The Waiting Game

The Waiting Game was Originally Posted on June 16, 2012 by lavarock

Today I verified O`Lena is not in labor yet and then went to help a neighbor move some mulch from a big pile to her macadamia trees. Seems when you have a tractor, everything looks like it needs to be moved somewhere else Actually she used to own a tractor but sold it when she didn’t have as much use for it as the money she would get for it. My tractor still has a way to go before it is paid off. I have it on a special payment plan wherby it was financed for something like 3 years with no interest, just mointhly payments. It makes sense not to pay it off early because I would have to use monety that is getting me interest to pay off a loan with no interest.

Although that is logical not to do that, many people don’t understand the concept of credit card debt. They get behind on their credit card payments and thing that getting a home equity loan at a low rate would help them pay off the credit card. WRONG! Credit cards are unsecured debt. That means that there is no physical property used as collateral for the debt. If you don’t pay credit card debt they can hound you and hurt yout credit score (ad that can hurt you later). However, they cannot take your car, house or other worldly possessions. If you take a loan against your house and don’t pay it back, they can take your house! So a house or car loan is usually backed up by the house or the car as collateral. Thus, paying off credit card debt with something of value is foolish. Never convert an unsecured debt to secured debt. Find aniother way to pay off the debt.

Sandra asked me to help her with a breeding that needed to be erformed on “Shadow”, who is at the kennels. Shadow is a strong female and a bit headstrong. The breeding did not happen, but she was pretty receptive, so we think tomorrow might be the time.

While talking to a mainland friend of mine today (whom I have known for 50 years), the talk came around to his new dog. I suggested that when he decides to have her spayed, to check multiple Vets for their prices. Here on the Big Island the cost for pet procedures can vary quite a bit. I decided to have Koa neutered over in Hilo (a multiple hous drive from home) to save something like $100.

When they offered to fill a prescrption for pain and antibiotics for him, I asked whet they were going to fill. It turns out I already had access to the antibiotic and the pain medicine would be easy to fill, so I told them I already had it. When I got back home I had the mobile Vet write me a prescription which I had filled at Wal-Mart. You DO know that Wal-Mart and target and other places can and will fill animal prescriptions, right? They also do it at very reasonable prices. Many of the medicines that we give animals are the same ones for humans. For itching they might be prescribed Diphenhydramine (Dramamine), although I would use a generic I already have at the house. For delivering puppies we use Oxytocin, which is the same medicine given to women in labor to induce contractions.

Because dogs have a different absorbtion rate, the aount of medicine is different, but as I say, many medicines are the same.

Speaking of delivering puppies, I just checked O`Lena again and she still appears to have plenty of time before delivery. Her temperture is over 100 and when it drops to below 99, she may deliver within 11 hours. So yes, even the thermometer is the same and goes in one of the same places you put it for children

If normal calculations hold, se will go into labor on Sunday. I am sure this will happen because should I need the help of a Vet, it would be an extra charge for an after-hours call. I hope I don’t need a Vet and felel confident that we can deliver these pups ourselves. I certainly have experience in that department having delivered many litters and over 33 puppies, and have attended many more births.

Should O`Lena not fully deliver all pups it would be a trip to the Vet for a manual exraction or a C-section. I could just decide to have the C-section done, but that is a bit more complicated than letting the puppies be born naturally.

I have not yet advertised the potential litter and will wait for the delivery before finishing the websie. Once you become know as a breeder you find that you may have deposits for all potential dogs in a future litter! Plus, because they are purebred dogs we charge a pretty high (but justified) price for the pups. There are a growing number of tests that we now perform on the animals including testing hips and elbows, eyes and even exercise induced collaps (a new problem being researched). Some breeds have other genetic issues that are tested for.

As requested both here in Tblog and by friends and relatives, I will post copious photos online and direct people to them.

As an aside: I am using a friends computer at the moment and I think the keyboard is flakey. I will try to proofread and spellcheck, but I may not catch everything.