"Care of Dam after Delivery"

Care of Dam (Mother)
by:Dr.Debbie Jensen



Temperature
Puppies are born time for you to relax. Thought you were done taking her temperature? Not even maybe..
Now you need to monitor the mother temperature. Why? The temperature of her body is tool to warn us if she has a infection. Your (censored)'s temperature dropped right before she went into labor. Now it should rise to 101 to 103. Slightly elevated temperature is normal just after having puppies. What is not normal is a temperature reading above 103. This indicates an infection somewhere in her body. Many of the infections can be deadly to your dog...

Discharge
Monitor her discharge. Bleeding a few days after whelping is normal. If it is a brownish red this is ok. If it is pus streaked or foul smelling it can indicate a (censored) infection like Meteritis to Pyometra.

Retained Placenta
Sometimes it needs to be monitored when you take your dog in for her physical after she has whelped her litter. Make sure you have important information the Vet may need, such as a chance of a retained placenta and the temperature of the dam.
Your Vet may give her a injection of Oxytocin to help her expel the placenta.
Oxytocin also helps stimulate milk production.

Eclampsia ( Milk Fever )
Eclampsia can occur before delivery or up to 6 weeks after delivery. Often it appears in the first 3 weeks after delivery.
It is caused from a deficiency in her body own natural calcium supply or from receiving to high a dose of supplemented calcium.

Symptoms, are glassy eyes, restlessness, nervousness, whining, muscle twitching, rapid heart beat, shivering and teeth chattering. If nursing is what is causing her calcium supply to become depleted, puppies must be removed and hand feed. If you are giving her a supplement of calcium at to high of a dose, you may have caused eclampsia. Severe cases are treated with serum calcium injections by your Vet. Careful medical supervision of the treatment is important as an overdose or to rapid administration can cause her heart to stop.

This condition often recurs with each litter. Bitches who have had eclampsia in the past may be given calcium injections prior to and after whelping.


Mastitis
Mastitis can occurs when a mother has a small litter or inverted nipples. Milk is not drained out of the breast and they become engorged. Breast will appear lumpy and hard or may be inflamed and red. The dam may have a high fever, refused to eat and depressed. The infected breast may be filled with bloody pus. Do not allow pups to nurse on these infected breasts cover them or wean the pups.

Antibiotics should be given to the Dam and the puppies.
To prevent mastitis make sure the pups nurse on all teats or milk them yourself.


Engorged Nipple


Acute Metritis
(censored) infection acquired during whelping or from retaining a Placenta or Fetus. Signs are high fever, above 103, diarrhea, depression, refusal eating, vomiting, excessive thirst. Thick. bloody and foul smelly discharge. The (censored) needs to be treated with antibiotics. Mastitis if left untreated will lead to spaying or death.

The pups need to be watched. Puppies may be affected and may have diarrhea and cramps, they will need antibiotics and to be hand fed.Check for Mastitis,they can go hand and hand.

Pyometra
Is a Uterine infection classified as open or closed. It can occur anytime in the heat cycle. Female who developed Pyometra during pregnancy may abort the litter.

Open Cervix Pyometra
is just as it sounds, the cervix is open allowing the uterus to drain, sticky, reddish pus which may be fowl smelling.

Closed Cervix Pyometra- pus cannot drain causing excessive thirst and urination, a high fever and a tender abdomen. Vomiting may also occur.

All Pyometra in the past led to spaying or death. Today's treatments for Pyometra constists of flushing the uterus and administering prostaglandin injection.

Bitches can be bred after treatment.