Hi there,
My doggie was scanned today - she's around her 35 day mark and is of a medium breed, very fit just over 2 years old, but the vet didn't see any pup's on scanner. My gut says she's pregnant because her nipples have swollen and gotten rounder and more pointy, her belly has become more defined, her hair has grown, she has become more clingy and more protective. So my question is could the vet have missed the pup's? My husband says the vet only scanned a small area on the side of her belly, not too near her ribs so could she have been hiding the pups from him?? If we still suspect she is do we treat her as though she is for the time being and then wait until 7 weeks to see if any more changes? and sorry lastly will it harm her if we worm her as though she is pregnant in 5 days?

Thanks in advance for your replies :)

It all depends on the skill of the vet. Mine is very good and at 35 days they should be clear to see. He can give a very definate yes at that time.

But some not so skillful, can get it wrong so until the passage of times tells you other wise I would carry on as if she were. Phantom pregnancies can look very real, even to the point of the bitch going into 'labour' so bear that in mind as well.  I doubt the wormer will harm her. I didn't scan one of my bitches and wormed her every day as if she were pregnant with Panacur. Then when she was overdue and I was panicking I did have her scanned to find it was a phantom. Yet I was convinced she was.  You can also xray to find out but with four weeks to go I'd just wait it out.

One of my girls has had 3 phantoms and looked pregnant up to 6 or 7 weeks and then over night goes back to normal, so physical looks don't really mean anything.

Worming starts at 42 days with a wormer licenced for pregnant female dogs and daily till 2 days post whelp.

I would wait and see but discourage nesting if she isn't as this could produce milk and more problems.

I never scan, and routinely Panacur my bitches from day 40 if they have been mated.  I once had a girl that missed, and she came to no harm.  After all, for a pregnant bitch, the daily dose is a quarter of normal dose.