516 — Singleton Puppies: Whelping and Raising Strategies
Singleton Puppies: Whelping and Raising Strategies
For Valentine’s Day, Susan Patterson, moderator of the fabulous Canine, Fertility, Reproduction and Neonatal Issues Facebook group (invite required) and host Laura Reeves team up to talk about the dreaded Singleton… puppy that is. Susan and Laura discuss proper progesterone timing to help avoid a singleton litter in the first place, planning and managing a c-section if needed.
One is the Lonliest Number…
Singleton puppies present unique challenges for whelping and raising successfully. In large breed dogs, frequently the single puppy in utero does not release sufficient hormones to trigger the dam to start labor.
“This is again where progesterone timing, knowing your ovulation date, is important,” Susan said. “What most people fail to account for is placentas have an expiration date. You can’t go past that date or you will lose your puppy, there’s just no ifs, ands, or buts, and possibly your bitch. So knowing when the bitch is due is critical.
“Once you know when she’s due, you can be watching for labor to commence. I would strongly suggest you plan a C-section as a back-up, knowing you’re probably going to use it, but plan it as a backup. Give your bitch the chance to whelp naturally and then pull the trigger.
“The other thing, especially a day before you think you’re gonna have to pull the trigger, you’re gonna wanna be monitoring heartbeats. You don’t want your Singleton puppy to go into distress. If (the heartbeat) drops below 180 or 170 (bpm) I start getting really concerned.”
Management is job #1
Without the interaction of littermates, the singleton can overeat, under-exercise and may well need additional guidance to understand proper dog interactions.
Susan and Laura discuss monitoring the bitch for mastitis and the puppy to avoid gaining too much weight too quickly.
“The first thing I would do, is the minute she comes out of anesthesia is I would put her on sunflower lecithin,” Susan noted. “What the sunflower lecithin does, is it makes the milk less sticky, thins it down slightly, so that it passes through the memory glands much easier … it’s basically one teaspoon of sunflower lecithin for every 20 pounds of dog.
“A swimmer puppy is, it’s not just a condition of obesity, but that is definitely a contributing factor. So what you wanna do is you wanna have in your whelping box lots of hills and valleys. You wanna use pool noodles, rolled up bathroom rugs, anything to make that puppy work for dinner.”
Socializing singletons in other litters if possible and absolutely with safe adult dogs enables them to learn the critical life skill of appropriate interaction with other dogs as well as people.
Tune in for more of this great conversation.
154 – Veterinary Voice with Dr. Marty Greer|C-Section Decisions
VETERINARY VOICE — C SECTIONS: WHEN, WHY AND HOW
DR. MARTY GREER, DVM, JD
Welcome to the debut of this exciting monthly feature here at PureDogTalk. Dr. Greer offers outstanding information on a variety of topics. She is a licensed veterinarian and attorney who specializes in reproductive issues at her clinic in Wisconsin.
PureDogTalk listeners are fortunate to have a front row seat for Dr. Greer’s knowledge, experience and compassion, now on a monthly basis.
CEASARIAN SECTIONS
We’re talking today about Ceasarian sections…. the when, why and how of a difficult and emotionally fraught, potentially emergency whelping situation.
“These are scary, tough decisions,” Greer said. “Breeders and veterinarians are often both conflicted.” We’ve provided a graphic in the show notes with excellent information on protocols and a decision making checklist.
Greer discusses the differences between working with your regular veterinarian and an emergency or referral clinic which may not be as familiar with you and your pet.
“It’s the middle of the night, you’re sleep deprived, your dog and puppies are in trouble,” Greer observed. “You don’t always get the response from (an emergency clinic) to promptly intervene.”
PROGESTERONE TIMING FOR PREVENTION
The best cure is prevention, Greer said. Plan ahead and be prepared. Her best suggestion is to do progesterone timing at the outset of the breeding. This timing will give breeders the best information as to exactly when a litter is due and take away a great deal of heart ache and hand wringing on the topic of whether a C section is required.
