But since my friends have him, I don’t mention it. :-)

    Unless Ginger is somehow too sick to feed, and Lovey is consistently gaining weight, I think they are probably doing fine…but I understand the urge.

  31. 31.

    Southern Beale

    Dang, that’s God’s work right there, taking in a canine family in need. I haven’t heard the story about how Cole came to adopt a nursing mama and her pups.

  34. 34.

    Steeplejack

    @John Cole +1:

    Damn, how about a trigger warning?! My nipples got sympathetically chapped just watching that video.

  36. 36.

    Steeplejack

    Okay, off to watch Backstrom, which has been spooling on the DVR. This better be as good as the previews have made it look. “We’re looking for lesbians in a shed.” Pure gold.

  38. 38.

    weavrmom

    It’s impossible to eat too much when nursing in my experience. One becomes a food production machine, and the basic material has to come from somewhere. Never ate so much in my life! So, lots of food for Ginger. ETA: Thanks so much for the doggie update!

  40. 40.

    Mary G

    What, no pictures of Ginger? I am well aware of puppy cuteness, but I have fallen totally in love with her and emailed John that I want to adopt her when she can leave the pups. I even requested some price quotes from a couple of places – one flies them and the other drives them.

    I feel a little guilty, because I am sure that there are plenty of deserving and wonderful dogs a lot closer to me in North Orange County or LA County, but I’ve had a bad experience with a rescue feeling I am not qualified because I’m in a wheel chair, and if I go to a shelter I get overwhelmed and confused and miserable. Something about the little bossyboot’s face just struck a chord. Of course, if Capri or someone else got in first or is closer, I will yield up. I’m sure Ginger would not enjoy traveling across country after all she has been through, but I would be her slave once she got here.

  41. 41.

    seefleur

    As the mother of 4 kids, I totally empathize with Ginger. As to the size of the Casa de Cole menagerie, having had those four kids, and pets (dogs, kitties, hamsters, lizards, fish) I think you need to throw in a ferret just to kind of mix things up. Been there, done that.

    Kudos to you Mr. Cole for your giant heart and generosity to both bipeds and quadrupeds.

  42. 42.

    MazeDancer

    Poodles are not so much bossy as smart. Really, really smart. Like cat level smart. Which is why they, like cats, do not always buy into the whole please people and be devoted to master thing like dogs more often do.

    Ginger was not being unreasonable. She has to feed the huge puppies 24/7, so she needs good calories in the same time frame.

    Thurston and Lovey clearly did not have the same father. No amount of smart can ensure wise behavior in heat. To which some of us non-canines with otherwise passable level IQ’s can, alas, also attest.

  43. 43.

    Little Boots

    sometimes I get the odd feeling I am not loved wherever I go.

    these on the other hand. damn.

  44. 44.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @Mary G: If you need any financial help getting her to you, I’m in. I know you’d be a great person for her. And I totally understand about not having a good rescue experience. Also, too, go with the dog that steals your heart.

  49. 49.

    Anne Laurie

    Last night, at around 3 am, Thurston Howl the 1st rolled out of the crate, and I think his mom can no longer pick his fat ass up, and he started making this ungodly squealing noise.

    Neonates have no temp control, and a little puppy who falls/squirms out of the nest can die of hypothermia really fast. The alarm!!! squeal is hard-wired, as is the impulse for any adult dog within earshot — even spayed females & most males — to go check on the source immediately.

    The risk of death by freezing is so great it overrode the stay-quiet-don’t-attract-predators impulse… the Squeakers had a better chance of surviving to pass on their genes, even in a (literally) dog-eat-dog environment.

  52. 52.

    Anne Laurie

    @TrishB: I once met a dog whose mom was a St. Bernard & whose dad was a fox terrier. My dad said, “Either he rose to the occasion, or someone put him up to it.”

  53. 53.

    Violet

    OMG they are so cute! Glad the whole thing is going well. Ginger sounds like a good dog. I hope you can figure out the bottle feeding to give her a break. Thurston is such a brute.

  55. 55.

    Karen in GA

    Puppehs! Not to sound ungrateful, but I would love to see more pics of Ginger while you’re at it.

    My Phoebe kitty, of last year’s borderline chronic renal failure diagnosis, is having an ultrasound on her heart tomorrow, and she was just diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. From what I understand, the thyroid could be causing the heart issue, which means it’ll clear up when the thyroid is treated. However, it also could be masking kidney disease — the vet explained this after telling me Phoebe’s kidney values were well within normal range. And here I thought maybe her kidneys were fine after all — she’d gotten no worse over the past year. So if I treat the thyroid the heart could get better, but the kidneys could get worse.

    At least her pet health insurance will pay for itself.

  56. 56.

    Mary G

    I had a friend who had a dog that was parented by a Chihuahua and a German Shepherd, who knows how. He had a little tiny body and a huge head with big ears, exactly like a German Shepherd’s. When we saw “Mars Attacks,” when Sarah Jessica Parker’s head is put on the dog’s body, we all howled. She looked just like the dog.

  58. 58.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mnemosyne (iPad Mini):

    We Juicers managed to get geg6’s Koda from Los Angeles to Pennsylvania, so I’m guessing we can make a WV to CA trip happen if Ginger has not already been claimed.

    Much as I sympathize with MaryG, I think Cole’s hoping for a home where he can visit Ginger occasionally.

    But if it comes to a cross-country trip, I suspect we’ll be chipping in to fly a human “courier” roundtrip from, say, Pittsburgh to SoCal, with Ginger as cabin luggage. (I’d feel safer about this than putting such a little elderly dog in the cargo section, anyways.)

