Neverland-Retrievers

Last night Tink’s temperature dropped to 98.7 degF. This morning her temperature was lower then normal. 99.1, and she was breathing hard, but after awhile she dropped off to sleep.  She has been staying in the whelping box and is showing signs of nesting. She is digging at the bottom of the box, lifting the towels and rearranging them around her. I put newspaper in the bottom of the box and she has been tearing it up into strips. She is also making little grunting noises and is very sensitive to my movements around the room. In the process of writing this posting, she came out of the box and coax me over to sit with her. She is clearly more fidgety this morning than before. Lets hope she can have this puppy naturally and avoid the c-section tomarrow.

  

Tink may have started on her way to whelping. This evening she has been acting restless going into and out of the whelping box several times and when I took her temperature at 9pm it had dropped 2.1 degF from 4:30pm, See graph below.

With Al Jenkins help, we setup the whelping box last Saturday and it was quickly occupied.

   

The follow up U/S is now scheduled for Tuesday March 13 at Noon. This time I will take Tink to Dr. Stephen Stang of the Loudoun Veterinary Service. Dr. Stang is a Lab breeder and highly recommended by Dawn Buttion. He has performed an U/S exam on many of her bitches.

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I had an ultrasound exam done on Tink this Saturday, March 4th. It appears from the scans that she may NOT be pregnant. This is very disappointing to say the least. I spoke with Dr.Elam and he believes it is still to early to make the determination. He believes the ultrasound should be done at 30-32 day post-breeding. I have rescheduled another scan for Monday, March 13 just in case he’s right. I am not optimistic at this point. At 25 days post-breeding, the fluid filled vesicle should have been visible on the scan, See “Ultrasound Imaging of the Reproductive Tract of the Bitch“, by By England, Yeager and Concannon. The article does go on to say that ultrasound examination in the first month may lead to inaccurate diagnosis… if the exam is scheduled too early. I don’t think the exam was to early, in this case, since we knew the day of ovulation based on the blood test results. The article also says that a conceptus could be hidden by fecal material in the intestine. This may be possible since Tink had eaten only a few hours earlier. As you can tell, I’m looking for a small bit of hope. I’ll post the follow up results as soon as there known.

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The ultrasound examine is now scheduled for Tuesday March 7th at 6:30pm. I think the wait is harder on me than Tink right now. I’ve been reading about how to feel for puppies. If I lightly feel on either side of her incision I can make out several lumps, like a string of pearls. I counted about five or six distinct bumps. Maybe this is just hopeful thinking on my part.

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Tink’s stitches, from the AI, were removed today. Last Tuesday the Vet had opted to delay removal until Saturday so the swelling around the incision could subside. I have been surprised that Tink has not scratching or licked the area very much. I had visions of her pulling the sutures out on her own. She does not seem to be bothered by the surgery. Last Sunday I did noticed a bump on her leg. I called Dr. Elam and he guessed it was a bruised vein from the several blood draws. After daily heat compress it is now almost gone.

Tink seems more mellow these days. Her possium toy has lasted much longer than any previous one. She’s not tearing the guts out to get to the squeaker. She is sleeping more and eating everything in sight. Her weight is holding steady at 55 lbs for now.

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I have posted a new video clip on the “Breeding” page of Ferro from the International Dog Show in Tallinn, Estonia. Handled by Ulla, Ferro took a Group 3 Placement and earned his Championship Title. Congats to Ferro and Ulla from across the pond!

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