“Try to be prepared. Do progesterone timing,” Greer noted, “do a pregnancy confirmation ultrasound, do a puppy count xray. Have your whelping supplies together. Put gas in your car!”
Progesterone timing, while perhaps not necessary to get a bitch bred with a natural breeding, allows breeders to be organized and well prepared, according to Greer. If a bitch is bred every other day for a week, the breeder has NO idea when she ovulated. “And, you have no way to gauge if/when she might need a Csection,” Greer added.
Breeder can do reverse progesterone at the end of the pregnancy if needed, but Greer noted this becomes much more costly than simply pulling blood for progesterone at the beginning.
“Losing a litter is very expensive. It’s very emotional for everyone,” Greer said.
She also spends time talking about how and why to build a relationship with your veterinarian. Most particularly breeders are recommended to treat the veterinary practitioner well, bring goodies for the staff, establish mutual respect. It isn’t always easy to find a clinic willing to work with a breeder. Greer recommends taking good care of those folks!
Breeders can also mentor veterinary students in their homes. “Take (baby veterinarians) to events. Invite them to join you on whelp watch,” Greer said. “Its a great way to build a bridge. The more we can do to mentor, help them understand, the better off we are.”
Greer also encourages breeders to play fair with their vet clinic. “Pay for a consultation, sit down with the veterinarian, let them know ‘this is what I do, this is what I need.’ They will know you are sincere. You need to have face to face conversation. “
While we’ll have a checklist from Greer here on the show notes, some specific details from Greer for evaluating a bitch at home as to whether a situation constitutes an emergency.
GREEN MEANS GO!
Her primary commentary is “green means go.” If a breeder sees green vaginal discharge **prior to the delivery of the first puppy** it means the bitch has placental separation and at least one, if not more puppies, are in danger from a lack of oxygen.
A final note from Greer, is that 75 percent of C sections are due to a problem with the bitch i.e. breed specific issues, uterine inertia, the number of puppies and more. The remaining 25 percent of issues are caused by a puppy coming the wrong way, a log jam in delivery and ore in that vein.
Listen today for more absolutely critical, life saving information from an experienced practitioner.
EMERGENCY C SECTIONS QUESTIONS
Questions for evaluation of the bitch at home or at the hospital indicating the probable need for an Emergency C-Section:
- Has the bitch been in hard labor (abdominal pushing) over 2 hours on the first or 1 hour on subsequent pups?
- Did the bitch initially show good abdominal contractions and stop without producing a puppy?
- Is there is green vaginal discharge PRIOR to the delivery of the first puppy?
- Does the bitch seem distressed? Frantic? Sick? Weak or unable to stand? Tremoring? Repeated vomiting?
- Is this labor pattern different than her previous ones?
- Has the bitch been unwilling or unable to eat and/or drink for over 12 hours?
- Has WhelpWiseR indicated there is a problem with fetal heart rates (<160 BPM) or uterine contraction patterns?
- Have any pups been born dead?
- Did a previous radiograph or ultrasound suggest there could be a problem? (low heart rates on ultrasound or pups without visible heartbeats?) (Malpresented or very large pups)
- Is a pup palpated on vaginal examination and in an unusual position or not progressing through the birth?
- Did her temperature drop to 98 degrees and rise to normal (over 101.0) and stay there more than 4 hours?
- Has her pregnancy exceeded 63 days?
- Does she appear to have a very large or very small litter?
- Does she have a previous history of dystocia?
- Is she a breed at risk for maternal or fetal causes of dystocia?
- Does she have unexplained or unusual discharge from her eyes?
- Is she having weak or non-productive contractions with multiple puppies left?
- If oxytocin has been used (more later), has there been a minimal or no response?
- Does the breeder or veterinary staff member have a feeling that something is going wrong? Trust their intuition.
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you very likely need to assess the bitch as soon as possible and advise your client that the bitch should proceed to emergency surgery unless you can immediately correct any cause for dystocia.