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Whelping Problems for your dog can be awful since watching a living being giving birth to offspring can be very exciting. However, there are potential problems associated with the entire process that you must look out for. Otherwise, your dog or litter can fall sick easily.
Before we look at those problems, you must have a look over the preparation. See if you are doing everything right and not blundering on your part. If you are doing everything right but still observing those problems, you must consult a vet immediately for medical treatment.
Lacking time to take care of your dog or its puppies can also cost you their life. This mortality issue is how serious of a situation this is. We are now going to talk about the potential problems associated with whelping that you must always pay attention to. Scroll down to know more.
If you have made your dog mate with another one and it hasn’t gone into labour even after over seventy days, you must immediately contact your vet. This problem can give rise to some complications during labour, one of which is dystocia. Dystocia refers to a condition where the shoulders get stuck after the head delivery.
The inability to expel puppies through the birth canal can be uncomfortable for the dog. It would be best if you instantly took your dog to the vet so they could prepare it for a c-section.
It is a condition where a puppy dies even before birth. It takes place in the womb of the dog. Knowing if your dog has a stillborn puppy is essential because it can affect the entire litter in the womb.
According to the studies, around eight percent of puppies die in the womb before birth. If you try to revive the puppy after being born and it still hasn’t come to life after five minutes of treatment, the chances of it getting revived are close to none.
The puppies can stay in the uterus for up to twenty-four hours after the start of the labour period. As long as it is not discharging anything from the vagina, you should consider the situation under control.
It is usual for the puppies to get stuck in the birth canal. They either deliver the head first and get stuck with the feet or vice versa. For that, you can grab them from a clean towel and try to pull the puppies gently at a slightly downward angle.
However, if it is the case of dystocia, and the shoulders stick to them, you should contact the vet immediately.
If the mother dog is in labour for quite a long time, she might get tired and face exhaustion. This exhaustion may lead her to stop straining. They may also sleep during the first step of labour.
You must contact the vet to help your dog with IV so that it can make efforts to give birth through standard delivery. Injecting her with calcium can strengthen its uterine contractions, which will ultimately boost its immune system.
Slight bleeding during the whelping process is entirely normal for the dog; however, if it happens in an excess amount, you should visit a vet immediately.
In some cases, bleeding can occur for weeks, after which it resolves naturally. But it is always safe to consult a vet and not experiment yourself.
A common problem occurs after a long or complicated labour process for the dog. The inflammation of the uterus occurs in this condition, indicating some severe infections in the womb.
You must consult your vet immediately, or it can be fatal for the mother dog. The symptoms include foul-smelling discharge from the vagina, reduced milk production, dull eyes, dehydration, depression, weakness, and fever.
Even though it is a rare condition, sometimes the mother dog can harm its puppies intentionally or unintentionally. It is usual for the dog to eat her placenta, but sometimes the situation can get worse than that.
The mother dog would sometimes try to damage the umbilical area of the puppy by biting it. An even worse condition involves the mother eating her puppies. Hence, it would be best if you always looked out for them. Notice any changes in the mother’s behaviour towards her litter so that it doesn’t cause severe damage.
It is likely for a dog to reject nurturing her puppies. It can sometimes happen when the mother itself feels unwell. She might also feel unworthy to take care of the puppies, which makes her reject them after birth.
You must take your dog to the vet so that they can run some tests and identify what’s wrong with the dog. This way, they can treat it appropriately.
Hypoxia is a condition in newborn puppies who seem to be getting low oxygen. When insufficient blood reaches the puppies’ system, their internal organs start to malfunction, resulting in serious complications.
This uterine rupture is one of the most complicated conditions where the mother dog’s uterus ruptures during labour. This condition causes the mother and puppies to lose their lives instantly.
It happens when the litter’s weight puts too much pressure on the mother’s uterus. Sometimes it doesn’t rupture but swells instead, restricting the puppies from passing through the birth canal.
The only way you can prevent these potential complications from turning into something big is by doing lots of research. Pay closer attention to your dog and its movements. Take her to the vet and get examined before labour properly.
Keep all the supplies and emergency necessities prepared and ready so that you can act instantly to solve these problems. Otherwise, you can always take them to the vet.
You can never avoid the complications that occur during the whelping period of a dog. However, you can always be prepared for it by taking the necessary actions and precautions.
We have listed above some significant complications that potentially occur during whelping. Make sure to go through each one of them and talk to your vet about how you can handle them beforehand.
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