A friend mated her small toy bitch. She is due next week. Bitch was scanned at 4 weeks and just one pup was seen. My friend concerned that the bitch was quite big for just one pup took her to the vets today and they x rayed her. There is definitely just one large puppy. The vet said he doesn't think the bitch will be able to have the puppy as it is so big, however he will NOT do an elective C Section. He wants her to go into labour and wait until she is straining before doing a section to allow her to try to give birth naturally. My friend is in a state now as she is so concerned that she will lose both the puppy and her bitch. She obviously  knows  the date of mating so knows when the bitch is due so can't understand why the vet is so reluctant to section. Anyone else come across this?

Vets may be worried about doing section too soon. Serum progesterones can be run when she is approaching her due date and once they drop below 5ng she should go into labour with in next 24 hrs, if at 2ng should be actively in labour. These reading can help timing of an elective c section ensuring not done too soon which may compromise viability of the puppy. Also this can help time c section so that you don't end up with an out of hours emergency when you know this puppy is unlikely to whelp naturally.

I would discuss using this option with your vet in order to plan an elective section. If you have no local lab that can get serum progesterones back on same day the in house pre mate kits can also be used. Good luck

K

I can see the reason for waiting till labour has started because then all the hormones connected with whelping/ letting milk through will have been released.

When I was a midwife the Mum's having elective c/sections had a harder time breast feeding than those who had experienced labour and then needed a c/section.

What would worry me is 2 causes of primary inertia, uterus is over stretched with large pup/litter or the single pup doesn't trigger enough hormones to start labour.

She needs to discuss her concerns with her vet and mention the primary inertia to show she has done some research into single pups and whelping

klb why is it that progesterone testing can't seem to be done in house (I have asked all our local vets, many large group practices with hospital facilities) as most vets offer other bloodwork results in-house.

The radio assey machines are extremely expensive so only large labs or specialist repro vets invest in the kit.
My vet has a 24/7 practice and does out of hour work for other local practices, extensive hospital and lab facilities but no radio assey equipment. Fortunately for me one of the big labs that do the specialist lab work that can't be done in house at my vets do serum progesterones  so I can get bloods done morning and result by tea time.

I just seems that we are so behind here in the vet side with repro work, with just a few specialist facilities/labs.

>A friend mated her small toy bitch

She needed to know the likelihood of a self whelp before mating her bitch.  Toys are not for novices.  My biggest concern would be that, having just one pup may well mean that she doesn't produce enough hormones for labour.  Is your friend experienced enough to recognise primary inertia?  It is really, really hard for some folk to recognise.  Does she have a mentor that will be there when the bitch is due?  I do think this would be a big help.

I am not a believer in elective sections myself.  Simply because I feel these ops are booked by people who know their breed can't whelp normally.  Sorry folks, think we should be breeding for self whelpers.  My last litter was from a smaller bitch than I would normally use, but she was the result of years of selective breeding.  I think I asked my vet to check her about 5 times before she was mated, he must have been sick of me.  He was adamant that her pelvis was wide enough.  He was right.  :-)

But please try and get her to have an experienced breeder there.