I took my bitch to the vet yesterday for an ultrasound scan and a new young vet took her through to one of the back rooms & carried out the scan without me being present. I actually assumed that she was going to come back and get me when they had clipped up my girls tummy, applied the gel and got a picture on the display. Wrong ! The vet came back with my girl 10 minutes later and said yes she is in whelp which I actually already knew. The purpose of the scan was to get an approximate estimate of the litter size. I know it's not 100% accurate but I just wanted an idea whether there was a single pup or a large litter. I asked the vet for an approximate number and she said that "legally" she was not allowed to tell me and could only confirm pregnancy.
I have had three scans done at this vet before and have always been there when the scan was taking place. Previously the vet has always tried to give me a rough idea of litter size.
Has anyone else experienced this lately or could it just be a newly trained, over cautious vet ?
My breed can have very large litters (this girl was one of 15) but equally single pups can happen. I feel it is very unhelpful for the vet to refuse to at least provide some information that will help me make a more informed decision about whelping or even a c-section if it became necessary.

i would contact your vet and explain to them what happened and ask that another scan be done by a different vet and that you are to present at the scan.    Any scans i have had done, i have always been present to witness it, and would be very angry if i was not, as it is a service you are paying for and it gives you an idea of numbers and is a magical experience too :) x

No wonder you're not a happy bunny!  :-(

I have always been the one to hold my girls, and have never even thought that there was any possibility things would be different.

Even when a girl has already whelped, and I've rushed her in during the night because I knew that there was a pup left inside.  Fortunately, they always scan before rushing in to do a C-section.

Could you not speak to the lead vet in the small animal section?  I would ask politely to speak to the person in charge, and make my feelings of disatisfaction known.

As soon as I got home I knew I should have been more assertive with the vet and not accepted what she said but as the conversation took place in the waiting room, I guess I was embarrased to make a fuss. I am not sure whether to ring the senior partner and complain or try the local sheep scanner who I am told is excellent.

I suppose in this day and age if she's only a fairly young vet, maybe they don't divulge numbers in case of being sued, let's face it, some people sue for anyting these days.

Depends on the vet and often they give the 'old flannel' about the machine kept in an off-limits area.

A good sheep/dog scanner for the future I think or shop around for a vet which will give numbers.

I use another practice for this service because mine is expensive, 'secretive' and unreliable when it comes to scanning.
The one I use says " I shouldn't really say but ...." then gives numbers and has been very reliable. Maybe it's only a matter of time before she chickens out too :-(

This is terrible - not allowed in just for a scan! we have to be present for vaccinations and other invasive procedures ot hold our dogs. I would not have allowed her to even be clipped - got my girl scanned where she stodd on the floor had some gel applied and then the scan, all done really quickly and got numbers.

When she needed a section very recently i asked to go in on it and help with puppies which was no trouble.

Definately complain.

i am allow in at my vet with dogs when they have been scan  weather it for looking pup or other things.plus they didnt shave my dogs either

ring them up and tell them how upset you are ,i would ....be more assertive :) get her scaned again with you there and dont pay for that 1 x

2 years ago one of my girls was having a singleton, I said I wanted her scanned to confirm, they took her away to the back room as this was where the scanner was, I followed, vet said I had to stay, I said if I stay I don't pay.....they allowed me in :), ever since, if we've needed scans they always bring the scanner into the consulting room.

newly trained over cautious. my step dad is a vet and is selling up soon. he has been looking for an experienced vet that will be fair to his costomers like he was and not just try and take money like alot of the vets in the area.

i do think that even if she didnt wantto tell you exactally the size she could have said 5-8 for example. she may have not even looked for how many she may have just looked for one puppy and once she found it she stopped. if i were you i would raise it up with your regular vet. or the head vet. see if you can get another done for free.

I think it all depends on the vet. I think my vet is brilliant in most respects however they wont give an indication on litter size in case its wrong and they get blamed. And we all know that they are renowned for being unreliable. Last scan my Bitch had the vet said 1 pup for definate maybe just maybe 2. She did have 5. But with the climate the way it is people like to blame someone else for everything so i would think once stung they would be reticent about giving a guess on litter size.

