Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Is my dog pregnant?
Is she acting signifigantly different than she did after her previous heat cycles? If she starts to keep a favorite toy with wherever she goes chanches are she's in a FALSE pregnancy. You don't mention exactly how long after the end of her disharge she is, gestation is typically 62 days but varies with the breed. In the first seven to ten days if you may notice a somewhat milky discharge from her vulva when she urinates. This is from the formation of the "uterine plug" The plug closes the the opening of the cervix to prevent contamination of the fetuses ( zygotes at this point as the initial ferized eggs are still dividing,and multiplying and any real structure and implantation has yet to occur). 2-3 weeks into the pregnancy, you should see her engorge and/or elongate. Her abdomen should will be starting to grow too. Your vet ( and this requires a ton of experience to get it right, so even they might not be able to make the determination) can check by palpating the abdomen to locate any fetuses. This has to be done before the fetuses move forward into the chest cavity. Blood and urine tests are also available,as is ultrasound for later in the pregnancy (also requires lots of experience. My vet charged me 35 bucks for it and seeing the pups was a trip!) If she is pregnant and you intend to deliver her at home you'll need to prepare a whelping box for her in a nice warm place. If your squeamish make arrangements with your vet. Be prepared to stay with her during the delivery as she may need some help particularly if this is her first litter. Delivery usually occurs late into the night, a defensive mechanism thought to be left over from birthing in the wild. She should deliver the first pup within a maximum of eight hours of her water breaking, with no more than four hours in between pups. Any longer than that get her to the vet who can either induce labor or may decide on a "C" section.Mother and pups will need lots of care afterwards, more so the mother as she'll still need to be fed and do her business outside in between caring for the newborns. The pups are blind and deaf at birth with their eyes open in about 10 -17 days and ear cs opening by 3 weeks. The pups need to be checked to insure they're eating. Checking to make sure they're all defecating is a task that MUSTbe performed. Weighing them at birth and recording their weight gains is also a good way to watch there progress. And of course cleaning up the whelping box. Mom will help as she is quite likely to eat some or all of the placentas and fetal sacks during delivery. It's an amazing experience so take lots of pictures,and I hope you'll be able to share it with someone has been through it before. Get her checked at the vet's and good luck.
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