Pregnant Dalmatian breaks the record for most puppies born in a litter
The vet in charge of helping the dog's delivery had initially expected the birth of three puppies, but he was shocked to find that there were many more.
In what can be seen as one of the strangest claims to fame for any small town, Ballarat in Australia has become the home to the largest Dalmatian litter in the entire country's history and has equaled the world record for the same.
First-time mother, Miley, who is only 3 years old, became suspiciously large nearing the end of her pregnancy.
Even though the resident veterinarian could only identify 3 puppies in the womb clearly during her scans, owner and guardian Cecilia Langton-Bunkergot was not buying it.
Read more about amazing animal stories on our Twitter account @amomama_usa.
Source: Freepik
On an average, Dalmatians give birth to around 8 puppies per pregnancy. Since Miley and her mate Astor were first-time parents, Langton-Bunkergot was unsure if Miley would have such a large litter.
However, after seeing the abnormally large stomach, the vet began to suspect that there may be more than 10 puppies inside.
However, neither Langton-Bunkergot, not the vet was prepared for the actual number. After 13-hour-long labor, Miley gave birth to 18 puppies.
The 12 female and 6 male puppies arrived into this world mostly healthy and without any complications, and the first glimpses of the new big family have been captured in an online video.
The puppies initially required bottle feeding, as obviously, they all wouldn't have been able to be directly fed by the mother, but now they have become stronger and are able to feed themselves better.
An obvious comparison is to be made here with the movie 101 Dalmatians. The dog couple in the movie also give birth to a large litter, and then later adopt several stolen dalmatians to give the 101 strong count, as the name suggests.
Miley, in real life, has outdone the number of puppies even in comparison to the movie, which showed a litter of 15 puppies.