WHAT TO DO WHEN ONE OF THE PUPPIES DIES SHORTLY AFTER BIRTH:
The necropsy (autopsy) is the only realistic means to finding out what happened. If you want to find out if the other litter members are at risk or if the mother dog can safely be bred again, the dead puppy should be examined.
Place the remains in a zip-loc plastic bag and refrigerate until you can notify your veterinarian. If the placenta is available, it should be included.
Expect the mother dog and remaining litter mates to be examined and the dead puppy to be necropsied.
There are many causes for the loss of a near term or newly born litter of puppies: coronavirus, parvovirus, toxoplasmosis, brucellosis, umbilical trauma, genetic disease, etc. Knowing what to do heavily depends on knowing what happened. Puppies that die from canine herpes have characteristic “inclusion bodies” in many tissues under the microscope. Inclusion bodies are essentially areas of heavy virus reproduction that are actually visible and unique in appearance. The presence of herpes inclusion bodies confirms the diagnosis.
Herpes is only a danger to the puppies when the mother is infected during pregnancy. Once the mother has been infected, subsequent pregnancies should be unaffected as she will have made enough antibodies to keep the virus in check. |