Recently adopted possible pregnancy!

[Merizabeth928]

Hello there! I am hoping someone can help me out with a situation we have found ourselves in. My husband and I recently took in a 22month old female yorkie five weeks ago. She previously belonged to a friend of his family who was transferring colleges and would not be able to take her with her. She had her temporarily staying at her dad's home while she moved out of her current apartment. We currently have a four year old full bred female border collie that has been spayed and parted with our full bred lab years ago. I've never not had a spayed/neutered dog, so what I find myself in is very new territory. I have been a lover of yorkies for some time and when the opportunity presented itself to take in this sweet girl I jumped at the chance. After going through the preliminary questions with this girl, she explained that Mila had previously been pregnant by a beagle at her dad's house and had not been spayed. I was not so much concerned about the spaying part as my husband and I were discussing whether or not we wanted to breed her. As I said, the only other dog in our home is a female as well and since Mila does not go outside unattended, we assumed we had time to discuss this. Two weeks into this sweet baby being in our home, I noticed her nipples becoming enlarged. When I questioned her previous owner about her she was uncertain as to when her last heat was and assumed this was it. This past Thursday, the Fourth of July, I noticed her abdomen had seemingly "popped" out of nowhere and her nipples now ever so enlarged and droopy. I told my husband I was concerned that she was either pregnant or from what I read experiencing a false pregnancy. I will be the first to admit, I had not made an appointment yet with our vet as she had just had a checkup six weeks prior to her coming to us and a grooming/dental visit the week prior to coming to us as well. We called our vet on Friday and much to our dismay, they were unable to offer us anything until the 25th. My husband seemed to think my fears of her being pregnant were in my head and accepted that appointment. After pouring over the forum obsessively for the last 48 hours, I got out my stethoscope from work and attempted to listen for any active heartbeats. I was able to differentiate between her pulse and a faint (yet fast) tap tap tap sound in her lower abdomen. From what I have read, this was possibly a heartbeat. Flash forward to this evening, we were curled up on the sofa with our son and sweet Mila resting on my stomach and chest and our border collie Zoe Belle at our feet, when suddenly I felt movement. I paused and waited a moment for it to return. Since then, I have been obsessively checking her abdomen for more movement and it is definitely there. To be honest, I do not know how we missed the signs, but I do know that her enlarged abdomen was not present before. I have since done my research on the importance of her whelping box, but despite reading everything you all have offered up over these last few hours, I am more panicked than before. Human patients I can handle, but knowing and seeing my sweet baby go through this I am ill prepared for. I did call her previous owner before bed this evening and was informed she "may have gotten out again" while at her dad's home where the same beagle was. While Mila has only been in our care for five weeks, I am unclear as to the timeline in which she became pregnant. I am assuming she must be close (I did take rectal temp an hour ago at 99.1, she has been digging at her blanket beside me on the sofa, and she can't seem to get comfortable constantly getting up to move around before settling down again) based on the information I have read so far. Given that our appointment is two weeks out and the unhelpful receptionist did not seem sympathetic to my situation of adopting a pregnant dog without knowing and fearing she will deliver before said appointment, I am certain I am on my own. I have a million questions and feel so unprepared for this. I am due in my own clinic Monday morning at 8am sharp and am absolutely terrified she will deliver and no one will be here for her! I apologize for the lengthiness of this post as I am never short on words when I am freaking out about something. I would greatly appreciate some kind words and calming advice in this situation. I am fully aware that some people in these forums frown on unpreparedness, trust me, I had every intention of doing my research 1000000% before intentionally breeding her. Thank you!

[Oddsock]

Get her to a vet as soon as possible. I'm no expert, but if she's bred with a larger dog, she could have serious problems, due to the size of the pup.

You plan to breed her later? That I found worrying. I expect the experts will explain better than I can, what you need to do, help you through this and why it's not a good idea to breed her. If you want to get into breeding, they will tell you where to start and eventually how to get an expert to work with you one on one..

p.s. I don't mean the above to sound harsh, you are probably frightened, I wish her and you both well. Hoping someone who's been through this will give you more advice.

[MandiesMom]

First of all, welcome to the forum

You really need to find a vet that will see her now. That is too far away. Explain that this small dog could have possibly been bred with a larger dog (if you don't know, anything is possible). This can endanger her life. Make it clear that this is the case and 2 1/2 weeks will not do. If your vet will not accomadate you, find another vet.

Others will be along to give better tips and advice. But first and above all...get her to a vet asap. Call and explain until you find a vet that will take her/see her. Good luck and keep us posted please!

[dawn27]

According to her temp and her behavior she is within days away of giving birth. A temp of 98.2 means she will whelp within the next 24 hrs. If she was breed to a much larger male the delivery could go very wrong and a scheduled cesarean may be necessary to save her life and the life of her pups. If she tried to birth the pups and they are too large to pass through the birth canal it could be deadly. With you having me experience in whelping pups and not knowing the warning signs. I would urge you to please Contact your vet ASAP !!

I pray that your gal and the pups will be ok.

[lynzy420]

OI....Unfortunately, your best intention wasn't good enough, and for your pup I am very sorry.

