Hi all Ive been stalking this forum looking for info/experience about surgical ai.. didn't find a lot so I figured Id post about my girl.
Trudy is 4 and healthy working girl. We do agility mostly and we stay very active.
Anyway we decided to use frozen and do a surgical ai on March 1 when progesterone level was where our fertility vet thought it should be.
Took her in for ultrasound on the 28th and only saw one puppy.
Trudy was very upset to be on the table on her back so was very stiff and trying to get up during the ultrasound and had not pooped that morning.
Vet who is awesome at reading ultrasounds saw the heartbeat of the singleton.
Have a appointment to get xray on 4/25 to see size of pup to make sure not to big for Trudy to welp and if not in labor by 5/2 will take C-section.
Ive been doing a little over a mile walk with her in the mornings still but no agility.
Ill keep up with this tread till pup is here...
Prayers welcomed and much appreciated
She has not been eating all that great since the third week, now in the fifth and she is eating a little better. This morning ate about 1/2 of her breakfast.
Hasn't really gained any weight I guess because she hasn't been eating all that good.
When do they start showing with a singleton?
Day 34
She is eating more, never a big eater anyway at least now she finishes breakfast. I now put about 1/4 a cup kibble in the crate before I go to work as a snack and she has been eating it. (I don't leave till around lunch time for work)
She has a small amount of clear discharge that has no smell to it.
It looks like she is getting bigger thru her rib cage?? Also not hardly any curve at all between ribs and hips looking down on her top line.. It's like a straight line kinda.
Tuesday will be the start of week 6
Wow, the dog world is starting to use the human birth practices. Why a C-section on day 63 and not await natural labor? It is major surgery. If only one pup, would you consider fostering other newborns to make sure the pup develops appropriate social skills?
^ c section due to the size of the pup. if they suspect it's too large for a natural whelp, it's better to plan an early c section than to wait for complications during the birthing process and put both lives at risk.
Yes Fodder exactly
Wolfe we already have word out to find a litter due about the same time for that reason and to make sure the singleton doesn't end up a swimmer.
there is also a reason to schedule a C section for a very small litter besides the size of the pups...hormones aren't helping bring contractions in the labor, milk production is not happening.
Two friends of mine recently have had very small litters, both had to have emergency C-sections with only one pup surviving. The newest one, mom is not accepting the pup after emergency C section and spay. Round the clock bottle feeding. Both dogs were bred naturally, not AI.
I would not give any extra food at this point. Your pup has a month to go, the pup isn't very big at all. Most of the growth is in the third trimester. And with such a small litter, I would wait until the dog has three weeks left, and then I would only give a little extra, 1/4 cup or so, when she cleans her dish and starts looking for more. Do not supplement calcium. Good luck.
Day 51
Trudy is getting thicker is the only way I can think to describe her.
Her teats are getting bigger and bigger, and her vulva is swollen. She is tired and wants to be near me.
Setting up her welping box this weekend to get her use to it as next weekend is her due date. I have all the supplies and a list of friends to help if needed.
Im a wee bit nervous
Felt the puppy rolling around tonight as Trudy was laying by me and I was petting her.
She has milk coming in and looks like she could feed a bunch of puppies so this one puppy should be good!
We go in the morning for her X-ray to check size and maybe we will be surprised by one or two more...
X-ray shows just one puppy and he or she is huge! She has a appointment Monday for c section if she doesn't welp this weekend.
I'm nervous about size but all three vets (yes 3) say she should be ok to have the puppy.. Prayers appreciated
No news.. It's lookin like she will be getting a c section Monday morning.
Her temp went back up to 99.7 and has hung around that since yesterday.
Puppy has moved from Trudys side by her ribs down more towards her stomach. Still can feel movement but not near as much since he or she moved.
Eating as much as she does normally but never has had a increase of appetite. Will post update when we get home from vet tomorrow.
With just the one pup, not a problem about not eating more. Here is hoping. The temp does go back up before birth, keep an eye on her. Is she panting or nesting?
After I posted about Trudy I had missed some signs that her labor had started. Very subtle signs like she wanted to go outside but once out wanted to come right back in. After the puppy had moved down I did notice her stomach was hard but thought it was the position of the puppy so just kept an eye on her. The big smack me in the face moment was her digging her bed up. I called my vet and she wanted me to go to the ear vet.
So they did the c section and she was born at 7:10 last night weighing 1.25 lb.
stated screaming and moving all around.. Very active pup for sure.
Came home got Trudy to eat and a few hours later milk came in pretty good so pup is less noisy lol!
I've slept about 30 min but it's so worth it ☺
I'm posting a pic in my album if y'all want to see her.
Yep, that's what they look like! Nice pup! You might want to put a long, puppy size or bigger soft dog toy in there with the puppy. The puppy isn't ready to play with toys, but it can be helpful to snuggle up against.
No I'm not at all its my first one. Any info would be greatly appreciated!
By the way check out Trudys BB litter I put together for Moon. Finally did something useful with the Dag things.. Felt kinda good to tear off the heart tags!!
Yeah, singletons can have some trouble learning to be around other dogs, because of the lack of the litter experience. You have some time to read up on how best to manage a singleton.
Are you planning on keeping her? She will learn a lot from her dam. It would be awesome if you knew a breeder who had a litter about the same age -- see how hard this is. You do not want to put a 4-8 week old pup in with puppies that are, say 9-12 weeks old to learn manners, because they can bully the puppy and even injure a youngster.
Also, people are so afraid of parvo and distemper it is hard to find someone willing to let you come and go with your baby puppy around their baby puppies. And, with just one puppy, you dam will not want you taking it anywhere before it is old enough. And you will not be able to bring your dam around another dam -- forget that.
More immediately, you have to make sure your bitch lets the puppy alone some. Some bitches when they have just one, they keep it between their front paws, cleaning and cleaning and cleaning it. Unfortunately, the pup can become chilled and not eat, and die -- yours does not seem to be having this issue. The pup should be eating good, it has 10 nozzels and at over a pound, nice healthy weight, it should start gaining weight by tomorrow. Then it should be just fine. First few days are the toughest.
Good luck.
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