Peaches And Me | The Story of Peaches

Peaches' littermates.

Let me share the story of where Peaches came from and how we got her.

Samantha, Peaches' mother.

This is Samantha, a beautiful 1.5 year old Chow by the time she gave birth to Peaches and her littermates. Samantha was actually the pet of hubby's cousin's daughter (whew).

A closer look at Peaches' littermates.

Samantha gave birth to five cute little puppies, of which the cinnamon pup is the only male. When hubby's cousin lent us two pups because he knew I loved chow chows, hubby's nephew saw the cinnamon pup and named him Banana. Peaches and Banana.. *stomach growling*

Say hello to Banana!

Peaches is probably the pup on the left as she has pointy ears.

Peaches actually was the smallest in her litter. Life is full of irony indeed.

Unfortunately, two weeks after they were born, one female was found out outside of her cage with wound marks on her body as if she was pulled out of it.

One week after, Banana was found dead as well. And days after, one more of the females was found lifeless. But hubby's cousin has his hands full as his daughter, the owner of Samantha, was diagnosed with Dengue. Plus, he has ten 2-months old Labrador puppies to care for as well.

A day after, hubby happened to visit the Labrador puppies and saw another chow pup was lifeless and Peaches herself was convulsing. He immediately notified his cousin but with a lot on his plate, he let hubby decide what to do. Hubby rushed Peaches to the vet.

Little Peaches seemed to be in a trauma.

The vet's diagnosis: heatstroke. And it probably was the cause of the death of Peaches' littermates as well.

After one night of confinement, the vet assured us that Peaches has recovered though extra care must be given. Peaches might have suffered from organ failure because of her high body temperature but it was too early to tell. After being released, hubby decided to return Peaches to her rightful owner.

However, hubby's cousin admitted he is busy with his daughter and other puppies. And there's the fear that Peaches' mother might not recognize her anymore. After all, Banana was found headless and they thought Samantha bit his head because he was always brought outside and must have caught the scent of all the people who carried him. Hubby's cousin decided to give Peaches to us as we can probably care for her much better, with a deal to share Peaches' future pups.

But caring for a month-old pup was no easy task. Peaches doesn't know how to eat from a bowl so we had to feed her using a baby bottle and we had to wake up during the wee hours to follow her every-2-hour-feeding schedule.

Peaches looked like an angel when she's asleep. But when she's awake - that's a different story.

Thank God Peaches survived and grew to be a monster puppy - er... healthy puppy. As a puppy, she loved to chew and play. But without littermates to play with and learn bite inhibition from, we had to find new playmates for her. Initially, we let hubby's family dogs to play with her but Tuna, Dexter and Kaka were too old for her.

Good thing my brother's Labrador-Golden Retriever dog has given birth two months ago plus he recently acquired a 3-month old Rottweiler. We found new playmates for Peaches!

Athena the lovely Rottie.

Pups from my brother's dog.

My brother's pups were too big and impatient for little Peaches but they gave her plenty of exercise when they play.

Oh well. As owner, raising Peaches well is our main task, after all. At least Peaches get to meet other dogs. Socialization is important with chow chows.

Peaches And Me | Meet Peaches, the Chow Chow!

Photo by flickr.com/dieysi

We recently adopted a Chow Chow pup and named her Peaches. But she just turned 4-weeks old when we got her. Last Friday, 15th of April, Hubby saw her at his cousin's place and she was twisting in an awkward way. Her other sibling lay dead beside her. Letting his cousin know about the situation, hubby decided to bring the pup to the vet himself as his cousin's daughter was brought to the hospital plus he has Labrador pups to take care of.

The vet diagnosed Peaches suffering from heatstroke and wiped her with a wet cloth to cool her down. At 41.7 Celsius, Peaches is close to death. She was also dehydrated and we feared some of her organs might have shut down. Peaches was injected with dextrose to put back fluids in her as she was in no shape to drink..

Peaches was dampened to bring her temperature down.

We paid Peaches a visit the next day and was happy to hear that Peaches was recovering well and her temperature was down to 38.4 Celsius. If this went on, the vet even said we can bring Peaches home later at night!

Peaches was advised to get a lot of rest so she can recover.

Realizing that Peaches' mom might recognize her anymore plus some other issues that are too sensitive to pose, we struck a deal with hubby's cousin. We'll bring Peaches home and take care of her. When the time comes and she gives birth, hubby will give half of the pups to his cousin.

We got milk for puppy's from the vet.

Peaches needs all the help she can get to recover fast!

For me, I only wanted Peaches to survive. Of course I was elated to get Peaches. I wanted a Chow Chow. But getting a month-old pup proved to be a challenge. Peaches can hardly eat from a dish and she knows nothing about eating solids.

She slept right beside her dish out of exhaustion. The dish is a little too big for her by the way..

The first night was the hardest night. We had to wake up every 3 hours to feed her. But feeding time was not a fun time. Peaches can't eat from her dish and I had to feed her using a syringe.

During the day, it was no better.

Peaches looked sad and traumatized..

Then my brother (He owns a Golden-Lab-Husky mix and a 2.5-month old rottie.) gave us some Mondex. It was powdery, like cornstarch, and we only needed to mix it with water. The counterpart of human's Oresol for dogs, Mondex is supposed to hydrate and energize Peaches.

Grabbed from http://www.reviewstream.com/reviews/?p=163712.

Sure enough, it was like replacing Peaches with a new battery. She started to play and eat from her dish (We mixed her milk with a little Mondex.) that night!

Peaches, 4 days after being brought to the vet due to heatstroke.

Peaches now looked a bit healthier and she gained a bit of weight. We let her roam around after eating so she can do her 'thing' but mostly, we let her sleep.

To keep Peaches cool while she slept, we placed a damp towel beneath her while providing her with her own fan (Yes! She has her own fan!). 

Now, she would only sleep if the towel is under or anywhere near her. Who knew dogs can have a security blanket? Perhaps she misses her mom so much she imagined the towel was her mom's fluffy fur.

We make sure to wash the towel with soap and water for hygiene's sake!

Well, I do hope Peaches will be alright. It's too early to tell if some of her organs have shut down but the vet said the condition is reversible. Right now, my main concern is for Peaches to grow as healthy as possible.

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