I have been in touch with my vet, but would like some thoughts from here. My girl got sick yesterday - no big deal she went into labor overnight and first puppy was here at 6:30AM. During whelping she kept drinking but then the vomiting started. Mostly she seemed to be vomiting the placentas back up. She would drink and then up came everything. So, I kept it cool during the whelping and she was done by 11:05. However vomitting continued. At noon, after calling my vet, she got 2TBSP Pepto. After that she got 1 cup water every 15 min or so. She drank. Temp went up over 103. Vomited again around 4:00. More pepto (haven't talked to vet since first call, have texted her info and followed instructions from first call) and water. She has been refusing everything now. She does drink bits of water, I did manage to get a couple treats down her but she clearly is not thrilled about it. Temp went down to 101.7 and then about midnight we had 102.4. I put out a small portion of cottage cheese, hamburg and rice for the overnight plus water. she seems lethargic but not overly so. Took her out to pee, she did. She is nursing and caring for her pups.
Any thoughts? After such an easy whelping I have now been worried sick about her.
Will be contacting vet in AM but curious if anyone else had this happen and their 'fixes'. thanks.

AnneMarie, Please call your vet immediately. In the meantime, do you have any capacity for giving subcutaneous fluids. I am worried about dehydration given her lethargy, temperature spikes, vomiting, lactating, and minimal water intake. Even if she is urinating, dehydration is a real possibility and dangerous. Please call your vet as soon as they open.

If she has any lethargy at all and she's running a fever, I would run to the vet. If she has an infection it can pass to the pups and wipe out the whole litter. I had a similar experience with a Havanese bitch - she had a small encapsulated abscess on one horn. Similar symptoms to what you describe, then a sudden downturn. I lost the whole litter of 7 puppies and she had to be spayed as well. Fortunately she survived and is in great health now.

Oh dear! Yes, vet has been called. She has not vomitted since about 4 yesterday afternoon. Never ate last night, even with a bowl of hamburg, cottage cheese and rice left out. She did drink a bit. Having trouble coaxing her out of box for temp, but will get that soon. Did get her to eat a very small amount from hand and to drink some more. BUT, her lethargy and lack of appetite is very worrisome. Pups seem fine, I'll let you know what the vet says.
102.4, had to leash her and drag her out of box. Vet better call soon.

Try syringing in some chicken broth and pedialyte. Do call the vet, monitor temps, but I will say most of my girls aren't thrilled about eating or drinking for a day or two after whelping. I've not had one throw up more than a few times at the beginning of whelping, though. Hope your girl just was nauseous from the contractions!

Oh, the temp up to 102 is normal according to my vet, after puppies are born, but like everyone else says - don't take a chance!

What is her normal temperature? 102.4 is technically the very high end of normal, but might not be normal for your girl.

Like Breeder said, many bitches don't want to eat much immediately after whelping, especially if you let them eat the placentas (which I usually don't). Not eating wouldn't worry me too much. But not getting enough fluids would worry me a lot.

I would really, really, really hate to take a new mother to the vet. Can you draw blood at home? Can you give subcutaneous fluids?

No, I can't draw blood or do subQ fluids, but I think I will be insisting on a bag at the vet who still has not called back. Did talk to a friend, former vet tech who feels I am not in crisis, so not to worry yet. She does feel she needs to be seen but we checked gums and she is not dehydrated, just very weak. My vet has a room that they save for pup and pregnant bitch access, so while not completely safe it is better than walking thru the main room. Thanks for the broth idea. I forced some down, she wasn't happy. I also forced some tums down too. Still not happy. She did eat several placentas but she also was vomiting them up so not sure what was retained. My vet had a c-section this morning so hopefully I will hear soon. Doesn't she know I am panicking!

I don't know if it is hot where you are yet but I had a stray mama once who wouldn't eat, temp slightly elevated, vomiting a little on and off. I filled ice cube trays with chicken broth and she just licked on those until she felt better.

And then I had to feed her a tiny bit of chicken/cottage cheese/rice/warm water every hour for a couple of days. Her problem was perhaps a bit different than your girl, she was a stray and would have had a messed up stomach anyway.

But the frozen chicken broth might be something your girl would like?

Good luck!!

So we did an xray and she has lots of gas in her intestinal tract. Too much for normal. concern is foreign body but palpation didn't find anything hard. So we are giving her gas x and she got an anti-nausea shot. If she isn't eating and doesn't have a BM by morning she goes in for barium x-rays. Let's hope the gas x and anti-nausea does the trick. Thanks for the advice and tips. I am just about 3 minutes from vet so I can just keep running back and forth if we need xrays. Let's hope not. She actually snatched some deli ham from my sandwich - first sign of a real Lab in 24 hours! I will try some cottage cheese and hamburg once she is done nursing. Fingers crossed.

Today the mystery has been resolved! My dear girl - true to being a Labrador - swallowed what I am guessing is a walnut off the trees overhanging my yard! She just passed it. She is eating up a storm and the pups, which have not been gaining but seemingly satisfied, are nursing more vigorously. I think her milk just came in and now she is eating enough to produce an ample supply. Her legs have seemed to be weak so I will watch that, but I am hoping it is just a matter of weakness from lack of food. I will continue to watch it, just really happy to have my girl back

Wonderful news!!!

Interesting. In horses black walnuts (or even the bark or leaves of black walnut trees) can cause laminitis. There is a toxin in black walnut trees, roots, leaves, and fruit that can kill plants, and moldy walnuts are poisonous and cause neurological symptoms.

Lucky girl...