Thank you for reading this post. I am in a bit of a panic. My medium breed gundog bitch has 2 1/2 weeks to go and for some reason overnight she has gone from looking obviously pregnant to not. Yesterday her tummy was hard and full but today it seems to have dissapeared and her nipples/breasts are sagging down. Yesterday nipples/breasts were tight? I am gutted as I feel this sudden shift in shape means she has re-absorbed. She was scanned a week ago last friday and she was definatly in whelp with 5-6 pups viewed. Please can anyone offer advice or reassurance. I have bred before (same breed) and I dont recall seeing this. Has anyone seen anything similar before. I have checked her bed and no sign of anything but her tummy has gone down by over 2/3 compared to yesterday? Nothing else to report she has been in good health and spirits. Any advice good or bad appreciated. Debating getting her scanned again.

Sounds like she has just dropped them down -often happens overnight. You wouldn't get pups reabsorbed without a trace so late and so quickly.

You wouldn't get pups reabsorbed without a trace so late and so quickly.

tears ago i had a friend at the vets with her bitch about 10days before due date, then again two days after due date, pups had been reabsorbed, she had no signs anything!

tears ago i had a friend at the vets with her bitch about 10days before due date, then again two days after due date, pups had been reabsorbed, she had no signs anything!

To my way of counting that made it 12 days, not a few hours!

But the OP's talking about a dog with 2.5 weeks before due date, not a few hours?  So a similar timeline to the response you've replied to.

maybe i am reading OP wrong, but, i read she has a bitch that had 2.5 weeks to go.  all i said was my friend had a bitch reabsorb somewhere from 10 days to due date. could have been 10th day 9th day or one day.

I have to agree it takes the body time to re-absorb everything needs to be broken down not possible to do that over-night, I'm wondering whether she had a lot of water retention which frequently happens in pregnancies and for some reason that is what has gone, don't know how but I think I would take her for a vet check. I guess that it is possible that a litter could be re-absorbed and the excess water retention still gave the impression of pregnancy and now that has gone it shows no pups?

You'll not know the answer until a scan, let us know what your vet says.

The muscles which can hold up the weight of a growing litter quite often suddenly let the weight down, as if they are hanging like a hammock from the spine.

Looks droopy and uncomfortable but the growing pups in a large litter, often fill the hollows back in before birth.

Thanks for the quick replies. My problem is it is only breast tissue that is loose or hanging down nothing else. the rest of the tummy appears to have deflated leaving loose skin. I could easily (i wont of course) stretch 2 or more inches if i pulled it, whereas yesterday everything was tight and neat. I dont think the muscles have dropped as if they had wouldnt the whole mass (belly, breasts and pups) have all moved down not just the breast tissue. Plus its the opposite, if anything has moved its gone back up (into the cheast) rather than down. Its as if she has given birth, she looks like a dog that has whelped. I am shocked at the sudden dramatic change in her outline. I have spoke to vet who said he would need to examine her, she is due to go in the morning, or before if any problems.

Your description is not that of the pups dropping, the stomach can basically drop to the floor in some pregnancies but you should never feel that pups are no longer there it is always obvious that pups are there.

I know this is horrible but is it possible she has whelped and buried her litter in the garden or somewhere or eaten them, though I guess she would be bleeding still so probably not at all if she is clean, but just a thought.

Have you got a stethescope?

You will be able to clearly hear feotal heart beats if they are still viable...or your vet will if you dont.
Its worth investing in one for the future.
The unpredictable shape changing can depend on how the uterus folds and tucks the pups in nooks and crannys.
Try not to worry.

Don't know if it is possible to have her scanned again, just to see?

> maybe i am reading OP wrong, but, i read she has a bitch that had 2.5 weeks to go.  all i said was my friend had a bitch reabsorb somewhere from 10 days to due date. could have been 10th day 9th day or one day.

Sorry, my response was in reply to Goldmali who's post seemed to imply that she thought the OP was only hours (or a couple of days away) so I was saying that I agree that your timeline and the OP's timeline were very similar.

I do hope for the OP's sake that nothing's wrong, but if it was me I'd probably get a scan.

I have a bitch that was scanned at 4 weeks, definately in-whelp, but at around 7 weeks she just seemed to deflate overnight. I just had that feeling that something was wrong so took her to the vets for a scan - they found nothing. She had had no discharge, no other signs of reabsorbing the litter. She was x-rayed just to be sure and sure enough there was nothing. She did this twice so I had her spayed in the end. She was still a bit loose underneath at the time of the scans and x-ray.

I think Goldmali meant that the body shape wouldn't change in such a short space of time ( a few hours) if reabsorbed????

