Registered Name: BWR Valrhona
Call Name: Val
NARR #: 09BWR0004/05F
Birth Date: January 9, 2009
Death Date: August 28, 2009
Cause of Death: complications after emergency c-section
Color/Variety: Cocoa-point ruby-eyed Siamese (genetically: mink + chocolate + Siamese + black-eyed Siamese gene)
Health Records
Temperament/Personality: Excellent; affectionate, sweet-natured, tucked legs when held, gave kisses.
Type: Very Good; excellent size and bone, good overall type, good head though slightly long, excellent ears, excellent eyes, good tail. Coloring good, dark points and shading despite diluted color, color down to toes.
Lineage: Third generation of my Chocolate/Black-eyed Siamese line, descended from RRLM Godiva. Showed improvement in size and overall type. Maintained the Chocolate coloration through the generations. Died due to complications after an emergency c-section. Her sister was later bred and died during birth. As a result the female side of this line was ended. The cause for these issues were unknown, as no other rats in the line have had such issues.
Val was due to have her first litter on August 25th, 2009. At about 5pm on August 27th Val went into labor. She had some blood, but nothing unusual. It was bright, fresh, normal looking, no discoloration or odd textures or thicknesses. I let her be, giving her some space and quiet to do what nature tells her to do, checking in every 5 or 10 minutes to make sure things were going well. 6pm came around and there were still no babies, but I was starting to see active contractions, it looked like she was going to have the babies. Another hour rolled by and still no babies. She wasn't acting unusual. She obviously wasn't comfortable, but no animal would be in that position. There was no excessive bleeding, she was not gasping for breath, she was responsive and relaxed, but not fatigued. She was still showing NO outward signs of distress, everything still looked fairly normal, but due to the time I was starting to get worried. I started getting ready to pack her up, get myself dressed, looked up directions, and make a phone call to the emergency vet. By the time I was able to get her in my car and get going, she was starting to look tired. I got to the emergency vet about 8:30 or 9pm. I was signed in and they started working on her right away. The vet massaged her a little bit, and two babies popped out at the same time. The first was already dead and had its head bent to the side - it had turned its head before reaching the birth canal and blocked it and the other babies. The second baby was alive, but had blood coming from its nose and mouth - I suspect it started breathing before it was out and inhaled some of the fluids. It was weak, and Val didn't start mothering it, in fact started to eat it. With in a half hour or so she popped out another baby, but was too tired to pull it out or start cleaning it. I got the gunk off its face and cleaned it up, but she wouldn't mother it even then. She was too tired and her contractions stopped. The vet gave her a dose of oxytocin. She had more contractions, and got another baby out - this one was already dead. She didn't mother any of the babies, and after this last one she settled into a corner of the cage and started to fall asleep. The amount of blood was still normal, and other than being exhausted she did not show any other signs of distress. The vet, while making the rounds with other patients (including other emergency surgeries) checked in several times to discuss options, see how she was doing and to see what can be done to help. By this point, around midnight, Val was so exhausted we decided more oxytocin wouldn't help much. My other options were to take her home, leave her there for hospitalization, or to perform an emergency c-section and spay to get the rest of the babies out. Val was so exhausted, I couldn't see her delivering any more babies, and I was concerned with other complications with waiting. I didn't know if she would continue to bleed and become anemic, I didn't know if she would go into shock, and so on. I asked the vet how Val's condition looked, in her professional opinion, and she said Val looks good, other than being exhausted. So I opted for the c-section and spay, understanding it is not without risks. I said good bye to Val, signed what paper work I needed, left the deposit and went home. I got home about 1:30am, checked on my other animals, took some medications for my headache to help me fall asleep, got in bed, and dozed. About 2 or 2:30am I got a call from the vet. Val had made it through her surgery and was doing well. She had woken up, was moving around, her temperature was normal, and she was looking good. She should pull through and I'd be able to pick her up in the morning before 8am. I dozed off again for what few hours of sleep I could get before I need to get up to pick her up. About 5am I got another phone call from the vet. Val had been doing so well, she was looking good, then when they went to check on her again, she had just passed away.
That morning I picked up Val and her babies bodies. Val was a very sweet girl, and through this entire ordeal she not once so much as threatened to nip. She is greatly missed.
