HELP!! I don't know nuthin about birthing no babies
 

I just wrote a loooooong post left my computer for about 10 min came back finished it off ... clicked to post it and voila' it says I'm not logged in.

My furgirl Chloe is almost 2 and I found out yesterday she is about 4 weeks pregnant.. the bad news is she typically weighs 2.9-3.2 lbs. The vet said she is expecting at least 3. I am currently in MI.. we usually leave for Fl for the winter in Oct.-Nov. but not this year.

My main concern is ... should I plan on a C-section? This is what was suggested to me by a vet in Fl. should she get pregnant. My daughter said she thought Chloe might have difficulty nursing if she doesn't give birth naturally.

I know she is small but the vet thought she would have only one.. and that she could be neutered after the C section.

We have the male Carlo.. he is just 1 year and weighs close to 6lbs. Please don't lecture me on being irresponsible.. I had never planned on breeding her due to her size until this particular vet said she thought they should have a baby because Chloe is so beautiful and Carlo is so cool.

At any rate the damage is done.. My main concern is for the health of Chloe. I would love to have one of their babies but I am now concerned if she will nurse if a C section is performed.

I have edited this considerably after spending so much time on the first post... please don't judge me.. I need sound advice.

The title of your post said it all. "HELP!! I don't know nuthin about birthing no babies" Have her spayed now and the male too. She is to small, she could die.

I would make sure you are at the vets office when it is time. That way you have emergency help if you need it. You just never know how it will go. The problem being she is so very small. That way she will have the best care possible and they can do what is necessary right away. Hope it all goes okay

Your vet told you it's ok to breed a 3lbs girl? And to do it because your male is cool?:eek: You need to find a new vet!!

Your vet thought it was fine to breed a 3lb female to a 6 lb male. I would have her spayed and not risk her life

Amen sister !!!

:thumbup:

What happened, back in January you were going to have Chloe spayed?

Is the same vet that was apprehensive about spaying her because of his large hands/her small body, but this same vet thinks it's okay for this tiny girl to give birth?:eek:

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to spare you a lecture. Someone needs to be the voice for this poor little pup.

She is far too small. She is what we would consider in human med (which I work in) a high risk pregnancy. There are ppl with certain illnesses that we would advise against pregnancy for the good of their own health and survival, and a dog the size of yours falls into that category. The strength of my words comes from the cases I have personally worked on where someone was advised not to get pregnant, did, and then it was a fight to try to keep them and their child alive.

I agree w the other posters who suggested getting her neutered ASAP. It is normally accepted protocol that dams under 5 lb should not be breed due to the risk. I also agree about finding another vet, if your vet really did advise you to impregnate this dog.

I'd have a reputable vet spay your girl that is more concerned about her welfare than cute puppies. Then I'd give the bill to the vet that said it was okay to breed her. If the new vet thinks it's unsafe to spay right now, then keep the number to the nearest ER nearby because it's likely you'll be needing it along with a couple grand for a c-section. If (God forbid) she doesn't make it or can't nurse (could have major issues with milk production - she is tiny), then you'll have to feed the pups, even through the night - every couple hours for weeks. I'd start planning now..

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...ml#post3382954 You're really going to hate my post, but I have to ask. Why was this little girl not spayed when your vet recommended it in January of 2011?

I like Ellie May's advice about sending the bill to the vet that told you to impregnate her. Was this a different vet than the one who recommended spaying? If so, I would go back to the one who recommended spaying. Our little one lives are dependent on the skill of their medical practitioners.

I'm glad your main concern is Chloe, it is a definite possiblity that she won't want to nurse after (which is highly likely) needing a C section.

There are no NON Risk answers here. If it is dangerous to spay her when she is pregnant it is also very dangerous to let her go ahead with this pregnancy. What if she has more than one pup in there, multiple pups in the uterus>>> higher risk of insufficency within the womb >>> emergency C section or spay even before the pups come to term.

You, as you admit are not a breeder, nor I presume planned on breeding. There is just so much you need to know; need to be prepared for, for the health of your dam and potential pups that you through your own lack of experience and knowledge, place your Dam at a huge risk.

I truly believe based on what you have told us, that the best option is to spay your girl now.

The risk of spaying her would primarily be a risk of anesthesia. Would be better (safer) to take that risk now rather than wait until she is in labor and under stress.

I would NEVER allow such a pregnancy to continue. Spaying is the best choice, and the sooner done the better. The risks to the babies and the Mom do not end with delivery. The OP's inexperience only compounds the risks that would be there for even the most experienced breeder.

I am not a breeder,but those that have responded that are have given you some soumd advice. If your vet thought that it was ok to breed such a tiny girl then first order of business is to find a different vet.

I want to tell you the story about my Jada. She was a breed dog for a questionable breeder. The breeder went against the advice of our mutual vet and bred Jada when she was a little over 2 years old and about 4lbs 5ozs. She had a singleton and had to have an emergency c-section. Our vet convinced the breeder that she would always have problems as she was too small and she did agree to let him spay her while she was under anesthesia for the c-section.
The breeder then told our vet that since she wasn't able to breed her again to find her a good home. He immediately thought of me as he knew I would make a good mommy. The breeder rehomed Jada to me when her pup was only 6 weeks old.:( She is the love of our lives and a very spoiled little princess now and I cry when I think of what she went through.

