Giving birth, for any mammal is DANGEROUS. Prior to our present era of modern medicine, it was common for women to DIE giving birth. It was common for men to have several wives in a life time due to the high death rate of women during child birth.
At any rate, the process of giving birth is still dangerous. Dystocia is the medical term for problems during the birth process.
Dystocia: "What To Expect When You Go To The Vet"
If your dog or cat seems to be having trouble giving birth ... or seems to have been in labor for too long ... or the expected due date has past ... or your dog in late pregnancy seems to be sick:
What Do You Do?
Duh...Go to your vet.
What to expect:
If you allow your pet to get pregnant, you need to understand that sometimes things go wrong.
Things that can go wrong include:
Weak or no contractions
Failure to get all the babies out
Babies too big to get out
Abortions
Miscarriages
Birth defects
Babies born dead or very weak
Infections
Increased Parasitism
Death
In an ideal world, the pregnancy is a planned event, the female is young and healthy, under the care of a veterinarian, well vaccinated, not too overweight, and not suffering from parasitism. But even then, pregnancy, especially during birth, is fraught with dangers.
So here’s what to expect when you go to the vet if the delivery event isn’t going smoothly:
History and Exam: Your vet will be interested in the breeding date if known as well as recent appetite, energy level, and any symptoms of illness such as vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy and so forth. The trouble with taking histories of late stage pregnancies is that it’s often normal to feel lousy in late pregnancy.
In addition to all the routine things your vet will be evaluating during the exam, he or she will be paying special attention to:
1. Signs of toxicity which might indicate a dead fetus or uterine infection.
2. A good pelvic exam for discharges, cervical relaxation, and of course a possible baby stuck in the canal. Whether or not we can insert a finger into the vaginal tract to see if the cervix is dilated or not depends, of course, on the size and temperament of the animal.
3. Whether or not milk is present ... not all that critical, but it’s nice to know and the presence of milk indicates that gestation is nearing it’s end
4. Body temperature ... it normally drops a couple of degrees within 24 hours of delivery (I don’t know why) ...another indication that the body is ready to deliver.
5. Most important of all; General health and vigor. Is the patient strong enough to go through labor and/or a C-section without aggressive supportive care.
6. We will want to know whether the health of the mom or the babies are more important to you... sometimes we need to make a choice.
What’s next?
After the exam and discussion, you and your vet may decide at this time to either give the situation a little more time, treat whatever other problems may be apparent, or if needed, do a C section.
Or ... more investigation may be in order. If the vet’s sensitive antenna are alerted, blood work, radiographs, or ultrasound images may be in order. And if you’ve decided a C section is the best course, then blood work to evaluate glucose levels, clotting, liver, and kidney function may be considered advisable or routine.
And here’s something you need to understand:
Many C sections are easy, problem-free surgeries; the patient’s only major problem is getting those babies OUT.
But sometimes the puppies or kittens aren't coming out normally because the momma dog or cat is seriously sick. Perhaps due to a dead fetus, a uterine infection, hormone imbalances, immune complications, dehydration, calcium deficiencies and so forth.
Trust your vet and understand that some of these cases require fairly aggressive treatment, are sometimes expensive, and sometimes unsuccessful.
Speaking of expense, this is an aside, but it seems to me that most C sections seem to be needed in the middle of the night. You might want to consider getting pet health insurance if you’re planning on breeding.
If we determine that the cervix is dilated enough and the patient is healthy enough, your vet may give an injection to induce labor.
A calcium injection may also be given to strengthen contractions.
If these injections don’t work within about 30 minutes, they may need to be repeated.
If a second injection still doesn’t induce successful labor, well then a C section will probably be recommended.
Just like in human delivery rooms, decisions on what to do depends on the situation and the situation can change quickly. In hind sight, we sometimes find we’ve made a wrong or unnecessary decision, but you simply have to trust your vet’s experience.
Maybe your skillful vet will be able to avoid a C section and be able to extract a puppy or kitten stuck in the birth canal. (I tell my students that the 3 most important things in pulling calves, lambs, pups, kittens, or any other species is “Lubrication, Lubrication, Lubrication!”
Sometimes there’s no viable choice except a C section. If so, one of the challenges is that the anesthesia will affect the babies too, so we need to get them out fast, and they may need cpr and cardiac and respiratory stimulation. They may need supplemental nursing until the mother recovers from the surgery.
Misc Comments:
Just because a C section is needed for one delivery in a patient doesn’t mean a future pregnancy will require a C section. Maybe yes, maybe no.
Your vet can spay your cat or dog during the C section if you want.