    The Spousal Unit once flew from Boston to Houston to pick up our rescue dog Flash, so it can be done. Or, since that was the Labor Day weekend before Nine-Eleven Changed Everything, it could be done… and what with “emotional support” animals in the cabin, TSA should still be good with it, although the paperwork will no doubt be extensive.

  60. 60.

    different-church-lady

    It feels like I have 85 animals in my bedroom.

    Don’t worry, you’ll get there eventually.

  61. 61.

    Violet

    @Anne Laurie: The other thing is, Ginger may have breast cancer or an abdominal tumor or something along those lines. At least that’s what Cole said when this all began. There haven’t been any further updates on that, but unless that was all a misunderstanding, Ginger may need medical treatment and may not be able to travel very far for a little while anyway.

    I fell in love with her too. She’s totally adorable. I’d be in for helping out with any of her medical care or helping her get to a good home like with Mary G.

  62. 62.

    Mike E

    Heh, the new Scrubbing Bubbles spot is a good’ern, two little girls bathing the filthiest stray ever…”can we keep it?”

  69. 69.

    BubbaDave

    @Karen in GA:
    Ouch. Good luck to you and to Phoebe. Here in the Dallas area there’s a vet who does a radiation treatment for hyperthyroidism — zap the thyroid instead of slicing. Kind of cool, plus it puts me in mind of this xkcd….

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    @efgoldman:

    Okay, the first episode was good enough to keep me going on with it, at least to see how it develops. It had a little bit of that West Wing “Everybody’s dialogue is a little too snappy” thing going on, but, unlike House, everybody wasn’t kowtowing in terror to the main character. The other regular characters were mostly giving as good as they got. So I think it’s got potential.

    ETA: “Everybody’s dialogue is a little too snappy.” See also: Gilmore Girls.

  72. 72.

    Mike J

    @Steeplejack:

    “Everybody’s dialogue is a little too snappy.”

    I’ve never understood why this is supposed to be a bad thing. Would you really want to watch a show where the characters were as smart as the average American? Don’t you wish everyone in your office were as clever as the panelists on The News Quiz?

  73. 73.

    Suzanne

    My God, your animals have you well-trained. Wake up in the middle of the night for a treat?! Yeah, riiiiight. I tell mine to get on her damn bed and she stays there all night. The cats have also had their asses tossed enough times for bothering me while I sleep that they leave me the hell alone during Kitty Crazy Time.

  74. 74.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @Mike J:

    “Too snappy” means it feels like everyone is trying too hard and/or the dialogue feels unrealistically snappy (if that can be a thing). I have no problem with, and in fact applaud, intelligent characters. But I like the dialogue to feel “organic,” not like the characters are mouthing the writers’ “good lines.”

  75. 75.

    Karen in GA

    @BubbaDave: Thanks. She’s not having surgery — she’ll be going to the University of Georgia vet school for radioactive iodine treatment. Five days of isolation, then she comes home. I just have to get the referral.

    And I love XKCD.

  77. 77.

    lymie

    No need to bottle feed, by next week they should be able to scarf some puppy chow well soaked with a bit of cottage cheese to supplement nursing 3 or 4 times a day. And hopefully you are feeding Ginger 4 meals a day, too. (Have had 4 litters of puppies – 3 on purpose, 1 rescue – but never an under nourished rescue.)

  79. 79.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Karen in GA:

    My coworker’s wife’s cat had to have that done, and it went off without a hitch. If Iggy thinks the litter box is his personal smorgasbord, you should ask the vet if kitty’s poop will still be radioactive after you bring her home.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Speaking of pet updates, Charlotte and Keaton actually sniffed each other without hissing tonight. Huzzah! We may be able to have everyone in the same room without the harness on soon.

  81. 81.

    SWMBO

    Piglets! Thanks, JC. This really is a full service blog.

    If you try to bottle feed them, use little bottles with an egg carton. You can use more than one bottle at a time that way. Cut up a wash cloth to give them a warm, fuzzy surface next to them (just poke the bottle nipples through the cloth). Ginger will deplete her body’s reserves if you let her.

    Also, too, we still stand ready to help with medical/transport bills. Any overage can be used on the next rescue. And there will be more. Your sister isn’t done with you yet.

  82. 82.

    JR in WV

    When our Maine Coon had kittens, there were 5 of them, and 3 were born on Mrs JR’s pillow. Then I found one of the steps up to the bedroom, and on lying on the (very cold) kitchen floor.

    I thought they may both be goners, especially the one from the kitchen, who seemed motionless. But I got a hot water bottle and a warm towel into action, and surprise, they both wokr up after just a little bit.

    It was great having a herd of little kittens, who weren’t really little. They ran everywhere together as a herd, completely on stampede!

    Coming down the stair from the bedroom to the living room, they mostly slid down the handrail, which was big old wide antique sort of wooden rail. Head first. Great memories!

    So congrats John, on having a herd of puppies!!

    Enjoy!!!!

  83. 83.

    skyweaver

    You give that mom any food she wants and when she wants it. Nursing may look like a sedentary activity, but it’s anything but. A female body is working damned hard to produce that milk; when I nursed my daughter I was hungry all the time.

    Your mama dog isn’t bossy, just really hungry.

    Love those pics!

  84. 84.

    debit

    @skyweaver: Pretty sure that Cole has said that he feeds her wet food on a schedule, but she always has a bowl of kibble she can nibble on at will. Have you seen Cole’s pets? Lack of food is really not an issue.

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