And on a sad note .............

This is Pastel, our first little pup.

Note that she looks tiny and rather skinny.

This is because we discovered on Sunday that she had a cleft palate and was not able to nurse. I had spent most of Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night trying to get her to eat because I was noticing her lack of body fat that her siblings were getting and, sadly, was not.

I did not know dogs could get cleft palates but .... now I do.

We made the difficult to have her euthanized by our vet. The cleft was a very large one, starting from the end of her nose all the way to the back of her throat. There are surgeries that can repair these disabilities, but the time that is needed to tube feed for two months plus the next few years of rehab - I just didn't feel that I could devote the time needed to keep her alive. The vet also said that with this severe of a cleft, other problems tend to show up as the dog ages.

Sunday was a sad day for all of us. However, we now get to focus our attention on our five healthy roly poly puppies that are beautiful additions to our animal family.

See you in the next life Pastel, Little Girl.