14 poopy puppies

Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant." - Unknown
Today I was the hydrant! I awoke to the splashing of liquid on pillows, "dang" I thought, barely wedging my still tired eyes open "I forgot to close the door and it's raining inside" then I saw the little 4 inch puppy, its tail in the air its behind pointed at the pillow..pooh spraying from its orifice..."splat!" That's it, that's right, I live in southern California. It doesn't rain here; it's sunny and 75 all year. Just watch the Rose Bowl Parade, every year...Sunny and 75!!
So I'm sure it's just the one little one, maybe she ate some fuzz from a blanket or got jostled around by her pals. As I wiped her tiny bum, and let mommy sniff to make sure things were copacetic..i glanced at all the sleeping babies. Oh so worth it, anything yummier than a tiny puppy? Nope, nothing, wait, what's that yellow goo running down Sarah's face? (Sarah is the blonde puppy with a half collar and black markings on her face, yellow markings now)and what's that blob of toothpaste doing in the kennel, oh that's not toothpaste it's pooh!!! Then all at once, I'm not kidding, they began to come at me like the zombies in "Night of the Living Dead" little stumble walks, with ooze on their tiny bodies, spewing liquid and moaning...great not one 2 week old puppy with diarrhea, 14 two week old puppies with ExPLoSiVE diarrhea.
I went on line, made some calls, did what research I could and decided I needed a proffesional to lead me in the right direction, I didn't want to over react but I also know a young pup with diarrhea can quickly become dehydrated and without medical attention with in 24 to 48 hours can die.
So...after a miscommunication with the first Vet and a miserable 2 hours cleaning puppies and blankets, I called my Vet and asked if they could make and opening for Kanga Roo and her brood. Yep, done, 3:00 so after meeting a good friend at Kael's school and her graciously agreeing to watch Kael for a playdate with her son (Kael's best bud in the whole wide world...his definition) while we nursed sick puppies we were off to Media City Veterinary (Thanks guys! if you read this, for fitting us all in on such short notice and treating us all so well and K & J for making it possible)to have all 14 pups and mommy looked at...after the tough birth and labor and a barely breathing runt...I am not gonna lose these precious pups to diarrhea. David and I piled them into a plastic storage box lined with blankets and drive to our appointment. The staff greeted us with concerned looks, Thank God someone else is worried about our pups, such a relief after a stressful morning. They escorted us into Room 5 after a bout of diarrhea in the waiting room, lots of wipes and stinky puppies later, in walks Our Vet, she greeted Kanga Roo and then the puppies and her assistant came into help with the monotonous job of helping to examine each and every one of the 14 puppies and Kanga. Finally over an hour later, after logging each pups weight, temp, markings, heart rate etc (yep every single one, marked with tape and numbers to assure we got them all :)) administering dewormer as a precaution, showing us how to administer fluids subcutaneously to avoid deadly dehydration and sending in stinky pooh samples to the lab, we left media City all the worse the wear..and yet the ALL (the whole dang staff) still had smiles, still snuggled the puppies, wiped their pooh from their little tired faces, even other Vets I hadn't met before, came out to admire Kanga and her big brood. I never realized that a litter of 14 (with all surviving) is such a big deal. They also thought the 12 to 2 ratio of girls to boys was funny :)
We are home now, stinky and tired, ready for the night, as ready as we can be, and waiting for the lab results tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed and your best wishes and prayers out there for these little angels.