about to have pups!

[horsehauler]

Hi everyone, New to the site, found it on a search. have a question. Well our 3.5 year old welsh pembroke is about to have her pups. It has been 50 days now and she is showing some signs. her temp has dropped to 99.4 throughout the day. she is acting very uncomfortable, breathing heavy, etc. This will be her first litter as well as our first corgi litter. I was wondering if anyone has had corgis go around 50 days? Any other special things we should be checking for besides obvious signs and symptoms? We hope all goes well, shes doing good. Thanks for any help.

Eric

P.S. sorry if this is in the wrong forum

[CorgiMum]

Is your Vet assisting the whelping?

[horsehauler]

our vet is not available at these hours, but the emergency clinic has been contacted. We are of course prepared to take her if the need to arrises.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by horsehauler

Hi everyone, New to the site, found it on a search. have a question. Well our 3.5 year old welsh pembroke is about to have her pups. It has been 50 days now

50 days is NOT good (close as I can get to a worry emoticon). Is she 50 days from her first or last breeding date?

Originally Posted by horsehauler

and she is showing some signs. her temp has dropped to 99.4 throughout the day. she is acting very uncomfortable, breathing heavy, etc.

Without seeing her, none of these are definitive that she is ready to whelp now, but then again - she might be and that's not good at all.

Originally Posted by horsehauler

This will be her first litter as well as our first corgi litter. I was wondering if anyone has had corgis go around 50 days? Any other special things we should be checking for besides obvious signs and symptoms? We hope all goes well, shes doing good. Thanks for any help.

None of the litters I've been involved with have gone that early. Those I have heard of and in talking with other breeders have not had good outcomes, regardless of breed. Have you had litters with other breeds? If so, then corgis will pretty much fall in line with those. IF she were mine and I suspected she was beginning labor now - at this stage, I'd have her into the vet's ASAP to be checked out!

Sorry I can't offer more optimistic advice or reassurance.

Debbie

[CorgiMum]

I agree, off to the Vet ASAP.

[Michael Romanos]

Yes, are you certain it is 50 days since the first mating took place? How many pups is she expecting - I trust you have had her scanned and you know what to expect. Is she showing any discharge. If it is 50 days - and not say, 58, then she is too early and it could be something else that is troubling her. I certainly hope she is not going to miscarry. We need more details. But just as everyone else who has responded says or implies: go and find an emergency vet. Yor town/ city/ region should have a vets system that caters for emergencies.

[horsehauler]

thanks everyone for the help. We are 98% sure that it is from the first possible breeding. We were actually scheduled to get her first x-rays this coming monday because, well we didn't expect any of these signs so early. she only has very little clear discharge, nothing much at all. Things haven't really changed over night. Shes been doing the same things. The vet said theres nothing we can do except wait to see any discharge and if she has problems after 20-30 mins then bring her in. Other than these s/s she seems pretty good... but i agree i'll feel better with a vets opinion looking at her.

Thanks again everyone.

[CorgiMum]

Originally Posted by horsehauler

but i agree i'll feel better with a vets opinion looking at her.

Then take her to the Vet, an E Vet if you need to, if your regular one is not availale. I would not hesitate.

[Chip's Mom]

Excellent advice Barbara - when in doubt take her to the Vet. The cost outweighs the worry and then you will know for sure.

[CorgiMum]

I've been thinking about your girl and wondering how she is doing.

[horsehauler]

Sorry I haven't been back to respond, it's been a busy day with her. No puppies yet. We took her to the vet and he seems to think she is going through a false labor. She is pretty big at this birth so he seems to think her uterus has expanded as much as it can and that is what is causing the false labor. He gave us some magnesium pills to help with the discomfort and soothe the labor pains. X-rays are coming first thing in the morning so we will see just what exactly is going on in there. Her temp has came back up to right around 101 and is stabilized thus far. Of course that also could mean whelping time but also could and hopefully mean recovering from a false labor.
Hopefully all still goes well and I will deffinately keep everyone updated. We REALLY appreciate the help everyone has given us. Thanks for the thoughts.

Eric

[Michael Romanos]

When I was selling my book at a stall next to a person who scans (hopefully pregnant) dogs and farm animals professionally to asertain their pregnancy and to confirm how many live babies are present. I held lengthy conversations with her. She can successfully scan a pregnant mother much earlier than say, 50 weeks of a 63 week gestation period. So it certainly pays to get a Corgi scanned at the earliest recommended time.

Somehow, I think that Eric's pregnant Corgi is not expecting pure bred Corgi pups.

Ha ha - for 50 weeks, read 50 days; for 63 weeks, read 63 days - otherwise a certain Debbie will surely pick on it.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

When I was selling my book at a stall next to a person who scans (hopefully pregnant) dogs and farm animals professionally to asertain their pregnancy and to confirm how many live babies are present. I held lengthy conversations with her. She can successfully scan a pregnant mother much earlier than say, 50 weeks of a 63 week gestation period. So it certainly pays to get a Corgi scanned at the earliest recommended time.

I hope Michael means 50 DAYS and 63 DAYS, not weeks. As for sonograms being used to determine pregnancy, well right before the Cardigan national a breeder did a sonogram to determine pregnancy which showed no puppies. Upon her return a week later it was obvious the b*tch was pregnant and x-rays showed a good sized singleton pup.

Somehow, I think that Eric's pregnant Corgi is not expecting pure bred Corgi pups.

Why? There is nothing he has written that would indicate or hint at otherwise.

Not being there and observing his girl the safest recommendation I could give was to have her checked out by a vet. Having just babysat two VERY pregnant Cardigan girls that looked as if they were ready to pop at any second, she sounded very much like they were waddling around, panting and unable to get comfortable. One went into labor the next day after they went home, but unfortunately had uterine inertia and had to be sectioned. She had 11 puppies, had problems recovering from the anesthesia, was kept overnight on fluids and IV's. Once she got home again, it did take some work getting to her accept the puppies. Since the puppies were unable to nurse straight away, her milk did not come down as readily as it would have otherwise. When it did, it was not good and five puppies were lost. One of the authorities now doing whelping seminars is advising against any calcium supplementation - including cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt with meals as she is linking it to uterine inertia. She also happens to be a neonatal pediatric nurse and breeder of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

The other little girl delivered four puppies naturally a week later and was able to take the remaining puppies and nurse them. In the meantime they had been bottle fed and were still being supplemented even now that Adrianne had taken over maternal duties.

With what she is presenting now and depending on what the x-rays show, plus the number of puppies, I would lean towards advising Eric to go ahead and schedule a section. Adrianne was in the time frame of Eric's girl; she did have a slight discharge, panting and other things he mentioned. 99 degrees as a temperature drop, may or may not mean the time is now. Generally a drop to 98 degrees and the temperature stays there, increased nesting, contractions and then you best be ready to get busy. Also keep an eye out on day 59 as many will often whelp early on that day.

Keep us posted.

Debbie

[Michael Romanos]

A scan is not 100 percent guaranteed to pick up every unborn pup - but lets says that nine times out of ten, every puppy is identified in the scan. There might well be scanning personnel on one hand and good, very thorough, observant scanning personnel on the other. using the best available equipment.

[Fluffypants]

Good luck Eric! Let us know what happens!!!