Our bitch was scanned at 5 weeks and was confirmed in whelp however 2 weeks before she was due the Vet suspected that there were no pups. Around the due date we had her scanned and the Vet confirmed that there was no pups although the scan should black areas in her uterus. Today 1 week after she was due she has produced a discharge. The Vet has scanned her tonight again and suggested that she should either have an injection to abort what is left of the pups or have her spayed. Any advice would be welcome.

I had something a little similar recently, one of my bitches started to abort at Day 42, Day 50 she still had 2 live pups, Day 60 none.  The only time she had any discharge was when she was aborting the first 2 over a 48hr period (she had been scanned for 4) but while there was still live pups they just gave her fluids & antibiotics even though all tests showed no signs of infection.  The Vet did say that had all the pups have been dead then she would have had to stay in longer on Oxytocin.

I suspect it is Oxytocin your Vet is talking about giving?  Do you still want to breed from your bitch in the future?  If so then try this route first although I believe it has to be done under supervision, ie, hospitalisation at the Vets.  If you don't want to breed again with her or if there is any signs of infection at all then have her speyed.  Your Vet will be able to advise you of the best time to do this, either now or later.

If you don't spey but go with the Oxytocin & everything is ok on scans etc, if it were me I would also try her on the homeopathic rememdy "Sepica 30c" as this helps to clear the reproductive areas & dry up milk.

My bitch is now 3 weeks on from her last scan at day 60 & is back to her normal pre-pregnancy self :-)

All the best

If this was my bitch: I would leave well alone if there is no temperature and the discharge is clear. I have had a bitch produce live healthy puppies up to 7 days  late. She may well have re-absorbed them all, though. I would ask the vet to give her Ceporex anti-biotics in case there is an infection, this AB is widely used for  infections in this area and is almost always the right one - this saves waiting 3 days for swabs to be done. The vet can send a swab away for testing anyway, but if Ceporex comes back as the right one you  will be 3 days ahead with treatment. If there is an infection its best to start treating it straight away.

I thought that the use of oxytocin on a bitch that had not already produced one puppy from a litter was very dodgy? I am happy to be corrected though. ;-)

If there may be  dead puppies in there then I would rather have the vet open her up and have a look and deliver them by c section rather than use oxytocin which can burst the uterus. If the uterus is badly infected then  the vet may want her spayed at the same time.

In the mean time take her temp twice daily and record it. 101.5 is normal. Keep a close eye on how much she is drinking and if her thirst increases noticebly call the vet and tell him as this is a classic symptom of pyometra.

This is what I would do, you must of course follow your own instincts and judge whose advice to take. So sorry you are ging through this, I know how frightening and worrying it is. Good luck.

A few years back a bitch of mine lost a litter, they died at 5 weeks, vet put her on Anti-biotics but wouldn't give oxytocin until she started delivering her dead babies, once the first pup arrived she gave the injection to speed up the delivery.  The cervix has to be open and the bitch in active labour before oxytocin can be administered.

So you are correct in thinking so shifting sands ;-)

Hi Shifting Sands ~ I do appreciate what you're saying about the Oxytocin ~ the reason it was suggested as being given to my bitch was because she was contracting & bits of dead puppy were coming away :-(  As for swabbing them for infections ~ we had several done, one was a new digi-swab (I think that's what he called it anyway) & we had all the results back within 24 hours ~ one of the swab tests he did gave us an immediate negative but can't remember which one?  Sorry my brain is a bit vague with names but this was a few weeks ago & I was more concerned for my bitch & whether or not she had an infection & that she was going be ok.

How distressing for you. I do hope your girl comes out of this ok. Whats the latest?  Sending you lots of hugs <<<000>>>>