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jvdb · 08-23-2011, 12:46 AM

Whew...just finished whelping my fourth litter of puppies and encountered a new scary scenario. The final puppy appeared to have been born with the placenta growing around it's sac. NOT the umbilical cord but the placena itself was like a doughnut ring around the middle of the puppy from what I could see in the few tenths of a second before quickly ripping off the sac from what we thought would be a dead puppy's face.

The puppy was very very skinny, almost alien like, and grey in color, I was convinced he was dead but of course rubbed him dry, cleaned him off, and tied the deformed umbilical cord off quickly (not a defined cord but wider in some areas) it gushed blood compared to typical bleed that some cords do. This was a lot of blood, and I quickly pinched it while my mother in law tied it (it was her litter). Even then we weren't sure if the puppy was alive but kept drying him and rubbing him off, he slowly started to move but looked horrible, his skin was very rippled (no fat) and his head and neck were bony, I was convinced he wouldn't live. Slowly we were able to get him to latch and held him up to the nipple for as long as he could manage (he appeared to be sucking but we weren't sure if he was getting anything) Over the next hour we helped him nurse almost continuously and he started to gain some real strength, and moved almost as well as the other puppies (although would definitely lose in a fight for a nipple, we were just impressed he could crawl over to one). At this point we found it safe enough to remove him for a split second to weigh him - 35 grams!!! (1.2oz) The other puppies were 90-120 grams.

Has anyone encountered a scenario like this before with such an odd placenta?

(and yes she will have a long next few days waking up to make sure he latches multiple times overnight, we won't let this little fighter fade!)

08-23-2011, 12:46 AM	#1
jvdb Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 99	What happened? Placenta deformity? Whew...just finished whelping my fourth litter of puppies and encountered a new scary scenario. The final puppy appeared to have been born with the placenta growing around it's sac. NOT the umbilical cord but the placena itself was like a doughnut ring around the middle of the puppy from what I could see in the few tenths of a second before quickly ripping off the sac from what we thought would be a dead puppy's face. The puppy was very very skinny, almost alien like, and grey in color, I was convinced he was dead but of course rubbed him dry, cleaned him off, and tied the deformed umbilical cord off quickly (not a defined cord but wider in some areas) it gushed blood compared to typical bleed that some cords do. This was a lot of blood, and I quickly pinched it while my mother in law tied it (it was her litter). Even then we weren't sure if the puppy was alive but kept drying him and rubbing him off, he slowly started to move but looked horrible, his skin was very rippled (no fat) and his head and neck were bony, I was convinced he wouldn't live. Slowly we were able to get him to latch and held him up to the nipple for as long as he could manage (he appeared to be sucking but we weren't sure if he was getting anything) Over the next hour we helped him nurse almost continuously and he started to gain some real strength, and moved almost as well as the other puppies (although would definitely lose in a fight for a nipple, we were just impressed he could crawl over to one). At this point we found it safe enough to remove him for a split second to weigh him - 35 grams!!! (1.2oz) The other puppies were 90-120 grams. Has anyone encountered a scenario like this before with such an odd placenta? (and yes she will have a long next few days waking up to make sure he latches multiple times overnight, we won't let this little fighter fade!)