MAY 25 DAY 14 ~~WEEK TWO~~

MY MOST HUMBLE APOLOGIES for missing so many posts!  I had a killer week at work and by the time I got home needed to spend all my energy and time on Mama and puppies.  WEEK 2!!!! and it didn't go unnoticed... but it did go (alas) unpublished.  I have a lot of pictures to post about the last few days.  Puppies are thriving and growing and maturing.   Will catch up in the next few blogs.... I promise :)

First of all, I Thought I'd let everyone know what I was able to do for Nickel's problem with raw nipples and puppy diarrhea.   I used an ace bandage to cover the top  two nipples that were raw.  The Bandages were an integral part of the solution.   I shaved around the nipples,  applied calendula and colloid silver gel, covered around the site with  a sticky ointment (Mastisol).  The Mastisol helped the band-aides stick and prevented (very aggressive) puppies from rubbing them off.  It was the mastisol that made all the difference in getting the band-aides to adhere to Mama's skin.  I found that the ace bandage kept the puppies from working the band-aides off.  Having at least 5 more weeks of nursing I was really afraid that this  would turn into a terribly infected problem.  All I need to do now is make sure she doesn't develop mastitis in these two breasts.   I''m happy to announce that this WORKED and things are working themselves out. :)  Yipppeee!