Hi everyone
I have a bitch that has shown several false pregnancies after failed matings.
Symptoms were always the same ; enlarged teats,cuddly behaviour;over eating.
these all deminshed and with no obvious swelling in the abdomin it was a confirmed phantom. This time my bitch has a pronounced belly, which obviously looks pregnant. The only problem I have is that I cant feel any pups. I have had quite alot of experience palpating a bitch but this one has me flumuxed. Has anyone had
abdomin swelling (at the correct times) in a false pregnancy. Or are we in luck this time. Your learned opinions would be most appreciated.

Why not get her scanned then you would know whether she does get pregnant and then reabsorb the pups.

Have you had her swabbed when she comes into season to see whether she has any bugs that would cause problems during pregnancy.

Good luck

christine

yes I did have her swabbed before mating and everything was ok. She never
ties during mating and she was checked out to make sure there were no obvious problems. again no tie was acheived I was hoping we were going to get luck and have a pregnancy with a slip mating but this is so frustrating I have sent hundreds of pound on this bitch hoping she would produce a champ, but nothing. Im hoping there migh be a little one tucked up in the rib area (wishful thinking ) all my instincts are saying its a false pregnancy, and im usually right Unfortuneately.

My SWD was mated early this year. She didn't put a lot of weight on and I didn't really think she was pregnant, but she ended up with milk, had a few lumps (food storage I was told) and on the day she started pushing. Unfortunately she just had a bad stomach, but she sure made me question myself.

I've just mated her again, 1 week ago today so will have to wait and see. Though i do have another problem, she'll be 8 just before they are born and won't know whether the pups will be registered until 2 weeks before they are due.

Why do I put myself through these stresses. I must be mad!

Hi Clanspa,
Fingers crossed you may be in luck this time. Just a little info on what happened to me this year. Had a bitch mated who showed signs of pregnancy till about 4 1/2 weeks, then seemed to have re-absorbed them. I did not have her scanned as i have had bitches re-absorb puppies after scanning, whether co-incidental or not I dont know, and thought I would wait and see. Anyway, I installed her in the whelping room - just in case - at day 56 and there she stayed til day 65 -she only had one mating. By day 67 I returned her to her friends and was horrified to find she had had a single puppy, one morning on day 70!! Apparently my vet said that very rarely a bitch with a single puppy does not have the correct "hormone surge" to start labour and that it can happen that exactly a week after the whelp date a "fail safe" system "kicks in" to expel the contents of the womb, sometimes alive, sometimes not - I was flabberghasted! Of course many of you may already know about this, but it was news to me.

After this experience I will always now have my bitches scanned but I will wait until at least day 49 (7 weeks) to get well past the optimum date for re-absorbtion which I am told is 42 days. Very best of luck I hope you get a litter this time.

Hi Westie Lover

I always keep my dogs on their own for over a week after the due date.

Just a warning about scanning. A friend of mine knew somebody who took her dog to be scanned and was told that there were no puppies, nearly a week after the due date 3 pup's were born, 1 dead and 2 alive and the 2 that survived are bigger than the usual for the breed.

Me I prefer to leave well alone and if it happens it happens.

Hi Diane P

Yes I always used to "leave well alone" too, but after this singleton being born so unexpectedly I just felt that I would scan , if they showed no signs of pregnancy by 7 weeks. I was just so lucky that the mum and baby were fine, and felt very guilty - along the lines of : I should have known -or- they could both be dead -or-call yourself an exprienced breeder? Huh.
I shall certainly keep them in the whelping room much longer. I know scans aren't always that reliable , but I would think scanning so late, it would be fairly clear? It just worries me a bit about he risk of re-absorbtion. My vet -who normally I trust completely- has assured me its safe, but I just have this niggly feeling about them? Has anyone else had re-absorbtion after scans?

I know there has been some talk about re-absorbtion after scans, but the evidence appears to show that scanning does not cause re-absorbtion. What has been discovered is that re-absorbtion is far more common than was previously realised and happens fairly frequently and that this has become apparent because scanning allows us to check on number of pups.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

What is re-absorbtion and why does it happen?

The Book of the Bitch, by J.M Evans and Kay White, published by Rignpress books, says
"it is rare for bitches to give birth prematurely to recognizable puppies from mid-pregnancy onwards. In contrast, however, it is quite common for some successfully conceived puppies in a litter to fail to reach maturity to be re-absorbed early in their development. There is evidence indeed that whole litters may be re-absorbed in this way. This process occurs before there is any skeletal devlopment, the foetus and the membranes being first liquified. In later foetal losses the puppies may become dehydrated to a black mass .... which is expelled, often unnoticed, when the viable puppies in the litter are produced at term".

The authors also mention a lot of causes, infection, hormonal inbalance, inadequate nutrition, trauma. teratogenic agents. It seems to be natures way of dealing with puppies that would not be viable, ie where humans might miscarry dogs (and some other animals) re-absorb.

I always have my bitches scanned but not by the vet - I prefer to use someone more experienced ie a sheep/cattle/horse scanning person they do it day in day out and are far more accurate than the vets.

Mine always warns me that the numbers she can find may not be the final count usually one either way - in my case it's one more born than show's on the scan. She also tells me when she can't find anything if she thinks their are any whelps in there or not and that what they have at 28 days they usually keep - she can also tell me if there is any reabsorption going on which is why some bitches scan and show whelps but later on produce nothing.

If a bitch scans and show's whelps but produces no pups it is not down to the scan that they have no pups as seems to be the most common misconception. Some breeders I know have a 'holding jab' done if there is any hint of reabsorption when scanned.

Hi you may have your answer about your bitch by now but just thought I would tell you about my sister-in-laws rough collie bitch( not really good news as far as you are concerned)Bo was mated in January and proceeded to come straight out off season showed all the first signs of being in whelp ,Increased confidence,carried a hair scrunchie around as her baby,more loving .At 28 days was checked by the vet no pups could be felt.However went on to change shape increased appitite to start off with,sprung her ribs and generally slowed down ,then started having bouts of sickness as if not enough room in stomach.Was producing milk.Came to due date started scratching and panting and spent one extremely restless night for us all.Come morning shape had changed back was more lively and milk began to dry up.Yes it was phantom taken to an extreme that no one thought was possible .This isn't really what you wanted to hear hope your bitch is different Gillian

I would like to know if a lack of vit or minerals may cause a false pregancy. Does
yeast help prevent this?

Welcome to the forum Thelma Leigh