> I think Goldmali meant that the body shape wouldn't change in such a short space of time ( a few hours) if reabsorbed????

Ah - that would make more sense to me (d'oh)

thanks guys, i am fearing the worst. there is no way she could have whelped the litter as she is indoors 24/7 under my pretty much constant gaze. theres no discharge and the vulva is looking the same as always. but whatever it is it is very drastic in such a short time. She is at the vets tomorrow and no doubt they will suggest a scan and maybe x-rays. Will keep you posted and still keeping my fingers crossed for a miricle (which considering how not pregnant she now looks for so late on i dont think i will get) thank you for the replies

Fingers crossed.My girl reabsorbed her pups,but she still looked pregnant right up to her due dates.I just had a gut feeling all was not right.

My girl was scanned at 5 weeks with 7 live pups, 7 weeks she suddenly (and overnight) looked smaller, scanned again and sadly all the pups had died :-(  at 9 weeks she delivered 5 dead mummified pups.  She had no discharge until the first dead pup arrived.

Fingers crossed though in your case it's just that the pups have dropped down so she doesn't look quite so tight, but for peace of mind I think I would take her back and get her scanned again.

Any news?

i keep checking back too to see if there is any news.

Hello, sorry for the delay, sporadic intiernet access. She was scanned yesterday. As suspected 4 puppies were located in the various stages of absorbtion. I was warned more than likely that they would be born mummified. Three alive and kicking. Heartbeats strong and I was even lucky enough to feel a kick which was very sureal as I had suspected the worst. Vet believes fluid levels may have reduced suddenly due to the others reabsorbing though he said more than likely this had been happening over a few days and I had noticed the major change suddenly. I have been warned that the live pups could be aborted at any point. 3 is a small litter breed averages 5-8 usually. Have the option to go after weekend for a further scan or wait and see but she is scheduled for a scan at 65 days regardless, if nothing happens before. Not sure what to make of it to be honest. Vet couldnt give an explanation why this would have happened as it could be anything and I am struggling to pin point one specific thing though i did start panacur last thursday?? Not sure if that could have done something. I am allowing myself to cling onto the hope the three in there are strong and make it. I guess its a waiting game now. Still treating her as pregnant. Two weeks and 1 day left. Thanks for all the advice and support. It really helped to have others views. 

So very sorry, I guess you knew in your heart something was wrong,

Kushie,  if the 3 remaining don't appear defective from the scan rather than wait for your scan planned on day 65 would it be worth talking to your vet about an early c-section. It may not pay to do this if something is terribly wrong causing the body to abort, but wonder if it is an option your vet may feel could save the other 3?

So sorry to hear your news.We waited over 2 years for our litter,2 phantoms and re absorbed.However ast try produced 5 beautiful Woolets.

so sorry.

So sorry to hear this. I hope the others go on to be born healthy.

So sorry to hear your news. Fingers crossed for the 3 pups still viable.

So sorry to hear this news and hope that you have some good news with the pups who are still hanging in there.  I've heard so many stories of panacur that no way would I give this to a pregnant bitch or young pups so I would think this may be a factor.  Keeping fingers crossed for you.

I have used panacur though the last trimester of pregnancy for 6 generaions of bitches with no discernable issues, litter size is wihin the average, lowest 4 highest 9 live pups. 

Very few stillbirths, in fact noen for several generatiosn, and neonatal losses under 10%. 

Generally puppies at birth heavier than average.

I'm so sorry that you're losing some, but have all my fingers crossed for you that the current surviving ones stay safe until they're born.  Please keep us posted.

Fingers crossed for the remainder of the pregnancy and the strong little ones you felt kicking. x

Thanks everyone. We are gutted. Not only as we had planned to keep one but also part of the breeding terms were to return two puppies to the breeder. We feel like we have had a raw deal to now. The vet did not offer a section or even mention it. He has been our vet for 20+ years and he is very matter of fact and stark. We were offered another scan next week but he said he wouldnt bother and wait to see closer to her due date. I asked for antibiotics as I thought this would prevent infection for the absorbing pups but he said best not to give anything. We are going to see how thing look after the weekend. I am slowly giving up hope as her tummy now appears almost pre pregnancy state apart from lots (i mean lots dangling down a few inches) of saggy breast tissue but not alot else. She is also off her food and its my understanding that at this stage she should be ravenous and eating 30% more than normal. Its not looking great, if I am honest.

I am so glad I found this forum. I spent a good few weeks reading all the older posts on the various subjects and found it very informative. I dont post often but have received some excellent help and advice. Thank you to everyone who has commented on my posts.

Have you considered a second opinion? I would take mine to a different practice and see what they said.