Hey everyone, thanks for your responses.
I put “breeder” in quotes because it was immediately obvious to us that this woman is not responsible with her animals. When we arrived, Kelsi had sunburn and a small wound on her side. We took her anyway and decided this would be more of a rescue than an adoption. We’ve rescued plenty of animals before, so we understood the potential costs we’d be facing if she had any problems, but it was clear to us that the women was neglecting her. She wouldn’t tell us when her last heat was, or when her last DPP or Rabies vaccination was, just that she was up to date on them. She didn’t have her on heartworm or flea/tick medication. She let her outside without sunblock or a shirt, which is very bad for her breed, being hairless. She told us Kelsi was crate trained, but her “crate” was a size 100 plastic clamshell kennel. Kelsi is about 14" tall and 13 pounds…she could barely stand up in the crate. Now she has a nice roomy wire crate to sleep in. She had one Xolo that was about 3 pounds, “Toy”, to which she was clearly devoting all of her attention, and neglecting the other 8 dogs she had. I could go on and on about my dislike for this woman, but I digress.
As we were leaving, the woman looked at Kelsi and said, “Kelsi…you look a little plump…are you pregnant?” in a half-joking manner. My wife and I said, “how could that be possible? Has she had contact with an un-fixed male?” She said, “Well, sometimes I let them outside unsupervised, so it’s possible, but I doubt it.”
Last night I took Kelsi to our trusted local vet, and she said it could be pregnancy, false pregnancy, or a pyometra. She said she had a hunch it would be pyometra due to the clear vaginal discharge, and she’d probably have to get spayed the following day. She said she’d take an x-ray to see if there was anything in the uterus. When she called me back in to see the x-ray it clearly showed three skulls and three spines. There may be four, but it’s hard to tell. So, she’s at least 45 days along, which means we’ll be having puppies in about 3 weeks.
We’re excited about it. Her previous owner told us that Kelsi has had two previous litters, and I believe that much, so we’re not overly worried about complications arising during the birth. We think she may have known, and hoped we’d just give her the puppies so she could sell them. I’ve witnessed a Lab giving birth before and I’ve done a lot of research so I’m confident we’ll be able to handle it. Everyone we know loves Kelsi so I’m not worried about finding homes for the puppies when they get here…and we might keep one for ourselves too.
Thanks again for the information!
–FCOD
ETA: We’d never euthanize an animal over money. We’d rather go deep into debt than do that. We’re comfortable, so it shouldn’t come to that. Plus, our vet usually gives us huge breaks on services, sometimes only charging us for medications.
Perfect excuse to buy that digital camera now and start learning how to use it.