Help - a Lovely but heavily pregnant Lurcher turned up at my door today

[HoundoftheBaskervilles]

I know it's late & I know there's a thread for pointy hound lovers, but I seem to have acquired a heavily pregnant Lurcher, she was lurking round my house all day - very rural no near neighbours, every time I looked out the door she was there, very underfed but sweet & extremely sociable, after about three hours I crumbled & fed her, at which point I noticed she was HEAVILY pregnant & rather skinny.

I've taken her to the Vets', no chip, no report, so she's come back here, she had a show of mucus at the vets' and has been intermittently been panting very heavily, I've phoned the vet again (who luckily are personal friends) who told me how to do an internal, couldn't feel anything yet, so I guess it's just a waiting game.

I've had dogs in the past, but DOGS, never bitches & I've never whelped a pup in me life.

Help & hand-holds would be lovely.

Well... Has the vet been yet?! :o

Glucose and puppy formula should be on your list - puppy formula is for Mum at this stage, most bitches love it and it's a good way of getting calorie and liquid into Mum. I use Nutrolac and give a good few shakes of glucose into it too.

I would avoid hand reading or supplementing if at all possible - keep popping the pups onto a teat and get liquid, and if possible food, into Mum.

Puppies will need vigorous rubbing once they are born to stimulate breathing, the sac will need tearing as soon as you see it if Mum doesn't do it first. If she's a first time Mum, it might be a bit harder to manage. Fingers crossed she's done it before!

If Mum is eating, try and get three meals a day into her at the moment.

Right, the vet just popped in, and as a PP said, she's not there yet, could be any time in the next 24 hours, which is a bugger, as I only managed to grab half an hour's sleep, gah. DH woke me up & told me I had to look after my dog which was about to have puppies, which my non-sleep addled brain could not quite compute, it's like having babies again.

Sooo, we went out for a short wander, she's asleep, so I'm going to grab 40 winks on the sofa - it may be some time before any pups appear!

Thanks very much for all the advice & helpful PMs, me & the girl are going to have a snooze now, we will update when refreshed.

Oooooh joining in for cute puppies and to give moral support why does stray animals never turn up on my doorstep

I think she has a bit of a staffy face too, the puppies will be so cute!!

I'm sending tonnnes of hugs to Mabli and your soon to be GrandPuppies! Xx

How exciting! You are so lovely, taking her in like that.

Good luck with it all.

Hound, I'm near Ledbury so not a million miles away. Our lab had puppies a while ago, it was very straightforward and she managed all bar one without help. It wasn't breathing when it was born so I held it by the back legs and gently swung it to and fro which got the gunk out of the lungs. We took them all into the vet within 24 hours as we were concerned they weren't feeding but all was fine, the bitch was just a bit slow coming into milk. And that's about the sum of my knowledge - one thing though, have a look at "whelping boxes" - you'll need something with an edge on it so that she can't squash her babies against a wall. My DH made ours out of plywood for peanuts, have a word with your vet about it......

Good luck.

So exciting, sending you both positive vibes

Oh, she's beautiful!! Good luck with the babies

Loving this thread. I had a wonderful boy lurcher called Flash for many years. He was an outside boy who lived in a shed by the back door. He used to disappear and people would bring him back and announce they had been feeding him. He was 14 when he died of bone cancer.

Good luck, can't wait to see the pictures. She's a very lucky girl to have found you!

Good luck OP, I hope you gets a nice sleep before it all starts.

Good luck . Hope you are both getting some ret today before it starts in earnest.

LOVING this thread!!! Also loving that lots of people are in Herefordshire...I always walk down the street trying to spot fellow MNers, and never succeed. We really do need a secret handshake so we can reveal ourselves to our fellow Illuminati or maybe a lurcher pup each?

Blatant place mark! What a lovely story, but someone out there must be missing her? Unless she's escaped an irresponsible or uncaring home, in which case she's a very lucky girl to have found you.

Hooray! Can't wait to hear more! WHy don't I ever get cute dogs on my step?

Aww, place marking for puppy cuteness! She is gorgeous.

I love a good pregnant stray animal birthing thread.

You sound amazing OP, she's lucky to have stumbled across you!

What a brilliant story and you are fab OP! I think this girl has been so lucky finding you. Isnt it amazing how things pan out like this? Hope all goes well for her! I dont know any welsh for naming puppies (apart from cwtch- that could work!) but will coo over the photos when they arrive

Hi, Rachel from Hounds First Sighthound Rescue here. I think Mel has been in touch but please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need our help. www.houndsfirst.co.uk

There are some lovely Herefordshire people in Greyhound Rescue West of England who might be able to help if need be?

Good luck, Mabli, you ci hyfryd!

Also, to the lurcher pup each for Herefordshire MNers - like the MN scarf but pointier...

What a lovely thread :)
Fingers crossed for an uneventful delivery.

This is a lovely thread. And love 'Mabli'. Maybe she is lost rather than dumped. Thank goodness she found you, Hound. Good luck! (Although it sounds like you have all bases covered!)

Oh she's so sweet. It really breaks my heart that people do this to animals. I'm so glad she found you. Wishing you luck and puppies xx

Nice try wildfig I already have an assortment of lost abandoned and strayed dogs. Four is ENOUGH!

Also yooohooo frostyfingers, I can just about see you from here. :)