Your little girl is smaller than Jada was and is carrying what your vet thinks is 3. I would be terrified of even thinking of taking that chance. And I don't know of a vet with any sense that would recommend a breeding based on a male being "cool" Poor little baby:(

Oh wow that is not professional for a vet to state that a tiny girl like that should be bred at all and even more so to a 6 lb male making him twice her size. I highly suggest finding a GOOD vet and spaying her. If you are going to plan and have her have the puppies I would plan a csection and spay at that time. You will need the vet's home number in case she starts labor in the middle of the night OR you will need to take her to the ER. The ER here in Grand Rapids (approx 1/2 hour away from Holland) starts at $1,500 for a csection and I wouldn't want my girl to be csectioned at an ER vet. If you are interested I can give you the contact info to my personal vet who is also a reproduction specialist, but they are here in GR. They will go over tube feeding/bottle feedings if the puppies make it...depending on size and I bet they would have to be small with three of them I am guessing every 2 hour feedings and thats all night and day long.

The vet must have been smoking crack to give you the advice to breed. Be prepared for a high vet.bills and a lot of lost sleep if you don't terminate the pregnancy. Good luck.

She should have been spayed. Producing puppies from a dog the size of yours is not a sound decision. No reputable vet would have ever told you it was OK to breed that dog. You say yourself that you know nothing about birthing puppies and yet you went ahead and let a 6 pound male breed your little girl. I don't know who I am more disgusted with. So now you want advice!

I really am sorry to hear that your Vet recommended you breed your LITTLE girl and your boy based on beauty and coolness rather than what is in the best interest of your baby girls' health. Perhaps this vet will assume all your medical bills as they did not recommend what was in the best interest of your baby girl but I doubt that. To bad they do not believe in the Hippocratic Oath.
The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by doctors and other healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine ethically. "I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone."
Also I would recommend having Carlo neutered so no other unplanned pregnancies occur. I wish you and your baby girl luck during this difficult time.

Your title is funny, it is verbatim of someones words used on another forum in a post, exept for the "help" part, I must be having de-ja-vu :D

Wow, hopefullly you do right by her. Its amazing that she was 3 lbs at 3 months old and less than that at two years? Is she healthy? I don't know of any healthy Yorkies that stayed the same adult weight as their 12 week weight :confused: I would be concerned about that as well. Just wondering... Good luck with whatever you decide, hopefully its in favor of her life..

you know that you did the WRONG thing and don't need us to tell you that. Spay your girl and spare her life from trying to birth babies from a bigger stud than she is. Neuter your male so this never happens again. Learn your lesson and don't expect anyone to feel sorry for you for doing something so irresponsible. hope you listen and your girl survives this mess you put her in.

Wow. That is certainly interesting. I don't know any either. :confused:

Thank you all for you input and advice. Chloe is a healthy little girl and none of the vets she has seen have been concerned about her size or weight. Even when I questioned why she wasn't growing or gaining weight they just said she was fine and that was what was normal weight for her. The first vet she went to in Fl. was a man who had expressed concern about spaying her due to the size of his hands. When she started bleeding in Dec 10.. I decided to take her to a different vet should she have to be spayed. That is where a young female vet suggested there was no reason she couldn't have pups.. have a C section and then at that time be spayed. The vet I took her to yesterday here in Michigan.. never mentioned taking the babies.

However.. I do believe I will call tomorrow and make plans for her to do so.

Thank you all again for taking the time to post and express your honest opinions.

I am very surprised that your vets seem to think it is ok with her size to have pups. Mikki is 3 1/2 lb and my vet recommended her spay immediately. He said it was way too much of a risk for her to have pups. Not that we were even considering it. Because we were not. He was just offering his expert opinion. Your girl is smaller than that. I am concerned that the vets you have seen don't think this is a problem. I pray that your little girl is able to handle this situation. And I think it is time to find a reputable vet in your area.

That seems like the best decision for your little girl. Good luck with the surgery.

I think you have made the best decision for your female. Thanks for being open minded and listening to advice. We have seen this many times before on here and we have seen the end result also so our advice comes from that perspective

i am glad that you decided to spay her and not risk her on with this pregnancy. big applause to you for listening to experienced breeders and yorkie owners over the voice of unreason you seem to be getting from these vets. i don't know why but you have had some very bad luck with vets. i don't always agree that vets know best anyways especially when it comes to tiny dog breeding. the best people to ask about breeding are in fact the breeders (NOTE: not just any breeder but the breeders that are governed by their breed's parent club and have had a long lifetime and history of ethical breeding practices for show not for profit)

anyways i'm proud to know someone who took advice and seems like you will be listening to it. prob time to find a new vet that understands the dangers of 3lb dogs trying to give birth. and the vet that told you just do a C-section and she'll be fine is NUTS. no one would purposefully have a C-section for their tiny baby. that's just crazy! these dogs have hard enough lives being so little without idiot vets willing to risk their lives on a pregnancy and C-section.

spay her and you won't regret saving her life from the possible outcomes.

Well I'm a newbie and new to all this Yorkie stuff, but I had to say that your post title made me laugh. It made me think of Prissy from Gone With The Wind! That's my favorite movie! Sorry to be off topic. I hope you'll find the help you need here though! :)

I know nothing about breeding. It sounds as though you've gotten some really good advice already. Please make sure whatever you do, you keep the health of your little girl first and foremost.

Good luck.

A story about my little Tia.....I found my little girl through a newspaper article, stating she was 1 year old and weighed 2 lbs. I already had 5 babies at the time, but there was something about the ad that called to me. I inquired, and the "breeder" informed me that she had left Tia in the pen with her males and didn't know she was in heat so she was probably pregnant. I knew then that I had to have her to save her. After much haggling, we agreed on a price and I rescued that baby. This was on Good Friday 2 yrs ago. I had an appt. with my vet for the following Tuesday. He aborted and spayed her and she is doing terrific now. He told me she would probably have died if we hadn't done the surgery. So PLEASE, take my advise and take care of this baby. You could very possibly loose her and the babies.

Good luck!