“Dogs often give birth to multiple babies. It’s not uncommon for them to produce five to six puppies in each and every litter. But when a Cane Corso named Kira gave birth, her owners were absolutely shocked at what they saw.
Natalia and Albert were a loving couple from Ramon in Verona. They had been together for many, many years and had always talked about getting a dog. As children, they had grown up in their separate homes surrounded by animals. They had had pets of all shapes and sizes, with their favorites being dogs. They had used to run, play, and laugh with their puppies all day long. Suffice it to say, both Natalya and Albert were most definitely dog people.
So, one day, they finally decided to take the plunge and adopt a dog. Neither of them took much convincing, and before long, they found themselves in the animal shelter looking at the many amazing dogs that were there. It wasn’t too long before they honed in on one dog, though, a gorgeous Cane Corso that went by the name of Kira. She was beautiful, young, energetic, and, most of all, she reminded Natalia of the dog that she had had when she was a child. It was love at first sight, and they immediately took the new addition to their family home.
Kira fit right in. She filled a gap in Natalya and Albert’s life that they didn’t even realize that they had. They spent over a year with her alone, happily creating a very close bond. But at some point, they decided that it would be nice to have some puppies around the house too. Now, Kira was still a young and fit dog and completely capable of producing puppies of her own. So, Albert found her the perfect male dog to breed with. The two were introduced, and it wasn’t long before nature took its course, and it was revealed that Kira had become pregnant.
Natalia and Albert were overjoyed at the news and excited to have a few puppies to take care of and enjoy. Albert joked that it would be funny if Kira produced 99 puppies, just like the Disney film “101 Dalmatians.” This was, of course, physiologically impossible, but still, the thought sent shivers down Natalya’s spine. Giving birth to multiple puppies could be fatal for some dogs, and the more puppies they produced, the higher the chances of tragedy were. Luckily, Natalia knew her husband was joking and laughed at the idea. She would have been happy with three or four puppies, and that’s what she was expecting. Little did she know that nature had other plans, big plans.
Kira began to balloon as the puppies started to form and grow inside her. Natalia booked her in for an appointment at the veterinary office just to ensure that everything was okay and to have a scan to see how many puppies Kira was expecting. But when the day came, Natalia was shocked into silence by what the vet had to say. It seemed that the scan had revealed at least 13 puppies with the possibility of a few more tucked away. It was difficult to tell on a scan, especially when they were all wriggling and squirming around. Natalia’s mouth dropped open when she heard that. How would she and Albert be able to look after so many puppies? They couldn’t separate them from their mother for at least two months, which would mean being more than a little outnumbered by dogs. It looked like they were indeed going to reenact the Disney movie.
Luckily, Albert was able to calm her down, telling her they would manage. For the moment, they had to focus on Kira, making sure that she was happy and healthy and ensuring that the puppies were all developing properly. Such a large litter was most unusual, but not entirely unheard of. Dogs’ bodies are able to withstand the pressures and strains of such a large brood, and while we humans struggle with multiple babies, it comes as second nature to dogs, such as Kira.
So, as her body grew larger and larger and larger, Natalia and Albert didn’t get overly concerned. Kira seemed uncomfortable at times, but it wasn’t anything she wouldn’t handle. Even though it was her first litter, she was handling it incredibly well. But the day finally came when Kira started to nest and get ready for the birth of the puppies. Dogs instinctively know when they’re going to give birth and start to prepare themselves and their environments accordingly. They gather blankets and things like that, putting them in a warm and comfortable spot, and that’s exactly what Kira did.
Natalia and Albert were on the ball, quickly fetching a bowl of water for Kira, as well as some snacks for her if she got hungry mid-birth. Natalia then set herself down next to the dog and prepared for a long night, and a long night it was. Though she could never have expected the amazing twist that happened.
Kira eventually started to give birth at around 8 PM. Her first puppy was born, and she instinctively licked it clean and nuzzled up against it, making sure that it latched on to feed. Then came a second puppy, and a third, and a fourth, each of them receiving the same claims special care and attention from their mother. Natalia and Albert just sat by and watched the miracle unfolding, stroking Kira and talking to her calmly so she didn’t panic.
More and more puppies came until the 13th finally came out, just as the vet had said. As Kira tended to it, Natalia and Albert found themselves anxiously waiting to see if Kira produced any more puppies. Several minutes passed, but eventually, there appeared another and another. They were up to a grand total of 15 puppies now. Natalya couldn’t believe what she was seeing, counting them over and over again just to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her and that she had got it right. Albert just sat there gobsmacked.
It seemed like Kira was finished giving birth when she had 15 new squealing puppies laid around her in her bed. She seemed exhausted and ready for a nice long nap, but nature was not done with her yet. In fact, Kira still had a little surprise up her sleeve. After around an hour and a half of rest and spotted sleep, Kira began to give birth again, producing an additional four puppies. The exhausted dog had produced a total of 19 puppies, each of them seemingly healthy and well. Neither Natalya nor Albert could believe what they were seeing. They had never seen such a large litter in all of their lives.
After a long night of tending to all of the puppies and making sure that they were feeding from Kira correctly, Natalia lovingly placed each and every one of them into a single cage and took them to the veterinary office to be checked over. Sadly, though, the smallest of the litter, one of the last four born, quickly passed away. The trauma of the birth must have been too much for its little body to handle. Albert had the sad task of burying it in a small grave at the end of the garden. But there was no time for Kira or Natalia to mourn too much because there were still 18 puppies in need of care and attention. Thankfully, none of the other puppies seemed to
have any issues, which was a miracle in itself. In a litter so large, it isn’t unheard of for some of the puppies to have birth defects or die very soon after being born, but that wasn’t the case here. They were lucky only one had passed away, according to the vet.
Giving birth to so many puppies at one time is very rare. The only other instance the vet had heard of was in 2011 when a Tibetan mastiff from China also gave birth to 19 puppies. But it seemed like Kira had set a world record for her breed. Natalia couldn’t have been prouder.
Of course, the 18 puppies grew up big and strong, and Kira turned out to be the perfect mommy. Despite having such a large litter, she took to motherhood like a duck to water, making sure that each of the puppies was fed, tended to, cleaned, and played with. Kira never seemed to tire and would only flop down for a rest when she was certain her babies were fast asleep. First, it just goes to show that you can still be a great mother no matter how large your family is.
So, now it’s over to you. What did you think of this incredible story? Have you ever heard of a dog giving birth to so many puppies at once? How would you react to your dog producing such a large and adorable litter?
