English Bulldog 56 days pregnant and not eating.

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
Our English Bulldog was AI's on 12/30, 1/1, and 1/3. So according to our calculations she is due within the next week or so. For the past 3 days she stopped eating. Yesterday, she would only take 2 tsp of canned dog food and very small amounts of water so I took her to the vet because she seemed increasingly lethargic and hadn't had a bowel movement in 2 days. To me, her gums also looked less pink. The vet checked her gums and said they looked "a little" pale but fine. He also did a vaginal exam and said there were no puppies in the birth canal. The vet seemed to think that since she is carrying a large litter (the US showed at least 5 puppy heartbeats), her lethargy may be due to being uncomfortable. The vet recommended adding mineral oil to her food and blood tests in 2 days if she didn't improve.This morning, I left her for a short while and when I came home she had a very dark, thick, mucousy bowel movement in the house. She also has a pink, mucousy discharge slowly dripping from her vagina. Could that be from the exam? She's refusing food all-together now so I gave her about 1/2 cup of low-sodium beef stock because I'm really worried about her having so little to eat. I've also been taking her temp and last night it's been fluctuating from 101.6 last night to 99.6 before daybreak this morning and 100.5 a few minutes ago.  

Does the dark bm and pink discharge mean something is wrong? Is there anything else I can do to get her to eat? Are there any supplements I can give her to increase her energy level?

ANSWER: Hi Kim

The discharge is her mucus plug. It would have nothing to do with the exam and normal.

Her lack of appetite is also common, however you have to worry that she has the energy or strength to birth the pups on her own. Are you planning on letting her have her pups naturally?  

You can supplement her with raw organ meat, heart, liver or kidney.  Cooked chicken may entice her to eat as would quality canned food.  

Good luck


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the quick response! We're planning to take her in for a c-section, however, according to the vet, her due date could be as late as 3/5 since her last AI was on 1/3. So, they are a bit reluctant to perform a c-section before then if she does not go into labor on her own. He did say however that they would perform the c-section on 2/26 if she does not show any signs of improvment. The way the vet made it sound, though, the pups may not do too well with that option since they still may be too early.

I've been giving her small amounts of Gatorade because she's having some difficulty keeping water down unless I give it to her very, very small amounts over the course of the day. At this point, she's no longer nesting and she seems to lack the energy to even walk farther than a few feet without lying down. I know calcium supplements aren't good for pregnant dogs but would a nutritional supplement like Ensure maybe get her back on track?

ANSWER: If her first AI was 12/30 and her last was 1/3 I'd personally be splitting the difference.  Pups born anytime after day 60 are usually stronger.

Ensure is a excellent supplement, but you have to worry about diarrhea.  You don't want her losing any fluids, and diarrhea can cause dehydration.

Try boiling meat in water (again the organ meats are the best) then give her the water and the meat.  Red meat will give her a boost.  You can give her raw organ meat to perk her up ... but remember in moderation.  

Good luck


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,
I just thought I would give you an update because you were so helpful to me in dealing with my pregnant dog. I ended up taking her back to the vet that evening and the vet told me her uterus had ruptured and the puppies were probably dead. To make a long story short, he ended up doing and emergency c-section (at 56 days gestation). It turns out her uterus was not ruptured, just severely stretched and all 8 puppies survived the delivery. (I was still thinking she and the unborn puppies may have been better off with just I.V. fluids and liquid nourishment but I'm not the vet and it was too late to turn around then.) I brought them home that same night. The smallest of the litter was unable to suck from a bottle (milk came out his nose) so I ended up taking the 5 smallest back to the vet yesterday for instructions on tube feeding. I tried introducing them to the mother last night and she has no interest in caring for them and to me, she's a little too aggressive with them (pawing at them roughly and growling at their box). This morning, the smallest wasn't doing too well so I took him to my regular vet who told me his chances at survival were slim but he gave him some antibiotics and sent us home. Well, the little guy died as soon as we got home while nestled against me in my bra. Even after blood was gurgling from his mouth and nose, I still did everything I could to suction him and get him going. Unfortunately, he still didn't make it. I gave him to the mother dog, as a last ditch effort to get him going again, and she tried to eat him. I'm so distraught right now. I know I did all I could but I still wonder if there was something I missed. I've finally stopped crying but now I'm worried that the same thing will happen to the remaining 7.

Now, the others appear to be doing fine but they're still not sucking well from the small puppy nursers the vet gave me. I've had to tube feed all of them. I added a little of the antibiotic I got this morning to the formula as a preventative measure. The last one I fed appeared to turn purple for a few seconds when I removed the tube (scared the heck out of me) but she seems fine now. Another one had a little bit of milk coming from his nose when I removed the tube, so now I'm worried about pneumonia.

If there is anything else I can do to keep them alive? Right now, I'm just looking for advice that can help me get them through this first few weeks without another disaster.

Thanks for all of your help!

Answer
Your female needs to get back into the care of the pups.  She could be just reacting from the surgery.   Try her on a double dose of Bach's Rescue Remedy.  This will help calm her down.    Don't leave her a lone with the pups but encourage her to lay and feed them.  You may have to get into the whelping box with her and stroke and pet her, gently holding her down while the pups nurse.   They need the colostrum and boost that breast milk gives.

The alternative is to find a "wet nurse"  a female that just had pups or is nursing and could care for this litter.