Sunday, July 31, 2011

Paika's temperature drops

This morning Paika's temperature dropped to 99.7 so most likely she will start to whelp within 24 hours, probably tonight or tomorrow morning. Now at 1 PM she is resting comfortably in the whelping box. She has not eaten anything yet today.

Update 10:30 PM
Things are pretty quiet. Paika has spent all day in the whelping box stretched out. She ate very little but enjoyed a mix of goat milk with vanilla ice cream. It should give her some glucose and calcium, both necessary for the whelping process. In the evening she started to breathe more heavily and dig a little bit. All these signs are completely normal and indicate that she is in the first stage of labor. This stage can last from 4 to 24 hours so it is hard to say when she will transition to the stage II.

She is in my den and there is a big desk between her whelping box and me, so I can't really see her when I sit in front of my computer. I set up a webcam on my desk and I can watch her on my screen without bothering her. This way I can do some work too and at the same time can monitor her. I like the webcam  (Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF) because I can change its position and tilt from the software without touching hardware. I can take pics and videos and the pic below is an example of mid-resolution shot. There are many options, but of course, the higher resolution the larger size of file. I can zoom on her too while she moves around the box.

I'll probably stay with her all night.

10:30 PM - Paika in the whelping box on her back.