i have to cut a long story short.. my girl went into labour on wed temp down a little panting and shivers. sat up with her all night. Thursday still shivers and panting no straing apart from 9.58am saw a bag of fluid just coming out. waited to see what would happen after an hour nothing so rang VET he said to leave her for a couple of hours. Still nothing rang VET again was told they can be like this for 24 hours. FRIDAY morning rang VET at 4am as she was pushing and pushing not very strong contractions so thought pup might be stuck.. got to vet at 4.15am she had girl still born vet couldnt revive her (still in sac with fluid) nothing happened then till around 5.15am not strong contractions had another girl still born at 5.50am she stopped panting after that, vet scanned her and xray to see if any more NONE then gave her oxytocin calcium and anti inflamatory,, brought her home at 7.30am not happy at around 10am panting and digging up took her back to vet he gave a sedative brought her home, taken her to vet again as she is panting like crazy and going rigid please tell me what is wrong with her.. vets arent saying anything...

I would demand that the vet told me something. Don't want to alarm you, but it sounds as if she may have eclampsia. is she at the vet's now? if so, she is in the best place, hopefully they will have got some calcium into her, if not Get her there NOW. Good luck & let us know how things go.

So sorry Stephanie.  I really feel for you and your girl. 

She is probably desperately searching for her pups.  The fluid coming from her has really turned on her mothering instinct.  Are you sure both placentas came away?  If one remained she may feel something, but I think it is most likely to be a frantic search for her pups. 

When I had my second litter (over 20 years ago!), my bitch passed the waterbag and after a couple of hours I went to the vet, who told me to be patient (like yours).  The outcome was a dead singleton and a caesarian.  She was like your girl for over a week, she howled and cried, dug into the back of the settee, etc.  She adopted one of my children's fluffy toys as a puppy substitute, and took it everywhere for several days.  It did help her, but I didn't know if it was the right thing to allow, as it may have prolonged things, but I was just desperate for her to have some comfort.

Now I know that action must be taken within 4 hours max of the waterbag coming.

Thanks for your replys,, the vet gave her calcium after the 2nd pup was born and anti-inflamatory and antibiotics. What i cant understand is why he gave her oxytocin as he knew there were no more pups and they came out in the sacs anyway.. I think because he gave her the oxytocin she thinks she is still in labour.. When i took her back to the vets at 10.30 i told him to keep her there and stop her panting and shaking it was horrible to see her on the floor like that. so just had a phone call saying he gave her more sedative and that has calmed her down.. she was crying looking round for her pups and picking things up and putting them in her whelping box.. should i give her a cuddly toy??? or leave her with nothing ??? This was her second litter. The first one she had 11 fit healty pups all normal delivery and within 20 mins of each one up to 7 pups rested for 2 hours then same again for the other 4, 2 were born dry with that thick green gunge but i rubbed then and they were fine.. and everyone went to new homes, people say you should accept there might be some pups that die in a big litter but i was so proud that they were all fine. I was so looking forward to this litter too as i wanted to keep a girl from it. I was so worried that i was going to lose her too. I am so upset that she has gone through this ordeal with 2 pups and its been a nightmare...

The only time my bitch was 'normal' for the first week was when we took her out for a walk and she saw other dogs she knew, and remembered her usual routine.  Remove the whelping box and put her back in her usual bed on clean bedding without any 'puppy' smell, and wash any discharge off her back end as frequently as you can.  As the days go by she will get better - if a cuddly toy helps then try it (as long as it's dog safe - not a lot of long hair she can lick off and swallow).  Give her lots of attention and games and walks to get her mind off things - although it will probably be a couple of days before you see a change in her.  The ideal answer would be if you could find a pup needing a foster mum!!! 

I am so sorry this happened!!  :(

That is so sad.   I feel really sorry for you and your baby.  I hope things get better soon.  :(

Hi Stephanie,
I'm sorry for your loss. I know how you feel, one of my bitches whelped a singleton last week, and unfortunately the pup didn't make it. She was given oxytocin after three hours of pushing, but it was to late and the vet could't save the puppy.

So, about your girl. Maybe she's still having contractions from the oxytocin? Don't really understand why the vet gave her that if all pups and placentas were already out... My girl had  some contractions the night after the whelping, panting and nesting a bit. Of course, she probably misses her puppies too. It was the first litter for my bitch, and she never got to see her little boy, so she was never very worried - just a little confused and somewhat depressed for the first days after the whelping. In your case I would probably give the bitch some time as long as she's "only" restless and panting. Of course, if it gets really bad, another visit to the vet is probably a good idea. Later on, when she's feeling better, maybe you could take her for a walk, give her something else to think about. I've been keeping my bitch occupied, taking her for long walks in the woods, letting her chase her balls (not that much...) and play with my other dogs a lot - it's been only a week and she's almost back to normal now. Completely back to normal mentally and almost physically.

