I talked to a friend tonight and it made me think of this topic. She has two female lab mix dogs and never had them spayed. She noticed one of her dogs was gaining weight but figured it was the "old age spread". She took her to the vet for a yearly checkup and guess what? Her beloved Princess was pregnant! My friend was shocked but can handle it. She remembers finding a neighbors hound in her back yard once and figured he's the father. Her other furkid, Baby, starts exhibiting strange behavior. She calls her vet and the vet says "don't worry a lot of times when one female is pregnant the other will exhibit symptoms of pregnancy. It's just a false pregnancy". On April 12 Princess gives birth. One April 13th Baby gives birth! My friend ends up with 17 puppies! One of the reasons I love my friend is because she is such a caring person. But can you imagine having 3 children, two dogs and 17 puppies?! Her vet was nice enough to give her a discount for the pups shots. She has managed to find homes for all of the pups except four. She decided to keep two. One because he reminds her of her childhood dog and one because , her husband, a self professed computer geek, says has the markings of a Gateway computer box. Unfortunately one of the pups fractured his leg somehow ($254 vet cost) so while in a splint my friend allowed him to sleep in her bed. Now she is so attached she can't bear to part with him. Then there's Lillie who my friend's husband swears "chose him". Now my friend has gone from 2 dogs to 6. I love my friend like a sister. One of the reasons is because she has a heart of gold. She spent weeks screening the people who wanted the pups, and the the majority went to people she knew and whom she could visit and check on the pups. This to me is a great lesson on spaying and neutering.

[This message has been edited by Genia (edited June 01, 2001).]