Hi im new to this site. I have a few questions....today is the 58th day for my dog. Shes pretty big and i feel the pups moving..ALOT! I was supposed to bring her in today to get an xray to see how many pups shes having. Now for my questions... i heard of scans but never xrays...is is the same thing? Is an xray safe? This is my 1st litter so im a little nervous. Thanks to all that reply.

Jen

X-rays and scans are different things. Most dogs need some form of sedation in order to get an x-ray where as most are OK with being scanned. X-raying will be more accurate than scanning, although not always. I'm not sure why you need to know the number of puppies. Is it because they think there aren't that many and may be oversized? Personally, as it's quite late in the day I would just let your bitch get on with it. Interfering at this late stage may be more hassle than it is really worth.
However, discuss with your vet first and foremost and ask why an x-ray is felt to be necessary.
Bec

Hi, a car journey at this stage is very likely to kick start her labour. I am surprised at the vet suggesting this at such a late stage, and I certainly wouldn't allow a bitch of mine to be x rayed/sedated/aenethsatised(sp) at 58 days. I would have thought she should have been scanned for numbers at 7-8 weeks at the latest. Good luck with the whelping.

Hi Jen Im a great beliver in waiting to see the end result I would advice against a visit to the vets at this stage in less it is essential for two reason the first being the stress of the journey the second being the risk of infection to the new mum and her soon to be born pups!
I have found it better not to know how many pups there are after all it isnt 100% acurate and there is no guarentee how many of the pups inside are viable.
I would concentrate on getting your bitch nice and quitley settled (and yourself) ready for the big day
good luck with the whelping
:)

My vet will NOT x-ray any of my girls, I asked with my last litter as it was her first and she was rather large, but she still said unless a problem she wouldn't x-ray. As it happened she went on and whelped no problem. Just TRY and relax, I know these last days are very stressful to both of you.

It is reassuring to know how many pups to expect when the action starts, but personally I would not have an X-Ray done at this stage.

Al

don't do it, it will stress your bitch out, as well as lining the vets pocket.I had no idea how many my bitch was having until 6 popped out, so it was a lovely surprise.good luck:)

The only reason i wanted to do it was because i read alot about puppies getting stuck and since this is the 1st litter for both of us im pretty nervous and wanted to know how many to expect...but i dont want to stress her or the puppies so i wont take her. To tell you the truth i really dont trust the vet either..everytime i take my dogs they seem to come up with something just to give them medication and get more $$. I have another question...I was told to take her temp after the 8th week so i took it saturday night at it was 99.5 then yesterday was 100 and today its at 98.7...she seems ok. What do you think? Also what about mastitis? Has anyone has problems with this? Sorry for all the questions!! Thanks again for all your advice
Jen

My bitch has mastitis, only a mild case thankfully, she seemed to be running a temperature today, so we popped to the vet, a quick acting anti-biotic injection and a 7 day course of pills seem to be doing the trick!