“I kept saying to the owner, ‘There surely can’t be anymore!'” said veterinarian Brittni Turner of the Fredericksburg Veterinary Center
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(734x409:736x411):format(webp)/dalmatian-puppies-2-537a7a52d2b845fba1adfdb79790738c.jpg)
A Texas dog owner got the surprise of her life last week when her Dalmatian, Luna, delivered 16 puppies at once!
According to veterinarian Brittni Turner of the Fredericksburg Veterinary Center, Luna first went into labor on Thursday around midnight. The pup delivered the first five puppies of her litter naturally at home, but her labor stopped around 7 a.m. the following day.
So, her owner called the clinic. Turner advised she bring Luna in, as large dog breeds “normally don’t have a lot of complications” during labor.
Luna was taken into surgery shortly after arriving so vets could assist in delivering the dog’s sixth pup, which had become breech. That’s when veterinarians discovered a shocking number of puppies still to be born.
I kept saying to the owner, ‘There surely can’t be anymore!’ And they kept saying, ‘There surely can’t be anymore!’ ” Turner told Newsweek. “I then said, ‘I know there’s at least two more.’ Then I would say, ‘Oh, there’s definitely one more. No, there’s two more.’ “
“We kept miscounting the puppies,” she added.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(674x499:676x501):format(webp)/dalmatian-puppies-1-a375b32d38924a959330abf27e487ff7.jpg)
A Facebook post from the veterinary center shared that it was “all hands on deck” throughout the birth, with everyone from receptionists to the owner pitching in to help with the delivery. Ultimately, Luna gave birth to 16 precious puppies, 11 of which were delivered via cesarean section.
The Fredericksburg Veterinary Center posted photos of the mom and her newborns to their Facebook page and lauded its team for their efforts.
“We are happy to report that all 16 puppies and mom are doing great following surgery,” the clinic wrote. “It wasn’t 101 Dalmatians, but it was enough for us to have our hands full this morning!!”
“Luna was being a really attentive mother already, wanting to be with the puppies. She’s doing really well, and the puppies are doing great,” Turner confirmed to Newsweek. “… It was a blip of chaos, but it was good in the end.”
Luna came three puppies shy of the world record for largest Dalmatian litter. The current record holder is an Australian Dalmatian named Melody, who gave birth to 19 puppies in 2019.
