Florida vet helps Lab deliver 13 puppies

A typical litter normally produces five to six puppies.

Scripps Howard

When David Randall went to work that day at the Big Cypress Animal Clinic in Naples, Fla., he expected nothing other than the routine. In fact, the day’s goings-on were to be videotaped as “A Day in the Life of a Veterinarian” for his Dr. 4 Pets program on local Comcast cable.

Those who see the episode might think it is from Animal Planet or have a hard time believing.

So does he.

He never encountered anything like it in his career, which started in 1985. Neither did his father, Louis Randall, a veterinarian for 15 years before his death.

“It” is the Cesarean delivery of a baker’s dozen puppies to a chocolate Labrador retriever named Shotgun.

A litter of five to six puppies is considered normal.

David Randall refers to Shotgun’s brood as a herd — in veterinarian lingo, an unspecified big number.

Randall says Shotgun and Cheyenne Naftal, the daughter of owner Nancy Naftal, simply showed up at the clinic at 11 a.m. with the dog too swollen to stand or move.

The surgical procedure started two hours later, and within 90 minutes, the miracle was over — and all the puppies were eager to be fed. That posed a challenge for the next two weeks, Randall says, with Shotgun’s nursing capacity supplemented by bottles of formula.

Nancy Naftal says witnessing the birth and helping with the intensive care wer serendipitous training for her daughter, now a nursing student at Florida Atlantic University.

She blames her son, who brought his male dog home for a visit last spring, for starting everything.

Randall says his bill for the mega delivery — which pressed all clinic personnel into action — came to about $1,000.

Each of the puppies, he went on to say, would sell for $700 to $800, a price confirmed by Naftal, who says all 13 puppies are thriving in new homes with mostly friends and family.

“I’m still getting pictures of them,” she says.

Randall says he performs Caesareans about once a month but never, ever before one like this.

“He’s awesome,” Naftal says. “The best.”