Pregnancy & Periparturient Period Flashcards
What is the importance of prolactin and relaxin in pregnancy?
Prolactin required to produce milk from lactate.
Relaxin pregnancy specific
What are some methods of pregnancy diagnosis?
Palpation
Radiography
Ultrasound
Auscultation
In what time frame is radiography useful in pregnancy diagnosis?
Last 2 weeks of pregnancy when you get ossification.
When can you use ultrasound to diagnose pregnancy?
From Day 17 and get heart beat from 21 days.
How would you estimate gestation length?
57 days after D1.
From mating dates: count days from mating date to now then subtract 11 days (for 11 days of potential fertility)
Why are there 11 days of potential fertility?
Bitch fertile for 4 days.
Sperm survives 7 days in utero.
What are some indicators that parturition is about to occur that we can observe?
Progesterone decline.
Rectal temperature decrease.
Abdomen pear shaped.
Smiley face cervix is open.
What are reasons for dystocia?
Primary inertia (failure to push) or obstructive (foetus too large, obs etc.)
What are indicators that the bitch is suffering dystocia during whelping?
Tenesmus with no pup in 20-30mins.
Weak tenesmus (2-3 hr no pup).
>4 hours between pups
Green dischrage
How do you treat primary inertia dystocia?
Caesarean.
Give ionised calcium, glucose, oxytocin.
A vet is dealing with a bitch in dysotica. Which of the following are good treatment options?
a) Oxytocin
b) Ionised calcium
c) Caesarean
d) Glucose
Never give oxytocin. All others are good options for dystocia (primary inertia or obstructive)
What should you visually see on vaginoscopy before performing a caesarean?
Dilated open cervix
Describe fading puppy syndrome. How would you approach a case of this in your clinic?
Highly fatal disease newborn pups.
Get haemorrhage, diarrhoea, necrosis, anorexia, mummification.
No treatment - death.
Herpesvirus - try to avoid stress in pregnant and lactating bitches.
Why does pregnancy toxaemia occur and how do you treat it?
Hypoglycaemia during pregnancy when litter is too big or nutrition is inadequate.
Treat with IV dextrose supplementation.
Owner brings bitch back one week post whelping. Is pyrexic, depressed and has watery, smelly discharge. What are you thinking?
Metritis usually from unhygienic obstetric procedures/retained foetus.
Treat with fluids, antibioitcs, supplement glucose, surgery.
