Dog with false preg....maybe!

[Tigertrea]

I will not kill my girl. She has no infection at this point. She is feeling as good as she did a week ago (like any female near whelping) , and has no temp.

Actually "braxton hicks" are common in dogs as well as humans also.

She will be going in for x-ray tomorrow morning if no labour before that. She is nesting again today and still has milk.

Not even sure what an x-ray would change what we are doing at this point. If I had an ultrasound at work that would ROCK though! X-ray will only show if there are pups. If there are not then we can stop worrying. If there are, we will still wait until 68-70 days before C-section...Monday at the earliest. X-ray will not show movement or even if pups are dead/alive. With all the possible differences in fetal position, placenta size/shape and amount of amniotic fluid, knowing that a pup is dead and "beginning" to decay is not really possible to judge. Now, if they have been dead for weeks, that may be different...but, then she'd already be in distress.

These are all the things I have discussed with my Vet Tech associates then passed onto my dad and he had "confirmed" by the owner of the stud. After thinking rationally and scientifically we seem to have calmed down on the worry.....a little! I still want to check to see if there is anything there no later than 66 days, (which happens to be the day I did an x-ray with the last female who pulled this on us....I just realized that lol)

Thank you all for your concern though! It has made me research everything again....(that means clean out the storage room and find my vet/vet tech texts LOL)

 

[Redyre Rotties]

Book learning is great. There is no substitute for hands on, however. Most vets are not breeders, and have little to no actual breeding experience.

I wish you all the best, but I just don't understand why people don't do ovulation timing for one, to eliminate the huge 2 week whelping window, and I cannot understand why you would not be tripping over yourself to see if there are puppies in her or not.

Good luck.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

I start a temp chart 7 days before the due date. I check temp at least 3, and often 4X per day, 7am, noon, 7pm, and just before I go to bed.

I always do ovulation timing so that I know for CERTAIN when the due date is. For me ovulation timing has even more to do with knowing the exact whelping date than it does with timing breeding and getting the b.itch in whelp. When I am certain about the whelping date, I can order a section if necessary without worrying whether the puppies are at full term or not.

I will not do ANY breeding without ovulation timing. I am a nervous wreck until whelping is over. I am very very close to my b.itches, and I spend nearly every minute with them from a week prior to whelping until 3 weeks after.

If this were my b.itch I would just have to know if there were puppies in her or not. I would not have a moment's peace until I did.

Continuing to wish you all good luck for a good outcome.

 

[Tigertrea]

I have done progesterone on many and I still get 3 breedings, each about 48hrs apart. Even when I do A.I. I do 2. So, That still leaves a 10-14 day window.

No most vet are not breeders. But, many do like learning about repro and are very, very good at it. They tend to write articles and texts that other vets have access to.

*I* am wanting to see if there are pups in there. I am ****** at my dad right now because he knew when she was due but, didn't bother to save enough money for the end of the month. (and I have been out of work for 6 months. Usually I'd just pay the bill myself but, I can't pay my rent right now! Luckily I go back Monday) He knows he should have saved money. He has had things go wrong so many times.

but, then again, an x-ray today or even tomorrow will not (likely) change what I do for her. I won't do a c-section until Monday unless she shows signs of distress first.

I wish now, that I'd bought my own stethoscope though! I have always used ones from work that are much better than what I could afford.

I have had experience. My "breeder brain" and my "Tech brain" have these arguments all the time. Like with the food...I was certain that, biologically, the hormones in the salmon could not possible be affecting our dogs. Such a tiny amount and then to be "active" after processing. My Tech brain could not believe it. My Breeder brain gobbled it right up! I should know better than to get anxious and talk to other breeders LOL.

Has anyone actually waited? If yes, how did it turn out? If not, what made you decided on c-section?

 

[Tigertrea]

WOOHOO!!! 1 puppy....thriving and mom is well! She is going in today for an x-ray to ensure everything is out. She feels like there "may" be something still in there but, it could just be intestine lol. I would just go look at her but, meeting at the clinic s half way.

I am SO happy she is doing well so far.

 

[Jakl]

Oh, good!!

 

[Squawkbox]

Aw lol! One puppy, hopefully there is at least one more so it isn't a singleton. Congrats!

 

[Redyre Rotties]

Congrats on the puppy! YAY for the exray today!

 

[sourland]

Update?

 

[Tigertrea]

Spent the majority of the day at the vet.

So....1:30am she had the one puppy. My dad called me at 8:20 am and I had him call the clinic. We went in right away. X-ray showed still there, kind of traffic jammed, 1 in each uterine horn. So, gave her oxytocin to see if we could get her contractions stronger. Nope, 40min later, another shot and better contractions. Discussed possibilities, decided on one more shot. She was having good, strong contractions but, i could not feel a puppy in the vulva (I don't like worrying mom by checking internally often). So, we decided at 11:30, it is time for c-section. Lift her up to the table to be put under and....she decides that pup needed to come out NOW.

All right then, labour seems to be back on. She is happy and totally unstressed. We decide to give her a little while to see if the next pup would follow. 40min later, nothing, one more oxy. Still nothing 30min later so, off we go again to put her under. This time we get her under and into surgery. Get her uterus out to take the pup and....it is "weird" looking. Black spots in clusters in 2 spots, one place that looked like it had a small growth but, was oozing, green/black band around one horn in 2 places. So...we decide, we will spay her. Not sure what is going on with the uterus but, we will not risk her having another preg with what we saw. Get puppy out, no movement. Inside the sack is "smeared" all green and black in clots. Open up the sac and try to revive pup, nope. not happening. I worked on her for 30min. (boo hoo).

Not sure but, something happened to her uterus on that side. It could have been the pup, it could be something with her. It could be a number of things. I saved some biopsy slices of the "weird" uterine tissue and may send it out for histopath.

Stress full day, But, we all agree, we made no "wrong" decisions. Even had she been x-rayed at any point we would have had the exact same labour we did. The pup may have died a day or 2 ago, or it may have died hours before we opened her up. Mom was never in any distress and the 2 live pups were "likely" from the same horn. So, the decision to do surgery came down to a coin toss really. Not knowing if it was actually the oxy or just time that caused the second pup's birth and mom behaving the way she was, we simply picked the time that was most convenient for us all do do the surgery lol

Bottom line...Healthy, spayed mom, and 2 lovely girls babies.

Thanks again all!