It seems the young vet was following her training to the letter of the law ! I have just read an article that states that the RCVS instructs vets not to give an estimate of litter size when doing a pregnancy scan. The vet should only advise "one" or "multiple" if they see more than one. I wonder how many vets follow this guidance ?
Anyway, visited the sheep scanner this morning and he advised minimum six, maximum eight which I am happy with. He was very efficient and charged less than the vet so I would use him again if needed.
Fingers crossed for a trouble free pregnancy and lovely healthy puppies.

My bitch had her first scan at 3 weeks and a second one at 5 weeks.  I went in on both occasions.  The vet said she had possibley more.  But she was huge at the end of her pregnancy, so we were shocked when she only had 4 :-) (but they all weighed 356g each, so not too bad for a ESS the size of a JR :-)

our last scan was 6months ago now ,we went into the room ,our vet told me he could see 4 ,wasnt to sure if there was more ...our girl had 4 ,he isnt an old vet ,so maybe some are just to worried to say ??

My vet is fab all ways with in 1 or 2 puppies had my bitch scanned and he said 4 and my friend also had her bitch scanned and he said 4 also they are both due 10th september so will be intresting to see! - my friends bitch had 8 last time and i think she has more than 4!!

I always go into the room with my bitches but they won't give an indication of numbers. They will only say that there is "more than one". So frustrating!!

The advent of ultrasound scanning proved that absorption of live foetuses was a fact; the number of whelps seen at 28 days is only a rough guide to the number of whelps that will actually be born, and only proves that the bitch was pregnant at the time of scanning. At work we scanned one bitch and saw three whelps for definite and a couple of possibles - the bitch never produced anything at all.

absorption of live foetuses

Did anyone see that programme regarding dogs in the womb - Went into detail about absorption... Was extremely interesting!

Last time I took a bitch to be scanned I'm pretty sure they would have whisked her away from me to do it.  She was my mum's bitch & so I insisted on being with her.  Again, they refused to tell me the number of pups & said that any vet who told you they could tell the number of pups from a scan was lying (I'm quoting the vet).

Personally not a fan of scans any more after my wonderful experiences with them!  But no doubt, if I try for a litter I'll be trotting off down to the vet for a scan ;-)

My vets have alwyas let me go in with the bitches, and hold them throughout the procedure, alwyasy point out the first one found, then have alittle look around to see if there are more, but I never bother about the numbers once we see 2 or 3, as they can bear little relation to who/how many actually arrive at birth,  however, they have never been unwilliong ot give numbers, just tacit understanding between us that  seeing single or more that a couple is all that matters.

When I took my bitch to be scanned a few months ago the vet took her in to the room by himself and just come back and said yes she is pregnant. I was like you and thought he was going to come and get me once he had a picture up or something but he didn't. Luckly at my vet you pay a one off £35 and can have them scanned as many times as you want during their pregnancy so I made another appointment for a week later and I asked if I could go in and they said I could. Maybe if you make another appointment and ask if you can go in with your bitch.

that why i prefer to got to a sheep scanner. not only do they tell you how many pups  but  their scanning fee is cheaper.

How do you find a local sheep scanner?  I am due to have my girl scanned at the vet on Wednesday, but after reading this post would like to try a sheep scanner.  I have tried searching on google, but haven't come up with anything.

Many thanks
Bernie

Bernie what area are you???

I'm in Iver Bucks, which is Berks/Bucks border.

mmm Kent a tad far for you then.

have pm'd you bernie

Just to conclude this thread, sheep scanner was totally wrong ! She had 13 pups but sadly only nine survived. I think the sheep scanner only looked at one horn !

I don't think most people expect anyone to really tell them numbers, after all they may not come to term or die soon after birth.

> only nine survived.

That for me would be a huge litter, in fact the largest I have had. :D