Bulldog has given birth to a massive litter - of TWENTY puppies
A bulldog has given birth to a massive litter – of TWENTY puppies.
Two-year-old pedigree Cali had the huge brood over a period of more than 24 hours – despite being predicted to bear just six.
Owner Amber Rees, 20, is immensely proud of her pet, who is currently resting up and recovering.
Part-time breeder Amber is also trying to catch up on sleep – having stayed awake during the whole birth to look after Cali.
The puppies are currently living with their mum and owner in Swindon, Wilts., before they are sold on.
Amber said: “It’s been chaotic and crazy but quite fun.
“Seeing all those puppies together has been really heartwarming and sweet – but it does test your patience sometimes.
“When we first took her for a scan the vet told us to expect six or at most eight puppies.
“That was how many I expected in my head. It happened last Wednesday. I said: ‘Cali looks like she’s panting a bit’.
“I was staring at her – and then she just started to push!
“Within two minutes there was a puppy – and they just kept on coming. It got to the eighth one and it didn’t look like she was sIowing down.
“I was shocked but delighted.
“She calmed down a bit after the first 12 so we rushed her to the vet.
”They gave her an injection to help give her contractions and push the last six out.
“It was a bit of a traumatic birth and Cali’s water broke before some of them were ready to come out.
“The others are happy and healthy, fortunately, and we’ve stocked up on beds and dog food for them.
“We are so proud of Cali, she’s done so well, all things considered.
“This was her first litter and it was tough to see her go through so much effort but she’s been such a good mother.
“She was very tired for a few days but she’s started wagging her tail again and is back to her funny, ditzy old self.
“I’m running on empty now, but it was so worth it. Even though they are only a week old they have grown so much.”
Sadly nine died but Amber still has eleven puppies.
Amber works as a payroll and tax consultant as well as running Blue Blood Empire, a company specialising rare breeds.
Although sad about the deaths, she said they weren’t unexpected.
She said: “The vet said he was surprised there wasn’t more [deaths]. Cali did well to push out the ones that she did.
“We haven’t decided any names yet other than Bambi, for the last one.
“I thought about going with Disney princesses for the females but after calling one of them Ariel, I decided that it didn’t really suit her.
“When a new owner buys them, they can rename them.
“This is my first breed – I have just registered as a breeder. I still work part-time but I’d love to go full-time as a breeder.”
Amber added that she believes the litter may be a record for her hometown.
The first birth took place at 7:20pm on Wednesday, March 11.
12 births had taken place by 12:50pm on Thursday, March 12 when Cali was taken to the vet.
The rest were born over the following hours.
Cali is a Alapaha blue blood bulldog.