Quote:
Originally Posted by jillcrump  You guys...I couldn't believe how much more the puppies are moving around in her belly today. It looks like they are kick boxing. I am sooooo excited. |
I am a firm believer in getting an xray done to make sure you know exactly or as certain as the xray can be.
For the following reasons:
1) While you are attending to the new born pup, if the dam gets to the after birth and eats it , well that is okay but if you see her licking herself but you didn't see the afterbirth for sure and then the next puppy comes. You get caught up with warming up this puppy etc.
If you loose count of the placenta's then a retained placenta can cause infection to set in within 3-6 hours and it will inhibit the quality of the milk being produced.
2) If she retains a placenta or 2 an she develops an infection it can be life threatening with in 12 hours after whleping the pupppies. The colostrium or milk being produced may not be suitable unless you have gotten her an antibiotic for the infection. So the nursing puppies may be at risk for drinking affected milk from the mother bein septic.
WE had 7 puppies for our first litter and 3 of these were breach. She would not open up the sacks or bite off the cord so I had to. While you are doing this the placenta can come or not and if you have to pull it out while you are doing the other with the puppy . It is difficult.
Mine did eat 3 placentas and retained 2 for 10 hours, I sat attentively by herside. She ended up with diarrhea from eating the placentas and I had given her way too much cottage cheese with her extra feedings before, during and after whelping the puppies. It was a mess for about the first 1-3 days . I made her whelping pudding and gave her a calcium supplement every day and I didn't go back to the cottage cheese. The diarrhea stopped.
By the beginning of week 2 she showed signs of mastitis. Antibiotics started again.
I watched her and the pups almost all the time. WE had experienced almost anything that could come up did except a puppy totally getting stuck that could happen with whelping puppies.
WE were blessed nothing was too serious and we jumped on it right away.
There was a thread I was on that was so helpful. Puppies due in May.
I didn't want to scare you but the more you are prepared the less of an unwanted outcome will transpire.