Hello again dear Readers! Apologies for the lag in blogs since my return from Africa, I think I just must be lacking in vet tech related adventures to write about! These days most of my excitement comes in the form of all things Quinn- eventing, foxhunting and not traveling the world....for now...
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| Big Boys Can Jump! Quinn, for those who ask who I spend all my time with |
I have decided that my most recent experience which encompasses both tech work and foxhunting, may entertain you. I will warn you that it does not involve an exotic location (well, some of you may consider Winchester another country) or falling into a bottomless poo pit (see previous posts for that story!) but I think most will find it worth reading.
Sunday morning, Feb 13th, began like many other these past few months. Wake up at the crack of dawn, dress in my nice clean hunt clothes then layer on the sweats (so as not to dirty myself whilst preparing the horse for the day's hunt) triple check to make sure my coat, vest, boots, helmet and tack are all in the truck and I'm off to begin my 70 minute journey to Quinn's temporary home at Snickersville Hound's Huntsman, Todd Kern's barn in wonderful Winchester, Va.
My mind was occupied on my drive by thoughts of what the day would hold. Would it be a fast hunt? Would the puppies be on their game? Is the footing ok enough to push my big boy up to first field? I had a fleeting thought of Buttons, a Snickersville bitch who was due to have a large litter of pups in Todd's tack room any day. She had been agitated the previous day when I visited and I was not sure how much longer she would hold out.
I arrived promptly at 9:15 as planned leaving plenty of time to get Quinn ready as well as help Todd and his trusty Whipper- In, Groom, Friend Extraordinaire Julia Bayliss get their mounts prepared for the day. After a brief ''good morning " and a quick raise of my eyebrow at Todd's finishing touches on Beau's clip job, I hurried in to check on Buttons. Todd informed me that Julia and her mom Sandy, had spent the night before in the tack room waiting for Buttons to go into labor- which she never did. They had just left to go home and get cleaned up for the hunt. I found Buttons pacing anxiously back and forth and whining which I mentioned to Todd I went to get my tack ready. Before I could finish my next thought, Todd's moderately panicked voice yelled out " Um, uh, help....Puppy!! You are on!" as he swiftly walked in the opposite direction. As it turns out, our brave, strong, tough huntsman is not so brave and tough when it comes to any type of blood, fluid or otherwise abnormal situation- in fact he looked a bit pale as he went by me. I had sort of forgotten this fact and found myself giggling- probably louder than necessary.
I rushed in to find our beautiful first time mother very worried about what was happening as the first puppy was crowning and she seemed to welcome my assistance. I led her to the comfy whelping box that Julia and Sandy had lovingly prepared for her and told her she was a good girl as I helped her break the sack on the first pup. She was such a natural mother, it is always amazing to me how all moms figure things out so quickly despite never having the benefit of a lamas class or a breathing coach in a fancy hospital. Buttons seemed to appreciate my help and kept looking to me for assurance that everything was ok. I held her proverbial paw and cooed to her that she was good girl.
As we finished with the first one, Todd burst in to tell me not to worry, Sandy was on her way! Well, cannot say that I was worried, but the thought of having a non green-at-gills helper there was reassuring. I made Todd cowboy up enough to take a quick picture with his phone, which he did until he exclaimed " another one another one!!" and ran out of the room. This little girl came out stern first and so fast i could barely catch her before she hit the ground! I nicknamed this one Backfire...should be Spitfire since she has proven to be one already, but we must pick "B" names. Buttons really kicked into mom gear and took over. Both pups were nursing when a tired but excited Julia and Sandy arrived.
I thought, great! Momma Sandy is here! Julia and I can finish bathing our horses and get ready to go. I guess Sandy had other ideas and let me know she would really rather have me there to help her with the whelping. I got that look that only mothers know how to give that says " Im not saying you have to...but you have to..." I adore Sandy and Julia, but I have to admit I was very disappointed to not be hunting...and I am fairly certain I did not hide that fact very well. Once it was settled that both Julia and I would be staying, we focused on the positive, the pups seemed to be coming quickly, and surely this would be over shortly and we would be able to trailer somewhere fun on this first warm day in a couple of hours and get a good ride in. If only we knew what we were in for...
The pups were arriving every 35-45 minutes for the first few. Although Buttons was doing an excellent job, she did seem to prefer me to break the sacks for her, then she did the rest. I will spare you all the gory details though most of you know I would prefer to share them...lets just say that there is no way that Todd would have still been standing had he been there. At noon we sent Julia on a food mission as none of us had thought to eat before getting to the barn that morning. As we inhaled our healthful Bob Evans breakfast (minus the biscuits...thanks Bob Evans guy...) like only true animal people can- in the whelping room surrounded by smells that are not easily rivaled. At this point, Buttons decided to take a 7 hour break from giving birth. She kept her head on the edge of the box where I could stroke and comfort her. She was exhausted and using all of her energy to clean and care for her recently born babes. The three of us were worrying so much that I would have thought we would have willed the puppies out! It was mostly my fault as I have never been a part of a normal birth. My only experiences came from being a tech in the emergency room or helping friends with "stuck" foals etc. This natural birth is an entirely different animal. I feel like this is where I should say nature is a beautiful thing, but well, amazing yes, but not sure beautiful is the word for it....
