I have a girl that we elected to do an emergency c-section on because she had low calcium and never went into active labor. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with having a natureal birth after a c-section. Is it recommended to do c-sections or should we try to let her whelp naturally next time and interven if needed? I am just trying to plan ahead and am not sure we will breed her again. She is such a nice bitch and comes from a line of "easy whelpers" so I am not sure exactly what went wrong this time around.

Absolutely, but depends on the situation! Had a bitch with 13 puppies have uterine inertia and a section. Subsequent smaller litters were free whelped with no problems. Your calcium issue and hypoglycemia would be more of a concern for me.

I had a c-section for a stuck puppy. First time in 10 years I'd had one. Next litter was 3 puppies and she free whelped no problem.

FYI, I recently had a singleton litter. Bitch did not go into labor on her own due to not enough puppy hormones to start things. My reproduction vet recommended a drug induction rather than a section. Worked great and she delivered her singleton perfectly normal! It's nice to know there are options other than c-sections in instances like this.

What drug was used? Oxy/Pit? or something else?

Also curious as to what day? Did you let her go beyond 63 since there was no sign of labor?

You can always tell your Vet to "be on call", just in case. Allow her to go into labor, if she will, and if it is productive labor, but if it isn't, get those puppies out via c-section.

If her first c-section was due to a blocked puppy, like a shoulder dystocia, then it wouldn't have any impact on future litters. However, if she had other issues in not going into full labor, or a non-productive labor, better to get the puppies out alive.

Best,

Leslee Pope
Huntcrest

One of my girls upon her first whelping, delivered puppy #1 without problem and then puppy #2 was stuck due to the bitch having a contraction that resulted in a muscle spasm that would not quit. Even during the emergency c-section, it took quite an effort for the vet to get the puppy released. (That puppy did make it - litter size was 4.) Her second whelping was a free whelp with 8 puppies. Her third and final whelping ended in a c-section due to another problem with a stuck puppy due to a muscle spasm. All those babies made it too. You just never know. Watch your girl and follow that gut feeling.

I don't want to give dosage information but bitch was given the drug Alizine (acts as a natural progesterone block and prepares body for labor). 24 hours after that if labor has not started then you give a specific dosage of Oxytocin. Giving Oxy on it's own could result in disaster.

Thank you for sharing this information Liz! It is good to know there are options such as this, and that you had good luck with it.

My girls water had broke at around 4am and then at 3pm I started seeing green discharge so I got nervous. The emergency vet gave her oxytocin, did xrays and bloodwork. The pups were not stuck or anything, but bloodwork showed low calcium. She did not respond to the oxytocin and calcium so we did a c-section. After the c-section and IV calcium her level was normal the next day and she continued do well. Anyone ever had this happen? Could it have been her diet? She was fed Premium Edge Adult her whole pregnancy. It is hard because I don't have a repro vet near me and my regular vet has limited availability when it comes to emergencies and/or scheduled c-sections.