Puppy boom takes over newlyweds' lives
Newlyweds Heather and Dave Malecek could have learned a lesson from the story of the Trojan horse.
Indi, the diminutive German shepherd-pit bull mix they fell in love with and adopted from a Marion, Ind., shelter in May, has proved to be something of a Trojan Dog.
Just after the couple's return from their European honeymoon June 26, they stayed over at Heather's parents' house in Schaumburg long enough to see little Indi give birth to 13 pups - even though one veterinarian had previously assured them she wasn't pregnant.
Stranger still, but quite possible according to veterinarians, the puppies appear to be the offspring of two different fathers.
Catherine Howes, office manager at Golf Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg, said a dog's physical makeup allows it to conceive more puppies while already pregnant, though it's rare.
A litter of 13 puppies is above average but not unheard of, Howes said. Her hospital once performed a C-section on a St. Bernard carrying 13 puppies, she said.
Current world records claim 24 to be the largest number of puppies in a litter, with 23 the largest litter in which all puppies survived.
The constant care and attention Heather and Dave's "101 Dalmatians" lifestyle suddenly required has kept the Schaumburg and West Dundee natives from even moving into their new Chicago apartment. The unexpected puppy boom has also postponed Heather's summertime search for a new teaching job.
"It was kind of bad timing," she laughs. "We were looking forward to just relaxing, because the year leading up to a wedding can be pretty exhausting. But there was no rest for the wicked."
Indi's adventure began just after her adoption from the state she's named after. When Dave, who lived in Glen Ellyn before the wedding, and Heather brought her in to be spayed as recommended, the vet told them their year-old pooch was already pregnant.
But a second vet told Indi's new owners that the dog was not pregnant but only going into heat and sick with kennel cough. An X-ray of Indi's belly supposedly confirmed this.
What happened later caused the couple to lose all faith in this vet.
After leaving Indi with Heather's parents in Schaumburg after their June 14 wedding, the pair returned from Europe June 26.
Tired from their trip, and surprised by the popcorn-like swelling of Indi's belly, Heather and Dave stayed the night in Schaumburg.
At midnight, Heather woke up to see Indi giving birth to two puppies on her parents' white living room rug. She began to feel real surprise by the time the eighth and ninth pups arrived, but by 3 a.m. there were 13.
"She was a real good mom," Heather said of Indi. "She handled everything and cleaned up like she was supposed to."
It was only later that the job would prove too much for Indi to handle alone. Physically able to nurse only eight puppies at a time, she found herself unable to keep up with milk production.
Attacked by her pups every time she returned to the room, the little 40-pound mother dog eventually passed out and couldn't be revived. This led to her having to get a booster shot and being relieved of some of her duties.
Heather and Dave began having to feed milk supplements and care for the puppies around the clock themselves. They could get only four hours of sleep at a time before having to attend to each individual pup again.
After a long, grueling summer, an end is in sight, however. The first two puppies will be moving to new homes this Tuesday, with the rest to follow shortly after. Homes have already been found for 11 of the puppies, and Heather and Dave have strong leads for the remaining two.
Following the advice of animal care experts, the couple are relying on personal friends and acquaintances and not strangers in finding homes for Indi's pups.