Hi
How soon can a vet tell if a bitch is in whelp or not.
The bitch was mated christmas/new year week and was this week
examined by a vet who said she was not in whelp.
Normal litter size varies from 1 to 4 pups.

Regards
Abbeypap

All bitches are different.  We have mated one of ours 5 weeks ago and apart from a slight thickening over the loin she looks no different.  However another one of ours a few years ago was very obvious from 3 weeks onwards.
Becky

I took my GSD bitch to the vet once at 53 days to be told she definately WASN'T pregnant- despite my having felt pups move- ( he said must have been wind ). 3 days later she produced 7 healthy bouncing puppies!!!!!!!!! Currently my Newfie is in whelp and due Saturday we only just decided a week ago that she is in whelp she has held them very well. Ti me alone will tell, the waiting is hell......

same here i took a bitch to the vet that was on day 64 and the vet told me that she was not pregnant, on day 67 she had 4 very large puppies

Couldn't you/vet palpalate (sp) to tell? Thats what I did with my bitch and was right on how many pups she was having.

Good luck and do hope all goes well :)

Hi

Thanks for your replies, the vet palpitated the bitches abdomen and said she was not in whelp. I have found that gentle palpitation between 28 & 35 days can give (in my case) a good indication of whats happening.  As this bitch was brought in to visit one of my boys (a maiden) I'm not able to watch the bitch develop (so to speak).
I have to go on what the bitches owner is saying.
One of my own girls a few years ago gave us a real poser, when we palpitated we counted 5 pups, went for a scan at 6 weeks and saw 1 larger pup and 4 smaller ones.
Up until the moment of whelping you would'nt have said she was having any at all.
She gave birth to 1 pup and nothing else.  What we saw at the scan was re-absorbtion (thik I spelt it properly) in progress.
She has had a normal litter of 2 since.
Breeding is so full of questions.  Is she, isn't she, ready for mating. Will he, won't he perform (the dog). Is she, isn't she in whelp.  (lol).
Will let you know if she is or if she isn't  in 5-6 weeks.
Regards
Abbeypap

hi Dollface

my vet did palpitated but he said that she was empty! (he has a locum not my proper vet) i have only ever seen palpitated being done once before (other than the locum) so how do you do it?
most of the time i have had my bitches scanned but i have also heard that it can be bad what do you think of this?

Pregnancy detection by Palpation is definately a knack, some have it some don't .  I wouold never advise anyone without experience to attempt it in case they caused damage.  Vets are trained to palp0ate the abdomen for various diagnostic reasons, and will know what and where they are feeling.

My own vet is very good at it, and if he says yes when palpating we don't bother with the scan.  Even though he only charges half for what he would do for a scan, he doesn't push you to scan if he is certain the bitch is in whelp.

He hasn't yet charged me for My Tula's return for a second opertaion on a tumour site, as he hasn't worked itout yet (he ia going to re4duce it as It needed to be redone), so he is not one of the greedy ones.

For those who didn't know my 9 year old first homebred bitch had a little lump on the bend of front pastern.  This was removed, and on lab analysis found to be a Plasmacytoma, this kind of tunour is best removed with a wide margin of good tissue, to reduce reoccurence or metastisis (sp), hence her going under the knife again.

I wouldn't recomend you to do it if you don't no what you are doing, you can hurt the puppies....I did alot of reading about it and had my vet show me, I was there along time asking all sorts of questions....That isn't something that some one could be walked through over the net, the best place is for a vet to show you who will and takes the time....My vet is very good all her patience come first and she never rushes anyone through, she's not money hungry either like some vets I went to in the past.

Sorry I'm not of much help :(

HI dollface

its ok i will not be trying it myself :D
but i will ask my vet if i see him before she has them.
i was once told that having your bitch scanned can cause problems, is this right?  My bitch is now about 3 weeks (i hope) and I will be taken her to be scanned late next week.
this will be the third bitch that i have had scanned and i have never had a problem with it, but i have been told that it can cause things to go wrong. what do you think?

Hi Staffie lover, I was wondering where you had heard about scanning causing problems? And what sort of problems? Because pregnant women are regularly scanned (my niece who is expecting twins is scanned every fortnight) and it seems to be perfectly safe. I can't think why it would be different for bitches.
:)

I have never heard of that either...x-rays can be harmful.

I think the only problem that would be is if your bitch is all stressed out which could cause her to absorb them.

Good luck :)

hi Jeangenie

i cant remember where i heard it from but i was told that there is more chance of  reabsorbotion(SP) or something like that.  and when i heard it i was also caring and it did scare me as i have also had to have a few extra scans.  i also have a friend that lives in Oz that will lever let her bitch be scanned, 
i am taking my girl to get scanned next cos i don't like x-ray and you still have a good ider how many she is having
all the best 2 your niece

Hi we had our bitch checked at 28 days and was told that she did'nt seem to be in pup. Had her scaned at 35 days only to be told she was having 5 possabley 6 pups on the 69th day after mateing out poped 9 yes 9 healthy puppies,just goes to show not everything goes to plan, good luck with yours

Your so lucky to have a vet who can tell roughly how many pups your girl was going to have.  I took my little girl to the vets when she was 35 days and all he could tell from the scan was that she was definately in pup and that he could see two (which I saw on the scan aswell) but did say that that didn't mean that there more.  I'll just have to sit and wait for another few days.

Hi
Any time I have a bitch scanned I am always told that the vetinary technician will not confirm any definite numbers.  I only over use it to confirm that a bitch is in whelp.
What surprises me more is the different number of ways people choose to scan the dogs, one has them standing, others prefer to have them lying on there backs and others want them on there sides, some want the adbomen shaved and others don't have a preference.
The chap who does the scan on my bitch standing travels a lot scanning sheep and is not a vet and he does seem to be more accurate than the vetinary technicians.  As for cost I have never paid over £15 for a scan.

Regards
Abbeypap

hi could anyone tell me if it is essential to have the bitch scanned.or you do it to see if she is in whelp

Hello Shirley
Having a bitch scanned is purely a personal decison I do it with certain bitches to confirm that they are in whelp.
There is nothing written down anywhere that says you must scan.
It's your decision.

Regards
Abbeypap