In our minds, we had been stuck sitting on saddle pads on a cement floor or occasionally in the whelping box with Buttons for hours while everyone was out having a grand time hunting and ignoring our frantic phone calls. In reality, this was certainly not the case. After several hours of waiting (and many voicemails and text messages later...) word got back to us that there had been a few small accidents in the bad footing and loose horses to be caught etc etc. Its not that we had been ignored, it was just that we were the trusted trio and all assumed we were totally fine. Julia, Sandy, and I had a lot of bonding time on our hands and we made the best of it.... Sandy educated me in how Pandas are born, I shared how llamas are born (long and slow...)some of my emergency room experiences (working in one..not my visits to them) and stories of our own beloved pets. We sang cheers of "push em out push em out waaaay out! At one point, Carl, Julia's brother joined us to see the little miracles and keep us company until our girl talk got to be too much. When Sandy left to take him home, I jumped at the chance to leave the malodorous little room to clean stalls leaving Julia to watch over Buttons. I do not think I have ever been so excited to shovel manure!
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| My Baxter |
Todd finally arrived home (to a clean barn) tired from hunting and eager to see the newest batch of hunters, but not quite as eager to touch them. I tried to explain that it was ok, Buttons did not mind and they were not that fragile, but I think it made him nervous that they were so small. He did stay long enough to help us with our list of "B" names. In a foxhunt club, the rights to name hound puppies are traditionally auctioned off as a fundraiser- but the staff offers suggestions of names. I admit I was a little pleased that my offering of "Baxter" was okayed to be in the list. Let us just hope if one is named Baxter that he does not take after my lanky happy but not so bright goofball dog. Our 'fearless' huntsman then busied himself putting hay out for the horses before retiring upstairs with his house hound Saddlebags and left us with the "women's work" as he called it. I guess he was afraid that he may accidentally see something gross. I made a call to my great friend and neighbor, Baxter's Aunt Karen and made overnight arrangements for him as I had a feeling I was not leaving anytime soon.
Kim, our beloved vet and friend arrived around 8pm (for those of you keeping track, you are correct...that was hour 11 for me) and we began to assist Buttons in the rest of her deliveries. We knew from earlier x-rays that we were expecting quite a few more! Julia and Sandy who we have to remember also spent the night before there, were exhausted and headed home around 10pm to get some deserved sleep for school on Monday morning. Kim went home to her kids around midnight, while I stayed to keep a careful eye on everyone. I was able to find a change of clothes in my truck and took a brief break hoping to catch an hour nap before heading back down to the whelping room. Todd's fire had gone out and between the cold and his snoring echoing through the house, I thought forget it, im better off with Buttons and kids! I did take a few breaks and tried to wrestle with Saddlebags for a pillow and blankets but there was definitely no sleep happening!
By 6am I thought we were out of the woods as everyone was out and nursing and I had better head to class! Then I caught a whiff of something...my first thought was oh my, something ticked off a skunk...but alas, I realized the stench was following me. I am not quite sure I can describe the smell of hound to someone who has not experienced it. It s quite different from a normal dirty dog smell, it is very distinctive, almost like a musk of some sort. Add to that over 20 hours of sweat, afterbirth, and no sleep....you can imagine what I smelled and looked like. And people wonder how I am still single....
For the sake of my classmates, I did manage to get a quick shower but there was no way that smell was coming out with just one washing. I then realized there was no way Todd was getting up anytime soon as I am sure my stomping around and wrestling with Saddle kept him from sleeping well. Buttons needed to eat, so although I had not eaten more than a bite of chocolate horse since noon the day before, I dutifully cooked eggs with cottage cheese for our strong momma hound. I added all of her dog/puppy food and served her breakfast in bed-er, box. She ate well and I literally dragged her outside to do her business before waking Todd to let him know what else he needed to do. On my way to my truck I looked down only to realize that the zipper on my favorite tall wintery fuzzy boots had broken. Guess I needed to swing by home before school. By 7:30 I was on my way. I had not counted on morning traffic since I never drive home at that hour, but by the time I stopped to change shoes and grab books, I still managed to make it to class only 10 minutes late. Not sure how I stayed awake, but I did and then drove in a stupor to the store. It had been about 23 hours since I had eaten and I suddenly realized that it was the 14th. This may mean Valentine's Day to most of you, but to me, it was my beloved dog Gus' birthday. Gus lost his battle with a brain tumor almost 2 years ago. In honor of Gus, I always eat hot dogs (his favorite treat) on the 14th, so that is what i did! I was then able to shower again as I was still being reminded of how much Buttons and I had bonded, then passed out for about 35 minutes. I dragged myself, half delirious into work for a meeting on ear cleaners of all things. I managed to make it home by 9:30pm when I showered for a third time and passed out before my head hit the pillow. I think I may have finally found a cure for my insomnia, though I am not sure it is a practical one.
I am sure my coworkers have some lovely things to say about my mood and efficiency on Monday morning, but they have been kind enough to keep them to themselves thus far. As for the pups, this is the sight I was treated to Tuesday morning when I made it back out:
6 Happy healthy adorable puppies and one very tired momma. I cannot wait to watch these guys and gals grow up and lead us on a "tally ho!" alongside the rest of the incredible Snickersville Hounds.
All in all I would say, job well done...well done indeed...although even after writing this, I am still unsure of how I got caught up in any of this!
