I have a 3.5 year old bitch (correction. She is 3 years 10 months) that has had two litters previously. The first was a litter of 7 before she came to live with us and the 2nd litter was a litter of 4.

Both were natural whelpings but the 2nd litter she had decent contractions but got the pups to the end of the birth canal and then I had to pull them down the vaginal opening due to her additional vaginal tissue. Not the best way but we got it done and there were really no problems.

She has been bred again. The first breeding was three days after she ovulated. From that first breeding date her 62nd day would be Thursday the 24th. She has 7 puppies.

3 days ago her temp dropped and 2 days ago she lost her plug. Other than that she had acted normally. Playing, eating, sleeping and a bit of nesting here and there and so on.

Last night she ate dinner at 7 pm readily and then at 10:30 we noticed she was panting a bit more than normal and so thought she was beginning to whelp. That continued off and on all night long with naps inbetween but the panting was harder and she was digging a bit more in the box.

At 8 am we offered her breakfast and she turned it down. She has no progress all night but there is also no discharge. She is panting (when doing it) and digging like she is going to progress to the next stage but that just doesn't happen.

I feathered her and she is actually tighter than I expected at the top of her vaginal canal and dry. No discharge at all. I have pit but of course will not give it.

I am happy to take her in for a section if needed but I do not want to rush her in for one when there is no need. My vet is saying I shouldn't worry? I am not sure about that really and since vets do not usually have much whelping experience I am wondering.

Have any of you had a similar experience? Any information you can share is greatly appreciated.

this is a gray area for alot of us, but why not call Hutch's clinic and pay for the call and ask him? Animal Clinic Northview 440-327-8282
I wouldn't wait too long to call.

Have you leash walked her around the yard to help get things going?

Is she having any contractions or just panting.

Sometimes riding around in the car can work too.

Good luck. Hoping she whelps at home and it is uneventful.

Have you taken her temperature lately? Is it still down? If it's back up to 101-102 (normal temp), then you have a problem.

That is an idea. I know he is a repro specialist but didn't know he was a whelping specialist as well.

Yes I have walked her around the yard a few times and it seems not to do anything really. No contractions at all, just panting. She is pressing her rear against the box sides but not really hard.

Just ran and took her temp and it is 98.6

I would wait. It is usually 24 hours after it hits 98 degrees. Sometimes it can be a little longer. Hope everything goes well for you.

Her temp dropped 3 days ago though. That is one of my biggest concerns besides she seems to be stuck in pre-labor. Acording to her due date though (and checked is several times) her 62nd day is this Thursday.

Did you do progesterone? If so, what was the date she hit 5?

We did a progesterone on her and she hit .5ng on July 21st, so Sep 22nd would be her 63rd day from her ovulation.

Wait . . give the girl time. Most likely this evening you will have you're first puppy.

OK..we are hanging in there and she seems to still be progressing. More hard panting more often, digging, circling. We may be on our way and OK. I will post our progress and thank you to everyone.

I would suggest what my vet suggested on our last litter...

take her in for an ultrasound and get the heartbeats checked.

We had a temp drop days before we ended up with the litter. we had refusal to eat days before as well. but still no contractions or labour. We opted for c-section - and with no labour - the placentas were already detaching, and we were a bit early going in based on what day it was, but we were bang on time when we did!
The $60 we spent on ultrasound was worth what we could have lost.

Unless you are well on your way as you could be now - this is just a suggestion.
Best of luck to you!

Just let her do her job. They pant for days sometimes. Sounds like she is getting ready.

I would suggest doing a progesterone. If it is above 2.0, my vet would not do a C-section yet. If it drops below, the pups should be OK if you section. I always notify my vet when the temperature drops and have a progesterone done if she hasn't started having contractions within 24 hours.

I had a litter recently by C-section, and the repro vet found that my girl had a stricture and could never have whelped naturally. She had a dark brownish red discharge during the night, so I took her in as soon as I could contact the repro vet, and they had her in surgery within 30 minutes. All the pups survived, but at least one had a partially detached placenta and would not have made it if I hadn't gotten her there quickly.

I will throw my 2 cents in.

