Birthing concerns

pumagirl

We found out Friday that our 1 yo rescue Puma is pregnant. It angers me to no end that the previous owner was so irresponsible and failed to protect her. She turned 1 year on Dec 26, 2014, prev owner unsure about dates but says had heat in Nov, neighbors Boxer possibly got in her pen around Dec18, gives us a due date around Feb20. Vet says her skin looks great and no health concerns. I have always fixed our labs so this is all new to me..
Any advice?
Any concerns specific to the Bull Terrier breed delivering?
Any advice is greatly appreciated. The vet agreed she thinks Puma is a mini. Thought she could feel 1 pup. She does not have ultrasound to confirm and I called another vet and they quoted me $250 just for an ultrasound

philsergeant

All you for the pregnancy advise Steve!  Goes to show you can never leave an unfixed female anywhere around unfixed males, ever... regardless of dates.... Mind you, if you really want to try and avoid all disappointments in life, I would rarely leave two dogs, no matter what sex/ condition, unsupervised without being crated.  It's not like they mind being crated... if they are well exercised they enjoy the rest. But, if we are out of the house we put them in their crates AND we have a nanny cam on them..... (so we can tell them we miss them on our mobile phones).

BulliesofNC

There's a plethora of things to cover in regard to preparing for a litter and if I started writing on here I would end up writing a small book.

Unfortunately due to age and the fact that she got pregnant during her first heat cycle the chances of her actually taking care of the litter on her own is slim. You will most likely have to hand raise the puppies unless she is completed stress free and a very mature 12 month old puppy.

How did your Vet determine she was pregnant? Did he actually conduct a pregnancy test? Accuracy on conducting a palpitation is terrible. I don't think there's a true need for an x-ray or ultrasound but hopefully your Vet at least conducted a blood test to determine if in fact she is pregnant.

Feel free to call me if you need advise for preparing for the puppies and I'll be happy to go over some things with you that will ensure your best odds for having a healthy litter.

pumagirl

I had taken her to a wellness clinic hoping to get her vaccinations due to financial reasons. The vet there palpitated her as well as examined her enlarged nipples. I will get her in with our regular vet this week to get a true confirmation

pumagirl

I am told that the male dog that got to her was a boxer, my biggest concern is that due to her small size the pups might be to big.

BulliesofNC

For them to know which dog actually tied with theirs they most likely sat there and watched it happen. Otherwise the idea that she even bred would have never crossed their mind and lead them to mentioning the neighbors Boxer.

The size difference between a Boxer and a Bull Terrier would not cause a concern for delivery. Both produce about the same size puppies and the head of a boxer puppy isn't any bigger than a Bull Terrier.

Puppy sizes would be the last thing I'd be worried about in preparation for a litter of puppies whelped by a 12 month old Bull Terrier. Good luck.

philsergeant

To reinforce Steve's statement, my dawta recently rescued this little gal... (Shown in the one photo with our girl Isabella)... Her father is a Rottweiler and her mum is a Jack Russell!!!! (Don't picture that initiation too much) ... but she came out fine.. she's probably three times her mom's size already.

philsergeant

With Isabella... 67lbs

BulliesofNC

Bless your daughters heart for adopting her! She looks like a cute and playful little one.

pumagirl

I contacted our vet and we are taking her in Friday. He recommended an xray for confirmation as well as so we know how many pups to expect. Will keep you posted

BulliesofNC

Actually your Vet is recommending an X-ray because it's the most expensive route to confirming pregnancy. If you ask your Vet about the accuracy of conducting an X-ray or Ultrasound in regard to identifying how many puppies she has inside her you'll find out they are not accurate at all. That's IF your Vet is honest.

Years ago we used to have x-rays and ultrasounds conducted too but after paying a lot of money for consistent inaccuracy we soon found out we were just wasting money. Believe it or not, one time we had a Vet tell us they only noted 4 puppies in the X-Ray. A few weeks later we confirmed that she wasn't even pregnant.

In time we learned the best thing we could do was to conduct a "Canine Relaxin Test" ourselves at the 30 day mark to confirm pregnancy. Once the female goes into labor it isn't difficult to tell when there's no more puppies left to birth once the momma stops contracting and relaxes.

If the X-ray makes you feel better about the birth of these puppies that's great but just don't count on the results having accuracy. 90% of the Vets are using inexpensive test equipment and are accustomed to saying things like "Looks like she ate not too long ago so it's difficult to really tell the puppies from food but it looks like there is _____ puppies inside her, but due to the food and current position of the puppies I'm unable to get complete accuracy."

If you're looking for accuracy in regard to her being pregnant or not I recommend the Canine Relaxin Test (Witness Test) which is a simple blood test. It is extremely accurate and costs about $20. This is what your Vet should have used on your first visit.