Hello, this is my first time posting on here.

I just wondered if anyone had any idea why this might happen....

My toy bitch whelped 3 healthy pups the other morning and 1 very deformed puppy

The poor mite was born with its intestines and most of its insides on the outside of its body. The split was from the bottom of its rib cage right down to its genitals and it was still alive. It also had a massive curve on its spine, one of its legs was missing and it's ears we're very low on its head. It was an average size puppy for my breed. I initially thought it was still born but then it was gasping and trying to move...it was very distressing and extremely  heart breaking. My poor bitch was crying for the poor thing. I dragged my hubby out of bed and he immediately took it to the vets to be pts, it's little heart was still beating when he got there.

I know of another breeder in the same breed who has had this happen years ago and she has just put it down to one of those things.

It's not something I have heard of in either of the lines that I used, I'm obv wondering if it's something I might have done wrong with regards to nutrition, exercise etc.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Rachel

Chances are it was just one of those things, there may have been other less obvious problems like with its major organs poor thing, may it RIP.

If it had died it would have probably been absorbed or partially so, whilst still in utero it has been able to stay alive supported by Mum, in the wild it would have died very quickly as Mum would concentrate on the normal pups and ignore the ill one.

If it was caused by something in the enviroment then all the pups would have been affected.

Keep a close eye out for infection incase the contents of the exposed bowel has leaked into the uterus, speak to vet re antibiotics as a precaution.

Hope the others go on to thrive and Mum forgets about the other pup.

The two cases I know of the first the bitch had been walking through crop fields during her pregnancy so herbicides/pesticides may have been implicated.  The deformed pup was the only one she had.

The second one the bitch had been given the old antimate injection (delvesteron) and produced one deformed and one live puppy.

Sorry about your pup :( I had a similar thing happen to me a couple of years ago but it was with a kitten.

We board cats and it was a customers young cat who bought we boarded whilst they were on holiday for 3 weeks.  She didnt tell me she thought it was pregnant.  But on the day she was due to be picked up she had 5 kittens. 

The 3rd one born was very tiny but it had a very curved spine and the skin was split under his ribs in a few places, exposing some of his insides.  It was awful.  The main split was down its spine, exposing the spinal column and the Vet that had to put it to sleep, said he had Spina Bifida  :( 

It was a horrible thing to witness. 

>The second one the bitch had been given the old antimate injection (delvesteron) and produced one deformed and one live puppy.

That's interesting Barbara.  Years ago I took on a dog with spina bifida.  The owner of the Border Collie bitch had the old antimate injection as the bitch was only on her second season.  The bitch gave birth to one live male pup with spinabif. 

The area around the affected part of his spine was extra sensitive, and he was fine racing round, as long as he didn't swerve.  (When he would just go down on one side.)

He was from a long line of agility dogs, so was no use to the breeder.  However, there was nothing wrong with his head.  :-)  He loved obedience work.

Her vet said that it couldn't have possibly be the injection that caused it!

It really was an awful sight to see and something that will stay with me for a very long time, I just wish it had been stillborn :(

Have spoken to my vet about anti biotics and they said that anything left inside will come out with the loss that she's still having so that is worrying me a bit now. My vet won't give out AB without good cause (I think this is a good cause!).

So sorry you had this happen, it must have been an awful shock.

There's information on this site about the intestines developing outside the body.   It's relating to humans but may help you understand a little of why/how these things happen.

http://www.gosh.nhs.uk/medical-conditions/search-for-medical-conditions/gastroschisis/gastroschisis-information/

Try to enjoy the rest of the litter, they will grow up so fast!

{{{{BIG HUGS}}}}

I know someone else who had a pup born the same 2 weeks ago which had to be PTS and again it was a toy breed! 

Funny because my medium breed we've had a lot of bitches in the last few weeks scanned with no pups.......

I'm so sorry, I can understand, it's horrific isn't it?

I have experienced this same thing twice, with cats... The firstborn of my second planned litter was an 'inside out' kitten, and also a neighbour's pet cat produced one... She hammered on my door screaming in horror asking me for help.

In both feline cases there was nothing during pregnancy that could have accounted for it.

To simplify, the midline is the last to form in the unborn puppy or kitten, which means that sometimes the 'seam' isn't fully done up, or developed.

A qualified human midwife who was also a cat breeder once gave me some insight into this... It is also a very common defect in human babies, to a lesser and greater degree.

Hi Rachel
I don t know anything about breeding or why this would happen, but i am sorry you are so sad and am sure that you shouldn t feel you've done anything wrong. You sound like a caring owner. I hope you feel better soon. Best Wishes
Jane

Thank you all for replying. I'm going to try and put it down to one of those things nature throws at us.

I have a healthy bitch and puppies to concentrate on, all are doing amazingly well.

Thanks again :)

>The poor mite was born with its intestines and most of its insides on the outside of its body

Sorry to hear about your puppy. It must have been such a shock for you :( Sadly, it is not as uncommon as you may think.

Just out of interest: have any of the bitches (or stud dogs) used for the matings that resulted in 'organs on the outsides of bodies' mentioned in this thread, had hernia's of any description or come from lines with known hernia's?

The two I know of the Dobe defintitely never had a hernia (as I looked after her at times),a dn I am pretty sure the other didn't either.

Nothing to add but so sorry for the loss of the pup in such an unpleasant way, as you said better to have been still born than alive :(

Sorry to hear this Rachel, hope mum and babies are doing well.

Re the old mismate jab, I used this on a bitch about 14 years ago and she went on to have 1 live fully formed puppy and 1 dead malformed puppy, it's legs imparticular. Not very nice and I'm very glad theres a new jab!

Babies are doing great, mum not so much today.

She's been sick and has got the runs, we have just got back from the vets. Her temp is 40c. She's had a scan to make sure she has nothing left In her uterus and a blood test to check her calcium levels etc

I'm really worried about her....

She's had a anti biotic jab and has a cause of clavaseptin :(

Oh dear how awful for you! Happened to a friend of mine once, don't remember if the puppy was stillborn or not. So sorry for the shock you had and for the poor little one. Hope your bitch feels better soon though.

I hope the meds kick in soon and she starts to feel better. Were her calcium levels normal, giving calcium rich foods will stop her getting eclampsia and they love them too especially if she has a sore mouth from cleaning pups.

Keep us posted on how things are going.

Hello

Puppies are 4 days old now and are gaining weight slowly but, they seem quite unsettled and cry when nursing. I'm wondering if My bitches infection could have slowed her milk production down.

Mum is eating again thankfully. Her blood test results showed she had slightly raised pancreas enzymes, other than that everything was fine. Calcium was at the normal level. The vet seemed to think her pancreas enzymes were raised because she had had an upset stomach, she hasn't been sick anymore since.

Rachel

Push as much food and fluids into Mum as possible so her milk quality improves and there is more of it,don't be tempted to supplement the pups as their demand for milk will increase the supply, move the pups around all the teats to stimulate them all to produce as they do tend to concentrate on the same ones initially and she should have at least 2 teats each pup.

Yes I'm practically force feeding her, she won't drink the goats milk anymore but as from last night will have lactol.

The pups seem to cry when they first latch on, maybe they are just impatient for the milk to let down, I don't know. My last litter were so content, never heard a peep out of them, I think I'm expecting them to be like that but obv they are very different!!