My last litter I was a little worried. My vet said just wait. My Suzy always had her pups 5-6 hrs. after she started labor. I walked her and walked her. She was in no distress, just panting and I knew she was in labor. It took 14 hrs for her to have her first pup. The second one came about 1-2 hrs. later. She was born dead. She was a perfectly formed big black bitch. The 3rd,4th and 5th came fast. The last 6 were spread out. The second one was the only one born dead. So, I would say if she is in no distress let mother nature take care of it.

Donna

I'd be curious about those heart rates. Do you have access to an Ultrasound Doppler?

Just past 9 pm now and again, we have progress but it is so very slow. Now she is really panting and digging in to the whelping box. Still no major pushing with her rear to the box. No discharge, no contractions. We are going to let her get through the night and take her in in the morning if she doesn't produce a puppy.

We called the 3 vets we usually use for standard things and they gave us quotes of $1800, $1640 and $1500 for sections. I didn't realize it was going to be that much! Geesh! The emergency clinic we used last year for one was only $1200!!!

I feared c-sections so long ago thinking that the pricing was out of this world. Now- knowing what i'd pay for scheduled vs emergency is very reasonable compared to your quotes. Holy cow!!!
A c-section at our clinic was $600 during the day/business hours. I was terrified of emergency pricing - but my vet told me : add $150 to walk in the door and another $75 for the help to be there. so for $825 - during the middle of the night or on a sunday- wowzers- big difference from yours! I"m shocked, i thought in Canada we were wayyyy more expensive than down in the US. I'm learning quickly that we're not!

Again - best wishes for your upcoming. and you don't need intervention and it becomes an uneventful whelp for all involved.

think it just depends where you are at, I am in North Florida and a scheduled C section is $680, emergency $800.

Here. . $1100 base price plus $100 per puppy. We've done 4 c-sections this year on small litters (2,2,1,0 puppies respectively).

Southern California regular vet $1200, emergancy vet $2000.

Give her space, darken the room she is in, and stay in a different room. When she senses your concern, she generates adrenaline which neutralizes the oxytocin that causes contractions. This is an ancient way that mothers were able to delay birth if there was danger, and we tend to trigger that response when we hover. Good luck!

You say her temp dropped a few days ago but you don't say to what---it is not unusual for a bitch to drop temp somewhat (99.00 - 100.0 F.) then go back up. THEN you see the real temperature drop, below 99.0 F., so I would say she is progressing normally.
I agree with the "no hovering rule" and let her rest in a darkened room, with something cave-like (i.e., sheets around and on the top of an ex-pen around the whelping box). Remain calm and quiet around her, take her out when neccessary for a break, and rub her back if she seems to enjoy that. Otherwise stay quiet and unobtrusive.
This is her third litter, so you don't have to worry about strictures, and she has several puppies in there, so you don't have to worry about uterine inertia. If there are no contractions after 24 hours following a steep temperature drop, take her in to be evaluated by a veterinarian. An ultrasound would be good in this scenario.
If you see hard pushing and no puppies after 45 mins. or so, she needs to go into the emergency hospital. If you see mild or intermittent contractions for more than 3 hours without producing a puppy, she also needs to go to the emergency hospital. Watch the time she starts her contractions, write it down and note the character of the contractions, mild/intermittent or hard.
Avoiding veterinary care if something is not right is not the answer. It will not benefit you or her if you wait for your regular vet to open just to save money.

Update:

Well we were patient and just went to bed for a couple of hours, checked her quickly and then went back to bed.

It paid off! At 5:00 she started pushing and by 6:15 we had our first puppy easily. She is working on the 2nd now.

Thank you for your help!!! It looks like we are on our way.

wonderful news, I've been watching this thread for this!

Congrats on the upcoming- wishing for an uneventful whelping for you and your girl. Will be anxiously awaiting the final post!

Hoping everything is ok. Please let us know when you get a chance.

I have to agree with Nancy R. When my girl was about to have her first litter I was hovering over her waiting in anticipation with every pant. I called my Vet. numerous times, driving her crazy. She finally said, Linda dim the lights, leave the room, go have a gin and tonic and check back in 15 - 20 mins. I did and 15 mins. later there was a pup. Good luck.