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First-time
Mom Gives Birth to 18 Puppies
Yellow Lab Receives "Iams Mother of the Year" Award
Courtesty of The Iams Company
 Pleasant
Grove, Utah - (November 22, 1999) - You've heard of the
quintuplets born in California and the septuplets in Iowa,
but what about the mom who recently gave birth to 18 in Utah?
Tawnie - a yellow Labrador retriever - is now the proud mother
of 18 beautiful bouncing puppies - and The Iams Company is
honoring her achievement with the title "Iams Mother of the
Year."
At the
crack of dawn on September 29 of this year, Dallan and Susie
Allridge heard noises in the garage where Jake and Tawnie,
their two yellow labs, sleep. They peeked into the garage
and saw that Tawnie had given birth to 10 puppies. "We woke
our three children to show them the new additions to our family,
and to our surprise, we watched Tawnie have another five puppies,"
said Dallan.
"The next
morning the kids were excited to tell their teachers that
Tawnie had 15 puppies," Dallan said with a laugh, "but when
Tawnie let us count them later that day, we realized there
were actually 18."
Even though
the Allridges had no previous experience raising puppies,
they did know that Tawnie would have trouble feeding 18 hungry
mouths on her own. "I went to our veterinarian right away,
and he gave me Eukanuba® Milk Replacer Puppy Formula so
we could help Tawnie with the feeding of her 12 female and
6 male puppies," said Dallan. Eukanuba Milk Replacer closely
matches mother's milk and provides the nutrition that puppies
need between birth and seven weeks of age if circumstances
prevent a mother from feeding her puppies herself.
"It was
a busy time for us. I don't know what we would've done without
three kids of our own to help, especially as we would bottle
feed nine puppies at a time," said Dallan. "The Eukanuba Milk
Replacer really helped Tawnie and the puppies pull through
their first few weeks."
"We were
also worried that with the strain of the birth and producing
milk for her litter, Tawnie may not be receiving enough nutrients
from her regular food," said Dallan. "So I called the Iams
Customer Service line, and they suggested feeding her Iams®
Natural Lamb Meal and Rice Formula for Puppies for extra fat
and protein. And she's doing great."
On hearing
of Tawnie and her astonishing litter, the dog lovers at Iams
decided she deserved the prestigious honor of "Iams Mother
of the Year." As part of this honor, Tawnie will receive a
year's supply of Iams dog food.
"Tawnie
is a great example of canine motherhood - she's doing a great
job with her first litter and is a proud and doting mother
to all of her new pups," says Lara Strazdin, Manager of Communications
at The Iams Company. "We also believe that she's a great example
of an Iams dog - she's been fed Iams all her life and she's
a picture of good health - even after giving birth to 18 puppies!"
To ensure
that all 18 puppies follow in their mom's tradition of good
nutrition and good health, Iams will also donate one bag of
Iams Puppy Food to each of the puppies' new owners when they
are old enough to leave their mom.
For
more than 50 years, The Iams Company has been providing world-class
quality foods for dogs and cats. For more information on Eukanuba®
and Iams® Dog & Cat Foods, or proper pet care and
nutrition, call the Iams Pet Professionals toll free at 1-800-863-4267,
Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern Standard
Time, or visit the Iams Web site at www.iams.com.
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