When a bitch has devoured her young, let an emetic be administered; and should the bowels be costive, an aperient be exhibited. A little fever medicine may follow; but if its effects are not immediately witnessed, tonics, without loss of time, should be resorted to. The food must be mild; and everything should be done to guard against excitement. The system requires to be soothed; for the act is always attended with general disturbance; and attention must be paid to prevent the milk from accumulating in the glands.
Some persons entertain a notion that the bitch which has once devoured her litter, will ever after retain the disposition. This is a false idea. On the next occasion, if properly treated—that is, if not persecuted, chastised, alarmed, and annoyed, but properly dieted—she may prove, and most likely will prove, an excellent mother; the very excitability which, when over-stimulated, induced her unnatural impulse, making her, when tranquil, the more alive to the instincts of her nature. I once saw this in a very remarkable manner illustrated by a rabbit. The doe was sold to me very cheap, and was in litter at the time of purchase. A week after she came into my possession, she plucked her fur and made her bed. One morning I distinctly saw a nest full of young; but looking again at noon, not a single one of the progeny was to be beheld. Some little blood and a mangled leg told their history; and the animal a fortnight afterwards was again put to the buck.
I by chance discovered, while the doe was breeding, that she had an inordinate thirst. At first it amused me to see the creature lap the water I presented to her; but at last I placed within her hutch a cup, and had it kept constantly filled. Her desire for liquid was not speedily quenched; and it became to me a source of some pain when I reflected how much agony the craving must have caused prior to my being conscious of its existence. The next litter was not eaten by the mother. She brought them up, and they likewise did well, drinking as much as they pleased. The disposition of the doe appeared to undergo a change. From having been savage, that is, from always endeavoring to bite and scratch the hand that cleaned her residence, or even supplied her table, she became gentle and familiar, allowing her person to be caressed, and letting her progeny be looked at. She was at last as good as she was beautiful; and I parted with her for a sum exactly four times that which she had cost me.
After a bitch has pupped, there always is from the vagina a discharge, which rarely ceases before a week expires, and sometimes flows forth for a longer period. Some gentlemen of the "fancy," as the dog breeders term themselves, boast they know how to check it; and to what extent their knowledge may reach I cannot pretend to say. I have been requested to perform such an office, but hitherto I have not attempted to fulfil it; and I should be very sorry to do so, even if I were certain there existed the means to arrest the exudation. It is natural; if the animal be left alone, she will be sure to perform the offices of cleanliness, and to do everything her state requires.
For the first week the bitch is very attentive to her family; and as it gives her pain when one is taken up, it is better not to handle the pups more than is absolutely necessary. She should be well fed; not crammed, but nourished; and she will require more food than formerly, for there are many mouths to feed through hers. The quantity of support she needs may be conjectured from the rapid growth of the pups.
A small bitch of my own had a litter of four. The mother weighed seven pounds six ounces; and between the second and fourth weeks the young ones daily added one ounce and a half each to their bulk. It would require some amount of milk to supply such a quantity of flesh; and we have also to remember that, during the rapid growth, the process of consolidation is simultaneously going forward. Good nourishing food, sufficient in bulk, is absolutely imperative; for if the pups be stinted, the dogs will assuredly be weak.
A strong bitch may be able to bring up as many young as she can produce at a litter; but the animals of the smaller or more choice breeds are seldom possessed of such capabilities. The very diminutive will not generally rear two pups without suffering; and four are a very heavy drag upon the majority of the animals kept as pets, even though they be in no way remarkable on account of size. Three, perhaps, is the average number the larger favorites can nurture.
When, through a desire to get as many specimens of a particular breed as possible, a delicate bitch is allowed to suckle all the members of a heavy litter, fits are the too probable consequence. The animal becomes so much weakened by the continual drain upon her, that the whole system is debilitated, and the brain shares the general disorder. Previous to this being perceptible, the animal may be observed to pant violently when her young are sucking; and instead of cuddling to them in a manner expressive of her delight, she stretches herself out, and frequently exhibits uneasiness by shifting her position. At length she breaks away from her offspring, which appear to be dissatisfied with her departure. She does not continue quiet after her escape, but seeks ease in vain, has a vacant expression of countenance. Affection, however, impels her to return; and the same scene is exhibited, the pups seizing upon her, and having no regard for her exhaustion. The little things are hungry, for the source of their nourishment is failing; and thus the demand is the greater, just as the supply becomes the less.
At length the poor bitch pants, staggers, falls, and writhes in convulsions, which on an average continue about five minutes. The struggle subsides, to leave the animal in a sad state of weakness. The pulse then is quick and feeble; the pupil of the eye is dilated; and if the teats be tried, the milk they ought to contain will be found absent.
For the fit itself little need be done. While they are violent, an injection of ether and laudanum may be thrown up; and when the consciousness is in some degree recovered, a dose of the same, with from a quarter of an ounce to an ounce of sherry may be administered. Afterwards a few tonics may be given; but the mother must never be permitted to visit her young ones as before. Either a foster-parent must be found (and a cat will rear a small pup very tenderly), or the litter must in part be brought up by hand.