Hi everyone....i'm still new to this forum but i do have some urgent questions that i need answer to....hopefully i'll get some advice here. :-)

Currently i own around 6 basset hounds and i've been trying to breed them but have been unsuccesful.It seems that my bitches seems to have a problem of mastitis and i've already lost around 3 litters already.
I would really like some expertise advice regarding how i should go about on tending this matter...for i really don't wish to lose the next coming litter.For all the advice and help i'll receive please accept my greatest gratitude.

Yours sincerely,

Jully

Hello Jully Welcome aboard. I'm sorry to hear of you problems and losing 3 litters must be devastating. I'm not sure whether mastitis is a common problem in bassets and maybe a basset person among us can help on that bit.
Firstly, how old are the bitches you are trying to breed from? Are you using your own dogs and how closely related are they to your bitches? Have you asked the breeders of your dogs whether they have a particular predisposition to breeding problems? Would you consider your dogs to be overweight? What diet do you feed the bitches before and during pregnancy and after whelping? Do you routinely use antibiotics before mating? Do you use a worming preparation during pregnancy? Where do you whelp your bitches? Is it calm and quiet away from the other dogs? Do you continue to exercise your dogs even when heavily pregnant? At what ages have the puppies died? How many were in the litter? When does the mastitis appear? Do your bitches suffer from phantom pregnancies and subsequently go on to develop mastitis? What does your vet say? Do you get your bitches checked by the vet straight after whelping?
Sorry for all the questions but the more we know the more help you can get!
Bec

Hi Bec,

My bitches range from 1 1/2 to 3 years old.I'm using my own stud dog ...he's currently on the way of finishing his Champion title ...need another CC.They're not very closely related although most of the Basset line in my country come from the same line so they share some second and third generation lines.I only feed my dogs on Premium quality dry dogfood...Science Diet,Prism or Pro pac.Of course the bitches are fed on puppy food during pregnancy and after whelping.I've never used antibiotics before mating.Once my bitches come into season usually i deworm them then revaccinating them with a booster shot.
The bitches usually whelp round the back of the house where i have a small yard away from the others by the side of the house.Don't dare to exercise her while heavily pregnant though she still does have a run of the front yard every morning.
I was unaware of mastitis the first time i encountered with it...i din't know what struck me until it was too late.At first i thought they had died due to their mother accidentally crushing them because i found their mother the next morning lying on top of them after picking her up i found 3 of them already dead.Then i seperated them and only keeping them together on feeding hours.The puppies kept crying and turning blue and shortly died after that.By the time i realised what had struck and took them to the vet by then it was all too late.I lost them whole litter within 48 hours.There was 11 in that litter.
The first time the mastitis was there since the begining of birth.....the second time i was much more cautious on weaning the pups straight away after birth...i bottled fed them the first day while checking for any signs of mastitis.After making sure that all was ok i let the pups feed on their moms milk....i thought the danger had passed but on the third day mastitis struck again.After 3 days i still had a few of the pups still alive although barely alive...the vet told me to try to give them antibiotic drops ...it prolonged their life but still lost them with that week.
The third litter survived much longer nearly 2 weeks.

Jully

Hi. I wonder if it possible that your bitch/s suffer with toxic milk. If this is the case, the puppies tum will turn a blue/purple colour after their first suckle, before death, they just seem to waste away, or sleep. They are very noisy as a litter, with a high pitched squall rather than the noise we know which drops when the sound of suckkling comes in. The pups will die soon after feeding after birth, within hours the lot can be lost. I don't think there is anything that can be done for the bitches milk, the puppies would have to be handreared.

Isn't mastitis and toxic milk the same thing ?
I know i can't do anything once the bitches is confirmed with this conditions,but what i'm interested to know is what can i do to prevent it.
As far as the vet tells me,this condition is caused by infection of the mammary glands caused by bacteria which entered through the mothers milk pores.I've tried already keeping the bitch as clean as possible by wiping her teats with antiseptic, Dettol every single day but it didn't seem to solve the problem....my second bitch also came up with the same condition.With the third bitch i carried out an advice given by a friend,tried giving it antibiotics,Linkosin one week prior from the expected date of birth...continued with the anti biotics for another 3 days.
Tried hand rearing the last litter..or the ones that haven't died yet....gave the pups antibiotic drops prescribed by the vet.In the beginning thought that some survived caused by the time the litter reached one weeks old i still had half of them.But they didn't survive through the second week.

My understanding is Dettol is poisonous to dogs as are all the antiseptics with phenol in (those that turn cloudy in water) could this be causing a problem with the puppies?

Isabel

Welcome to the forum Isabel :-) Leigh

Hi Jully
No, they are different. I just wish I could remember the 'correct' name for the condition, I will find it out. They can stay on Mum, or go back to her, with Mastitus, but Toxic milk is different , the bitch has no symptoms of illness as it does not affect her,but her milk will poison the puppies. A friends bitch had this condition, they lost two puppies. With the second one, they nipped it down to the vet quickly, leaving my friend and I to try to keep puppies feeding (they were just born). The vet recognised the condition, and put to sleep the puppy as it would not have survived, then did a PM and found his diagnosis to be correct. Meanwhile, we had another puppy 'going down'. We had a call from the vets to remove the mum from the pups, which we did. The husband came back with Whelpi, some was made up and we started with the poorly pup. We managed to clear out of its system what it had taken from mum, and it survived, as did the remainder of the litter. As this will happen again, the bitch was spayed.
Its just a thought, every avenue is worth checking.

Welcome to the forum Jully :-)

Leigh

Hi Jully,
I also have basset bitches that are having pups and I can sympathise with you. I have found that if I have problems I try and hand feed the pups on either Lactol or SMA Gold. Both work well. I'm not really sure what causes mastitis but I know it's not normally a problem with bassets. They seem to have very few hereditary illnesses which is why you can line breed from them. I've got 3 bitches pregnant at the moment and I must admit I don't do anything more than you do apart from keep them indoors when welping. Could that be the problem? Too cold or exposed maybe? Also you said that you don't exercise the bitch when heavily pregnant..you should do.. at least walk her up and down the garden even between puppies as they are lazy whelpers and the exercise seems to help bring the pups down for her. I had 15 hours of labour to get 3 pups out and until she had gone for a slow walk up and down the garden she didn't even start contractions for number 2 or 3. If I can help you in any way please get back to me as we both seem to be mental enough to breed God's most stubborn dogs!!!
Wendy

hi jully,
we have a 2 year old full blood basset hound, and are trying to find a female to bread him with, do you know anyone?
thank you.

Hi Furb07 have a look here to help with your research  <a class='url' href='http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/intro.htm'>http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/intro.htm</a>

Then the next thing to do would be give the bitch's breeder a ring and arrange a visit. That is the person who will be able to provide the most suitable advice. He/She will be able to assess the bitch's faults and virtues, and advise on whether she is worth breeding from,(all dogs have faults, even Crufts BIS winners) and if so, to which dog.:)

Dawn R.

And jully isnt around anymore. The original post is 5 years old ;)
Lea :)

Lea :-D Someone must be very, very, very, bored, imagine going back THAT far! Oh, that Dennis :-O