Whelping and Dystocia Flashcards
What is Dystocia?
Difficult birth
Life threatening for mother and offspring
5% of all pregnancy
Dystocia
Prevention
Breeding soundness examination
Good BCS
Dystocia
What breed is it more frequent in?
Brachycephalic - just do a C-section
Dystocia
What is important to determine? How?
Delivery date!
How:
LH surge: 65 +/- 2 days
Ovulation: 63 +/- 2 days
Fertilization: 60 +/- 2 days
What induces labor?
Increasing prostaglandin F2alpha and fetal cortisol
Small vs. large litters
Small: will have prolonged gestation, causing them to grow beyond normal size
Large: may shorten gestation (more cortisol produced b/c more fetuses)
Note cat gestation not effected by this
Progesterone and Labor
Late gestation: pregnancy maintained by progesterone level above 5 ng/mL
Is thermogenic; luteolysis lowers body temp to less than 99 => good way to know if she will be giving birth soon (within 24 hours) is if you take temps regularly
PGF2alpha and Labor
PGFalpha = luteolytic
Luteolysis will cause progesterone to drop to less than 2 ng/mL
What do radiographs at time of labor tell you?
Number of fetuses
Size of fetuses
Position
What is the most reliable method for assessing fetal stress?
Ultrasound
Fetal stress: Low HR (less than 150)
Fetus Heart Rate
180 to 220 bpm
Fetus Heart Rate in Which Death is Imminent
100 bpm
Stage 1 Labor
Signs
Panting Nervous Restless Nesting Vomiting
Stage 1 Labor
Length
6 to 12 hours
Nervous first mothers usually have longer labor
Stage 1 Labor
If too long?
Potentially uterine inertia (not contracting)