Hi thankyou all for your kind thoughts, i feel like i have let her down, i listened to the vets advice and look were it got Tara and i...I will let you know how she is when she comes home...

Hi, just called at the vets Tara is still panting and shaking, so the vet has put her on beta blockers and it looks like she will be ther over night. Has anyone ever had this with there bitch???? when they have lost pups???

I don't know about others but I've always been told by my vets if you see a bag and they've not passed it within two hours to urgently take the dog down to the vet.  I would be quite unhappy that they left it all of this time.

Hope you girl picks up soon and give her a big hug from me.

I would not be happy with the vet, if you saw a bag then the pup should have been born immediately, or it would suffocate. He probably gave her oxy incase she had anything left behind that would not show up under xray or ultrasound, did anything come away.
Hope she will be ok.

Looking at it in another direction it may be that rather than the delivery or the loss of the puppies making her unwell a problem with her heart, and therefore circulation, may have caused the death of the puppies in uterus perhaps it is something to ask your vet about.  Either way I do hope she recovers swiftly.

Tara is as fit as a fiddle,i had her checked over by the vet before i bred with her and she had 11 pups first litter if she had a heart problem i think that would have killed her. i still say she should't have had oxytocin there was nothing to come out of her. she had 2 pups in 2 sacs. The vet just rang to say she is still panting heavily and has put it down to anxiety at the loss of her pups....

I did not mean to imply you bred from an unfit dog :)  Pregnancy, however, can cause temporary problems, high blood pressure (certainly in humans anyway) for instance, the fact that the vet prescribed beta blockers made me wonder if that might be the case here, but I was of course only guessing, it does sound like your vet does not think there is anything to worry about.

Just got Tara back from the vets, they have put her on beta blockers because she is so stressed out over what has happened, she doesnt understand where her puppies are. Now home she is crying and digging at the carpet, i just hope she will get over it in a few days. I am keeping her out of the dining room were the whelping box was and trying to get her back in her usual routine...Also found out today that my vet didn't know about the sac on friday morning as i had spoken to another vet from the practice. But all i can do now is help Tara get over her bad experience(and mine) it has knocked me for six and i will never let anything like that happen to me or my dogs again...So again thankyou for all your kind thoughts...

Aaah, poor girl. Give her lots of TLC
X

At least she's home.  You must be devestated, I know I would be.  I hope you and your girl make a swift recovery from this nightmare and enjoy the future together.  Lots of hugs and kisses coming your way.

I do hope you will report your vet to the RCVS.  He has shown very scant disregard for the welfare of your bitch and puppies.  I would also be sending a strongly worded solicitors letter threatening action for the loss of revenue from the puppies.
I understand that the cash ISNT an issue, but I bet itll scare the feathers out of your vet, and hopefully, he will never give anyone such awful advice again, and will get his lazy backside out of bed and attend if another bitch is obviously in distress.
Vets have a duty of care to their clients - yours has failed you and your bitch very badly IMHO.
Jane A

Apologies, I should also have said I am very sorry you have both had to go through this.
Oxcytocin does have the effect of causing panting, shivering and vomiting.  Not a nice drug, but sometimes invaluable if there is a possibility of a puppy left in one of the uterine horns.

Hi Jane, thankyou for your reply, at least now i know it was the oxyitocin that was making her shiver and pant,,, I did have to take her back to the vets and he gave her a hormone injection, so seams much better but she is still sad . I suppose that sounds silly but because she has had a succesfull litter in the past she did know what was expected of her... So next time i will be at the vets knocking on the door demanding to see him so that nothing else can go wrong... Regards Steph and Tara...

Maybe the best thing might be t try and take her mind off the missing pups.  was the other jab to try and dry up her milk supply?  Moderate exercise (being wary of infection), dont rub her tummy (can stimulate milk), and trying to keep her mind busy (bit of clicker work?  Something new?).  Chuck out all bedding shes whelped on etc?
Hope the poor darling is happier soon.

I had a very similar case as well , our 2 pups were born dead as the bitch did not get enough stimuli to contract. Our vet was not bothered at all until the 2nd pup was born dead! My bitch had oxytocin as well to make sure that nothing was left behind (ie. placenta etc...)

I cleaned up her box and gave her a soft toy that she sort of nursed for several weeks (heartbreaking!!!!!!!)! She then started loosing interest and went back to normal!

This was my bitch's very first litter and I was advised by the same vet not to breed from her again. She had her second litter 13 days ago with lovely healthy pups!

CHANGE YOUR VET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I remember well, :( when one of our Staffys had only one Pup and it was a alive when born but died through the night at the vets:( when I brought Tara Home she was so different she dug as she had never done this before ripped the washing of the line and was running around the house, she was searching for her baby, its sad so sad how do you explain to your dear dear Baby girl that her baby has gone....