| Manfred was born on 11-17-02. He weighed
less than 2 ounces. His smallest sibling weighed 6 ½ ounces.
His sire weighs 17 pounds, his dam weighs 14 pounds. Manfred was
perfect in every way, but he was way too tiny. He tried ... he really
fought to hang in there, but after a week was only up to 3 ounces while
his siblings had each put on at least twice that amount .
By Christmas, Manfred was only up to 8 ounces
and he was 3 weeks old. His brother and sisters had outgrown him
and his dam had pretty much given him up. He was such a tiny fighter,
such heart in him though. We put Manfred with another dam, Bonita,
whose pups were a week younger than Manfred. Bonita accepted him,
but the other pups were already so much stronger than Manfred was.
He began going down hill very quickly.
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Okay. Here's where Chef Guy steps in.
Hubby was watching this little guy struggling to push in with the stronger
pups in Bonita's litter and something happened. He got up and looked
into the whelping
crate. "Honey, I don't think this little guy is going to make
it. He's so much tinier and weaker even than Bonita's pups are".
I told him quietly that I knew that and that I didn't think he was supposed
to make it. He was just too tiny and became too dehydrated so quickly.
Guy looked at the little pup and the pup looked at him with his baby eyes
and human parent reached in and picked up baby furkid. "He will make
it. I'll make sure he makes it. He wants to make it but needs
help." I glanced at him and reminded him that Manfred was now over
three weeks old, had no signs of teeth buds and had a hard time moving
around.
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| "Babe, he'll have to be fed every two hours without fail if you take
him on." He took the challenge, and, without fail, for the next 3
- 4 weeks, fed little Manfred every two hours from a syringe (he wouldn't
take a bottle or nipple). Chef Guy concocted a 'puppy gruel' of Esbilac,
puppy vitamins and high energy food supplement, Iam's canned puppy food
and warm water. He found that Manfred preferred his dinners very
warm ... almost on the hot side. And that he had to burp him afterwards.
And his little 'body' had to be stimulated in order to eliminate its waste
products. All in all, Chef Guy became little Manfred's parent. |
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| Every night when Manfred tired
out from his little day, Chef would rock him and another of our tiny toys
(KittyKat) in the rocker in front of the TV in the puppy den. And
Manfred began to slowly put on weight. And he began to respond to
his new parent, loving him, kissing him, crying for him, and, most importantly,
eating for him. When the time came, he even learned how to drink
a mixture of Pedylite and water for him. |
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Well, it's now close to March
of 03; Manfred and KittyKat still adore being rocked to sleep each night
by their daddy. KittyKat and Manfred are only a week apart in age;
that places them at the 3 month age mark. Guy is crazy about Manfred,
and Manfred is positive that Guy is his parent. KittyKat now weighs
2.2 pounds, and Manfred now weighs slightly over 3 pounds. Manfred
has been seen by our vet, who has proclaimed him to be 100% healthy, no
dwarfism at all ... simply a throwback to a very, very small ancestor.
He'll be at our home forever and now Guy has a very, very special little
"guy" in his life forever.
Isn't Nature smart!
Take care, Sherri
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