First of all, stop constantly inconveniencing her to check for pregnancy...at this point it is quite obvious that she is... now and as her owner, the human that she is dependent on, you need to start preparing.

First up, If she hasn't delivered already, get this pup in to an Emergency Vet, waiting 2 weeks is not an option, you have no idea who or what dog she bred with, an xray will reveal if she is even capable of delivering these pups.

After you have done that, and if the vet said she can go forth and deliver, come back here and read some more, and some more and some more. Ask questions, people will help you.

After she delivers (presuming the vet said she can, or its not a false pregnancy) get this sweet girl spayed. This will be her 2nd litter? She is being bred for no real good reason, the only reason is for the betterment of the breed, maintaining the breed standard.

This sweet girl doesn't have a voice, but if she did she would say "please spay me and love me and let me be your lap dog"....

This pup's life could be in danger, please do the right thing and get her to a vet...asap.

[lynzy420]

Originally Posted by dawn27

According to her temp and her behavior she is within days away of giving birth. A temp of 98.2 means she will whelp within the next 24 hrs. If she was breed to a much larger male the delivery could go very wrong and a scheduled cesarean may be necessary to save her life and the life of her pups. If she tried to birth the pups and they are too large to pass through the birth canal it could be deadly. With you having me experience in whelping pups and not knowing the warning signs. I would urge you to please Contact your vet ASAP !!

I pray that your gal and the pups will be ok.

[Merizabeth928]

Thank you so very much for your quick responses! In regards to the dog that impregnated her it was a beagle that had previously impregnated her last year without any complications during her delivery. We are in the process of trying to find another vet to see her before the scheduled appointment.

In the mean time, if she is as close as I believe she is I would so greatly appreciate the rundown of what I should be prepared for in home. I work for a vascular surgeon so getting any materials (clamp, betadine, sterile gloves etc) is not an issue. I have read in some cases it was necessary to have these items on standby and in other cases where the mother took care of things on her own.

Lastly, as for any future breeding this was something we were discussing and were planning to research prior to getting into it. We were not wanting to do so for monetary gain and had discussed if doing so it would be a onetime thing.

Again thank you all! I did not go to sleep until five this morning because she seemed so restless and my nerves were shot! She finally nestled into my underarm and passed out with me.

[gemy]

I know you must be scared. You are going to work like a dervish.

You need to find a vet right now, today. Take her in to the vet and beg the vet to oversee her through her whelping.

For a lot of very good reasons. You don't know the size of the dog she bred with, you don't have any experience in whelping, so you won't know what problems to look for!

And trust me, you DO NOT want to let the gal whelp alone. I suggest you take a sick day Monday, and see to the care of your gal.

Also you will need to make plans to have some-one with her through the day when you are not around.

You just need to pull out all the stops right now, and find a vet who will care for her through this emergency.

[gemy]

Canine Reproduction Video and Book on Breeding and Whelping dogs by Debbie Jensen for dog breeders and Whelping Supplies needed to deliver puppies.

Here is a website that has much usefull information on it.

I truly feel that your best course of action is to take her to a vet for the whelping.

What-ever you decide to do, I am hoping for the best outcome for your gal and her pups.

[Merizabeth928]

Additionally her previous litter consisted of three pups. All very small in weight and length. Her previous owner has been very good about answering any questions we have had. As for breeding her in the future, I agree! My only reason about possibly doing so was to be able to give them to my in-laws (and keep one ourselves) as they wanted Mila before they found out we were getting her. However, after being someone that has experienced pregnancy complications and pre term delivery myself, I am thinking that having her spayed is the obvious choice to prevent my poor baby from enduring this again. I feel so bad for her right now because to me she is just a pup herself and should not be going through this. Your kind words, advice, and prayers are so greatly appreciated!!

[lynzy420]

Have asked admin to move this to the Breeders section. Hope you are there reading.

Also, a word of advice, if you did not see her breed than you don't know what she bred with...please don't gamble with this pup.

[gemy]

I heartedly encourage that course of action to spay her. where are you located in Tennessee?
We might have a member who breeds that is close to you and might be willing to help out.

[gemy]

Don't allow the Mom to chew the umblicial. You cut it. also if she won't lick stimulate the puppy, you must do so.

Labour goes on for 1.5 hrs and no puppy - off to the emergency vet you go.

Count all the placentas! Let her eat at least one.

Get your whelping pudding recipe made up

Do you know how to tube feed?

[Lil Sis]

oh wow!!! I know you are pure nerves right now.

I understand, when I got my little Remy I had talked about breeding her. I wanted to have more yorkies and of coursefor family etc. About a few days of reading on yt I changed my mind. It is ok to think one thing and then after gaining knowledge make a better more informed decision.

I also would say... find a vet that will see you ASAP. I hope all is well with your new baby. She is depending on you for her life at this time.

If she can deliver the pups have them rehomed to your inlaws ect... they will be precious babies too. If not.. well I am not a vet so I hope you get good advice. I wonder about emergency spay? idk

Good luck, I wish you well and please keep up posted!!

[Merizabeth928]

Originally Posted by gemy

I heartedly encourage that course of action to spay her. where are you located in Tennessee?
We might have a member who breeds that is close to you and might be willing to help out.

We are located in Clarksville. Approximately 40 minutes west of Nashville.