The timing of this planned litter has been shaped by circumstances. Life was much too unsettled to even think about breeding Capella before I moved. Waiting was the only sensible choice, under the terrible WTF circumstances.
But I have been anxious about this necessary period of waiting because both time and heat cycles increase the risk of pyometra, a scary uterine infection. It would break my heart not to have a Capella puppy.
I read someplace that pyometra is typically caused by e-coli, and I also read that cranberry extract could change the PH of urine and reduce e-coli-caused urinary tract infections. I am not sure if it works for the uterus in dogs but what the heck — Capella went on cranberry some months ago.
Capella was in season in July — she cycles every 5 - 6 months. All those “hits” on her uterus have been concerning but the math suggested breeding on her next expected heat cycle would mean missing the 2025 Specialty.
I could not imagine that — miss all my friends, Lori’s lasagna, and my most favorite week of the year?! No. I decided to roll the dice yet again and breed Capella after the 2025 Specialty.
And then something happened that I REALLY could never imagine. My beloved Claire died 😭
As I cried over Claire’s body after her sudden and shocking death that night, I talked to her. I told her how much I loved her. How much I would miss her and how much she would have loved the new yard we were moving to in just a few weeks. I thanked her over and over for being everything she was to me, which was more than words can say.
I told her about all the things we still had to do together — as if telling her those things would cause Claire to reinhabit her still body so we could get back to work. She was, after all, the ultimate Comeback Kid.
And I remember saying to her, “…and you didn’t even get to be a grandma.”
💔
Everything shifted.
Claire needed to be a grandma.
And that was suddenly more important than the Specialty: Making Claire’s next Comeback — her grandchildren.
N Litter = Comeback Kids.
💔❤️