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Originally Posted by Suze225  I have been really debating about whether to make this post or not, but finally decided I think it is definitely, in our best interest to do so. I believe Bella is pregnant.....  I am fairly sure that I will get so much crap, I may wish that I hadn't posted here, but I just want everything to go well, if in fact she is pg and the experience the breeders here have, is just too valuable not to. Soooooooo I guess I am prepared mentally for the best and the worst you all have to give me.
Bella is only 13.5 months old and Jett is just shy of 7 months old. (I will not give any excuses as to how she got pregnant, because I guess it is irrelevant at this point. We DID try to prevent it, but, again irrelevant.) Bella is right at 5 pounds. Scale shows between 4 pounds 14 ozs and 5 pounds 2ozs. Which is good. Jett is 2 pounds 5 ozs, and extremely petite. (Another good thing. Both sets of parents and grandparents of Bella and Jett were small as well. Between 2 and 5-6 pounds.) (All were free whelpers as well)
Ok, so now to my questions.......we caught Bella and Jett in a tie on April 14th, at this point, I decided to let them be free to do what they would through the 16th. ( trying to prevent only one puppy, from only one tie.) On the 16th doggie diapers AND a onesie prevented any further ties. Jett was only 5 3/4 months old during the tie. We did see them lock again on the 15th. (His testicles are descended and in place, so I believe he is sexually mature.) Is it possible, he would tie and lock with her and NOT be sexually mature to sire pups??
She is now approximately 33 days since her first witnessed tie. She is showing many signs of pregnancy. Vulva has remained swollen since heat, nipples are growing a bit larger than they were during her heat. She is also very sleepy and lazy, MUCH more so than usual. She also has had a few bouts of nausea and vomiting, in the mornings before she eats. I purchased a fetal doppler, and tried using it yesterday at 32 days, but I didn't get anything definite as far as heart tones. (Might be too early.) Those of you who use dopplers, when is the earliest you found the fetal heart rates???
I have talked to our vet, plus two others. All say to come in between 50 and 55 days for xrays to see where we are. I asked about US but none recommended them, all said xrays were they best way to go. Is this true??? (I did find a place in Phoenix that does US, and wanted 300 just to confirm pregnancy, eeks!!)
Bella is being fed Blue Buffalo small breed puppy and blue buffalo canned food. I free feed her but only offer canned food once in the mornings. Should I be giving her a vitamin as well?? I do have some but have not given them yet, as I wanted more opinions on this. (Yes I do know not to give calcium until the whelp starts, and to make sure she gets enough calcium after the whelp.) (I know it can be dangerous and c-sections are possible...and can be very expensive......etc.)
I have spent many many many many hours reading and researching pregnancy, whelping, and puppy care. As soon as I verify we have puppies, I will be purchasing all supplies necessary for the whelp and after care for Bella and babies.
I really would like the support and expertise that you can offer me at this time. I know I will have many questions these next few months, and I am very glad that I have the people here on YT to give their expert advice. |
No crap here from me, what is refreshing is the oopsy pregnancy happened and you made no excuses for it. As well your study after the fact, your investigation into the health lines of your breeding pair, all good things to do.
Now I do have a couple of suggestions; if you do Xray at 55 days, that might at the most leave you 8 days to gather supplies. Is this enough time for you? I don't know where you live or the availability of supplies. But there are great lists on here in other threads of what you might need.
The other suggestion I have is to borrow the whelping supplies from a breeder friend (if of course you don't have long term plans to breed again).
What I would like to talk about is the health of your breeding pair. Some questions and information for you.
I'm assuming the bitch had clear BATS at 16 wks and 6 months. LS is not uncommon in this breed, and while you checked the vertical pedigree did you check the horizontal one? That being her siblings, and also half siblings health in terms of LS but many other health conditions. Some of which are talked about below.
I'm assuming that your bitch is clear of LP. And you have also checked the vertical and horizontal pedigree for this including half siblings. While LP can happen as a result of environment, early onset of LP and in particular in both knees, and especially the early onset of moderate to severe LP (early onset less than 18mths old), would predispose me to assume a polygenetic inheritance factor. If this is so, there is a very good chance that one or more of the pups will have LP.
I'm assuming that the bitch hasn't been tested for eye disease. PRA. At this time it is during pregnancy and whelping etc, probably a moot point. But she should be tested after weaning. PRA is an hereditary disorder which eventually causes blindness in the dogs. It can rear its head as early as one year old and even at 5 6 7 or 8 yrs old. Again the checking of both the vertical and horizontal pedigrees need to be done, and if your bitch or sire has PRA it is NOT rrecommended to breed them again, and also I believe it only fair to communicate with your puppy buyers that PRA has been ddx'd with your bitch or your sire.
CT: Collapsing Trachea; again the pedigree vertical horizontal needs to be checked, and I am presuming due to the young age of your pair likely at this point they are clear of this.
I believe forewarned is forearmed, for your very small and young male, maybe you haven't had the second 6mth set of BATS done, please do this, to insure his are well within normal. If not then you will need to go down the diagnositc and perhaps treatment road for him; and I'd be pretty worried about how the pups health will be.
He will need to wait until one year old before PRA can be done.
LP can be assessed now and should be. If both your female and your male have LP the odds are very very good that the majority of your litter will have LP.
Just a note of caution, it is one thing to ask if parents were clear of LP,LS, Leggs Perthe, Hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia, as well as PRA. But if the parents are not listed on CHIC database or CERF or OFA, I truly question the breeders why not listed?
Just a thought, while you are prepared for the potentially high costs of whelping and raising a litter, and pretesting at least for the pups on LS, are you prepared to cover the health costs of the future puppies should they come up with health problems over their lifetime? LP surgery, LS surgery is very expensive. Just some things to consider prior to placement of your pups.
Good luck with your whelp if you decide to go ahead with this pregnancy.