DO YOU NEED HOPE?
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( INSTRUCTIONS:
How to raise a cleft palate puppy link :) http://hennwood.tripod.com/id88.htm More info on cleft palate puppies: http://hennwood.tripod.com/cleft_pup_info.htm# |
GIMLI 'S STORY ... a story of God's mercy
GIMLI was born at a spunky 1 lb. 3 ounces. Pretty good size for an Airedale puppy! He was squirmy, shiny and full of life! We weigh our pups often on a kitchen scale to gauge how they are nursing. Normally our pups always gain and never lose.
Within 24 hrs. however, Gimli had lost 6 ounces, at which point I began to bottle feed him to supplement his nursing. Within 36 hrs. he had lost half of his birth weight. Upon close scrutiny it was found that GIMLI had a cleft palate.
I have never seen a cleft in an Airedale in all the years I have known the breed. Come to find out it is more common in pug nose breeds.
I called 3 different vet offices before I found one who would teach me how to feed him. You see the odds of survival are SO BAD, no one would help me. The 4th office I called agreed to show me how to stomach tube feed GIMLI. He could not suck. He looked like he was nursing, but was getting nothing from Momma, and very little from the bottle. He now weighed just 8.5 ounces.
We were losing him.
An awesome vet Dr. Moira Norris (now one of our 2 primary vets) taught us how to feed him and care for him.
Dr. Norris told us to feed him every 2 hours around the clock. We correlated the number of cc's to feed him with his current weight in ounces when he was tiny. We mixed 'puppy formula' with raw organic goat milk, warmed it to 101 degrees and used a tiny dosing syringe with a rubbery tube attached. We measured the tube for how long his body was from mouth to his last rib and marked it with medical tape. Then we had to feed the tube through his mouth, down his throat to his stomach. Administer the milk, and quickly pinch off and pull the tube before he gagged.
Sometimes he would choke and milk would come out his nose. He would squeak and gasp for breath. We were on pins and needles ... every 2 hours.
Within 24 hrs. however, Gimli had lost 6 ounces, at which point I began to bottle feed him to supplement his nursing. Within 36 hrs. he had lost half of his birth weight. Upon close scrutiny it was found that GIMLI had a cleft palate.
I have never seen a cleft in an Airedale in all the years I have known the breed. Come to find out it is more common in pug nose breeds.
I called 3 different vet offices before I found one who would teach me how to feed him. You see the odds of survival are SO BAD, no one would help me. The 4th office I called agreed to show me how to stomach tube feed GIMLI. He could not suck. He looked like he was nursing, but was getting nothing from Momma, and very little from the bottle. He now weighed just 8.5 ounces.
We were losing him.
An awesome vet Dr. Moira Norris (now one of our 2 primary vets) taught us how to feed him and care for him.
Dr. Norris told us to feed him every 2 hours around the clock. We correlated the number of cc's to feed him with his current weight in ounces when he was tiny. We mixed 'puppy formula' with raw organic goat milk, warmed it to 101 degrees and used a tiny dosing syringe with a rubbery tube attached. We measured the tube for how long his body was from mouth to his last rib and marked it with medical tape. Then we had to feed the tube through his mouth, down his throat to his stomach. Administer the milk, and quickly pinch off and pull the tube before he gagged.
Sometimes he would choke and milk would come out his nose. He would squeak and gasp for breath. We were on pins and needles ... every 2 hours.
Click any photo in the 'gallery' view to see larger :
This next set of gallery photos makes my heart sing. Gimli ...... Outside ....... Playing ....... GOD is so Awesome!
Gimli is about 10 weeks old in these.
Gimli is about 10 weeks old in these.
Most breeders would have had him euthanized at birth or just left him to die of starvation on his own.
Gimli and Cassie - - inseparable! They go everywhere together. God sent us Gimli's angel, with her wings on the inside.
GOD'S WILL BE DONE. - Amen.
THIS you are just not going to BELIEVE ! Gimli at 4 months old ..... first grooming and photo shoot !
THIS you are just not going to BELIEVE ! Gimli at 4 months old ..... first grooming and photo shoot !
Leah and her 'shadow' Gimli. A match made in Heaven.
Gimli was adopted by a loving young couple in Lancaster PA area who fell in love with his story and with him. He now lives on a mint farm the gentleman owns and operates to manufacture his mint tea which he bottles and sells. She is a journalist.
DEDICATED to those who have gone on before us...
We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves,
but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour.
If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which
they should break, so be it. - C.S. Lewis
We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves,
but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour.
If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which
they should break, so be it. - C.S. Lewis
CASSIE
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RAINIE
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NANNA
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