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Should I Have A Post Mortem On Puppies


mini girl
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I'm trying to come to terms with the loss of my litter and rang the reproduction specialist in Brisbane Philip Thomas - spoke very nicely to me - he advised a postmortem on the pups to find out if there is any reason my girl delivered 10 days early - has anyone ever done this and if so do they give results that can help give a reason - I remember speaking to one breeder who lost her girls first litter and she said it cost her a lot of money and she didn't find out the reason for the loss. He also advised if I want to breed her again bring her to him for tests etc before her mating along with results of the puppy post motem.

Will talk to my vet about it - I know its probaly too early to be even thinking of future breeding but have any of you lost the first litter to go on and have a successful litter at a later date. I don't know if I will ever be able to put myself and my girl through this again only hope times takes away the sadness I am feeling now.

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You can have a postmortem done however it may be inconclusive.

If you decide to breed her again I suggest you monitor her progesterone levels...so many cases of bitches whelping too early and second time around having prgesterone monitored and requiring prog injections to keep them from whelping early (or absorbing).

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So sorry for your loss.

The only experience I've had was with an adult dog (greyhound) belonging to a friend who I cared for regularly (dog not friend).

He became suddenly ill and despite intensive care at a Vet died. I personally suspected he had got into horse worming paste but owner was sure she had disposed of container properly. His symptoms look similar to a dog that I had who had eaten horse wormer (survived).

The owner had a post mortem done and weeks later and a huge bill her results were "inconclusive".

Under your circumstances, which are different, it may be worthwhile, although the answer may lie in the dam (possible infection?) and not the fetuses.

Edited by LizT
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Was the mother of this litter the bitch you asked about having stomach pains & being depressed whilst in heat ??

Yes she was - I have been wondering if there was any connection - she did not seem like my other girls right from the beginning.

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Was the mother of this litter the bitch you asked about having stomach pains & being depressed whilst in heat ??

Yes she was - I have been wondering if there was any connection - she did not seem like my other girls right from the beginning.

That's not such an uncommon thing in itself.

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Im so sorry for your loss.

I have heard quite often of bitches going on to have a successful second litter.

A ex-freind with chinese cresteds had hers a week early, but they all survived, her second litter they all died. the second litter was on time!

Good luck with her, and Im sure she will give you some beautiful pups next time

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:laugh: So tragic my heart goes out to you .

I had a sole survivor from a litter of 7,

pm"S on the other pups revealed nothing ! no explanation to early delivery ,except maybe contact with Council spraying in area .

That bitch went on to have 2 more healthy full term litters ,so dont give up hope .

hugs to u & the mumma

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As a breeder a think autopsies are very important whenever you lose a dog or puppy from unknown causes. It is often the only way to get answers. My vet did her PHD on puppy mortality and did 1000 puppy autopsies to gather the data for it. She found many possible causes of puppy mortality as a result. All her breeder clients had every puppy that died over a few years autopsied for free to help her study and now she still does them quite cheaply because she wants to know what happened as well.

I also had an adult dog autopsied after he attacked me and was pts. Thankfully the vet has the same breed and was curious and I think I was only charged for the pathology but we discovered he had irreversable brain damage caused by meningitis. It didn't bring the dog back but it gave me an answer about what happened and justified my decision to pts and that would have been worth any cost to find out.

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