hi there my bitch had her 1st litter a couple of days ago she gave birth to her 1st pup fine and did everything right for him then i took her to the vets as 2 hours passed and she had not had another even though i knew there were more in there she had a c section and had 7 more but all of them died. The main thing was that my bitch was ok and luckly she is and the 1 pup she has but i just wanted to know is it common for all puppies to die after a c section when all pups were actively moving when the bitch was taken down for it, just need answers as i am completely skocked and upset by this and will never breed her again. Any help would be much appreciated

Were they born dead or died within days?

OMG, i'm so sorry to hear that. I wish i could offer you some words of explanation but i'm new to breeding, so all i can offer is my sympathy and let you know that i'm thinking of you. (((((HUGS)))))

Leanne
xxxxxxx

the vet said they tried for 20 min to get them breathing he didnt really say anything im just a bit suspisous as to why all 7 would die so not sure if they died while inside or after but they were definately alive when she was taken in for the op.

Thank you Leanne im so upset by this im just looking for some answers as the vet didnt give me any thanks again :)

20 minutes?  I've worked on puppies for almost an hour before they started breathing on their own.  I wonder how many staff he had there?  It's normal to have 'all hands on deck' including owners on many occasions, so that each can have a puppy.
A very sad story. :(

yes it seems a bit odd i've heard stories where an especially large litter born by c-section even had people in the waiting room stimulating puppies (i dont know how true that is). to lose one or two would be sad but acceptable but all 7 when you saw them moving one the way down to be opened up????

{{{{{hugs }}}}}}}}} i really feel for you and thinking of you xxxx

im so so sorry to read this ,my heart goes out to you you really need to ask your vet how many people was there and what was done ,
(((hugs))) xxx

This may not be the cause, but when my girl had a c-section the vet gave her ACP (a sedative) this reacted badly with my girl, and her pups, we lost 4 of the 7.  When I questioned the vet he told me he had never heard of any dogs reacting to this drug, 3 years later when a different girl needed a c-section I asked them not to give ACP and my vet said he was surprised as he had heard it was only Boxers that were sensitive to this drug!

my weimaraner reacted very strongly to acp.  I'd not give another to same breed as she only had 3rd of a dose and fell like pole axed. didn't come round for hours.

So sorry.
This is a horrible thing to happen, lets hope you get the answers you need.

Karen

Hi Lacy

One of my girls had a c section and the vet couldn't revive the 3 puppies despite trying for 1 and half hours.  They were very blue when born so we think there had been placental separation.  My vet couldn't understand why they all died, he said he expected to lose maybe 25% in a c section tops but not 100%.  Maybe he used ACP, not sure to be honest as it was quite a few years ago now. Those were the only puppies so she was pretty stressed for a couple of weeks as you can imagine.  Luckily your girl has one puppy to keep her content, its really sad for the other pups though.  Wishing you all the best for your singleton and mum.

this scenario is just what happened with my last litter, first pup born fine, then c section for the rest when Oxytocin failed to bring on further contractions, but all five pups survived and were reared (4 by section 1 natural birth).

I'm so sorry to read of this sad occurrence

My only experience of a ceasarian is from 23 years ago, when my bitch had 5 puppies naturally but then numbers 6 and 7 tried to come together so she had to have the op. All 10 (yes 10) of the pups removed during the ceasar survived.

Sadly, over the last 15 years I have had eight c-sections from a variety of un-related bitches.  Out of all those, I have only had one where I lost pups.  It is very, very hard when it happens :-(

I agree with westcoast.  I have worked for well over an hour on a seemingly dead pup.  I wonder if perhaps they don't go on so long as the breeder actually would.

I have a breed that is not easy to whelp, and over the years, have purposely worked on my own self whelping line.  However, during the process, I've obviously had bitches needing sections ( I have them spayed if they don't whelp naturally.)

In two instances I've had bitches with 5 pups (too many for the breed) and I honestly feel that there reaches a stage when contractions are nigh on impossible.  My line that regularly produces 2 pups, seems to be the way to go, as they seem to whelp easily.  (Could be worng, just my take on things.)

But I've never lost all but one pup!  I feel that I would want an explanation.  One of my girls went in (always at night isn't it) and the vet called the night duty nurse.  I asked her to make sure my girl was ok, I wasn't worried about the pups.  She told me that it was her responsibility to make sure they all survived. 

I was called in to the operating theatre after my girl had been stitched up, and the nurse was shaking from working so fast!  It isn't like us delivering pups one at a time.  Bless the girl, she had these 5 titchy pups all in the same oxygen mask, but she got them all going.  I have only ever had one dead pup during a section, and that one had it's neck caught in one of the ribs.  I was asked if I wanted to see the pup which I did.  I guess I wanted to know for sure that there was no deformity.  It was a perfect little pup, normal size, just bad luck to have a malpresentation.

I ask questions, and want explanations - you deserve the same.  While I understand that you won't want to put your girl through this again, I do think you need to speak to the vet who operated.  You need that satisfaction.

this is just so sad, i am sorry you have had to go through such a sad loss.

I have to say that something is definately not right there, not if puppies were moving around minutes before she went into theatre.

I had my girl have one puppy naturally and then just nothing so i opted straight for a section, my vet is excellent and always has me and my mum in there with him, he delivered a further 12 puppies and everyone survived. To lose one or two is understandable in some situations but to lose all 7 puppies that they delivered just doesnt sound right.

I would be asking what drugs he used and how quickly he got the puppies out and how much stimulation was they given to try to get them going as if he was slow from preparation for the op to actually getting puppies out they could have been quite sedated and needed alot of rubbing which they may of not done, i would definately want answers, though of course that will not change things now....how very sad :(

I was told one of my pups was born dead, and that the nurses tried reviving it for over an hour, but sadly it had gone.  We left mum and pups after the op to come round, went back to pick them up 3 hours later only to be faced by a very red faced vet and nurse to be told the pup which they told us had died - and they had put out the back to be disposed of, was in fact very much alive and was yelling it's head off in a cold un heated room for over an hour!!!!

Because of the problem we had with ACP non of our girls are sedated now if c-sections are needed

What is ACP?

Are your girls under a general?

ACP is a sedative/premed; it's short for acepromazine.

Ahh thanks.  So its a pre med.  Will make sure I steer clear of this is the need ever arises.  It doesn't sound good.

So sorry to here your sad news, my girl had a C-section 3 weeks ago luckily both pups were born breathing and are doing well, though  one now has other problems (as my other posts has indicated) hope the one surviving pup and mum are both doing well.
Regards
Karen

thank you all for your reviews on this matter it means so much to me, i will get the answers i need and will be asking questions as to why all pups died as they were good sized healthy pups. I know something has gone wrong which im not being told about. I will pursue the matter and let you all know how i get on. Im pleased to say its early days but mum and pup are coming on lovely and its so nice to see mum doing so well with him considering she was away for a few hours when having the c section. :-)

so glad to hear hes doing so well and mum too :) i dont blame you id want answers too :( xx

I have had a number of litters delivered by c-section over the years and have never lost a single pup. In my opinion sections generally only become dangerous if they are timed wrong (too early or too late). If your girl had already delivered a pup and the others were still active before the op, I would be asking serious questions of the vet as to what actually went wrong.
Sorry for the loss of your babies.

I second this reponse from Jaybe.

Heartbreaking - so sorry for your loss :(