A puppy is born!

Ever thought of breeding your dog? Wouldn’t it be so cute to have a litter of puppies?  They are honestly the cutest things to watch grow up.  I have spent many wasted hours watching videos on you tube of wildlife pet parents and their babies. But in reality, breeding your dog is laced with challenges.  Small breed dogs present the biggest challenge as their birth canal is often too small to pass a large baby and this will ultimately lead to an emergency c- section (caesarean). 

Recently, we had a Chihuahua mom who spent more than 12 hours in labour and had a fluid filled sac hanging from her vulva. No baby had been produced, yet her contractions continued and she was obviously distressed and exhausted.  When our Etobicoke veterinarian, Dr. Sterbinsky, examined her, he found the head of a baby caught in the birth canal.  An emergency c-section was recommended.

Little Momma went under anesthetic smoothly but when the uterus was opened up we discovered she had 3 babies. Unfortunately 2 of the puppies did not survive but the third puppy was strong.  When Dr. Sterbinsky passed this little one to me, I had to immediately get the fluid out from its nose and get this puppy breathing.  Once clear, we put the puppy on oxygen while Dr. Sterbinsky finished momma’s c-section.  The puppy was placed next to mom while she recovered from anesthesia and nuzzled right into her. Within 2 hours the puppy began the instinctual rooting for the nipple and mom’s breasts began to fill with milk and the ever important colostrums.  Mom knew right away that she had a newborn, even though it was delivered while she was under anesthetic.   She became protective and nurturing right away and shot me a look if I came too close to her newborn.

Mom and baby went home that night and continue to do well. Small breed dogs have a tendency to drop their blood sugar quickly so it’s important that the baby feeds regularly. A good quality puppy food needs to be fed to the mom and the puppy required supplemental milk replacer. It was not an easy birth for this mom or the owner but we are happy to report that this turned out to be a successful delivery!

Brigitte