Oxytocin or not?? - Page 1

If anyone experienced with breeding is reading now I could do with some advice. I have a female giving birth, she had two puppies quickly then waited two hours before the next one, most of this time she was relaxed, no contactions. After the third one the same happened but it is now nearly 4 hours and she has been having sporadic contractions, not too frequent or intense but she does seem tired. I can`t contact my vet. I have some oxytocin that I bought for a previousl litter and diddn`t use, it has been kept in a cool place but not a fridge. I have only used oxytocin once (on vets advice) and all puppies born after the shot died. Should I give the 1ml oxtocin or wait and see what happens? The mother does not seem distressed, she is looking after the 3 pups and sometimes sleeping, but she is having unproductive contractions every so often. By the way this is her second litter,the first time she had four puppiesand delivered them quite quickly with no problems. Any immediate advice appreciated....

If the bitch is not distressed and seems fine it would be best to wait. It is quite normal for a large gap between pups. I once had a bitch that littered six pups rapidly and the last two after 6 hours. If she is appearing tired you can give her some water with glucose if she will drink, even some warm milk may be comforting if she is up to it. If you pups on to her teats and they start sucking this will stimulate contractions and may help hastening the process.

Good advice, Athreya. and ditto on the nursing.......it will stimulate contractions. Good luck and keep us updated, Oso.

Thanks for youe replies, I have already given her dilute warm milk and honey, will give her a bit more, and yes the pups are suckling, she seems relaxed most of the time, just the non productive contractions worry me. Will let you know.

Sometimes it helps to speed things along if you take her out and make her walk around a bit and potty. I normally take my girls out once and hour while they are whelping.

Are you sure she has more pups to deliver? If you are then 4 hours between pups then I would consider this a serious problem. I would either give the oxytocin or take her to the vet immediately. If you do nothing more than likely she will deliver dead pups, if you act now you have a chance to save some.

I agree with the last post completely,if you've got the oxy on hand then i would use it.If you are worried about using it then get her straight to a vets, 4 hours is too long if their is a chance that the bitch still has'nt finished whelping.

Oxytocin, when kept in a refridgerator last only 6 months or so. I don't know what type of cool place you had it in, but I would be careful with that. If 40 minutes have passed without a pup being expelled, I would give a shot of Oxytocin(making sure it has note expired and is still good). There should not be hours(not even one) passing where a pup is not being expelled. The more puppies you have, and the longer the time between births, the lesser the survivablity rate in the later born puppies(those running out of oxygen). My vet limits me to 3 shots during a whelping. Even if all is well and and you don't need it during the whelping, you can still give a shot at the end to ensure expulsion of all placentas(just in case you miscounted during this arduious ordeal). To have an idea of when you should give these injections, an x-ray of the female a day or two before the whelping will give you a good approximate count of how many puppies will be born and help you gage the intervals of when you may(or may not) have to give an injection of Oxytocin(which of course in intra-muscular). The females overall condition plays a role in expelling these puppies also. A top conditioned female will expell pups quicker than a female that is just kept around eating all her life, void of proper exercise. Per my vet's instructions, If I buy Oxytocin for an impending litter and do not use it, I can keep it in the fridge for 6 months and use it for the next whelping(provided it will be in 6 months or less), if after 6 months I have not use the Oxytocin, he tells me I should throw it away and not use it, and come in anb buy more when the next litter is expected to be birthed. I use this advice in my prior planning as I get everything ready for a whelping, because in my case, the birthings will ONLY occur deep into the night and on the weekends, when no vet access is readily available(LOL). Most of all this advice(which you can use or not) falls under the pre-planning catagory, so if you can not use it for this litter, maybe you can use it in future litters. Good Luck! Stephen

Had a litter of 2 puppies 3 months ago. The first pup came out back legs first, had to pull him out. The second pup came out 3 hours later, also back legs first, but the mother did it all by herself, I did not have to pull him out. But he wasn't breathing, tongue and lips were pale. I had to resuscitate him several times, spent more than half hour, but he was saved. He is a lively and lovely puppy today. Even if the puppy appeared dead, keep trying, don't give up!

Oxytocin causes the uterine horms to contract, so expeling puppies - only if they are ready to be expelled, for instance, sitting there with a tired bitch and/or an atonic uterus. it will cause shock to the pups if given at the wrong time, as they will be suffering from contractions that are not expelling them, as naturally timed contractions will do. Putting the puppies already born on to the teats to suckle is the best idea if the bitch is not distressed and pushing like crazy. This stimulates the bitches anterior pituatory gland into action, which is natural for the uterus, and less fierce for the puppies, it will also allow the uterus to expel more naturally. It may be that your bitch has "cleared" the one horn of the uterus and is resting before the next horn is starting. Take her out for a pee regularly, give glucose water to drink and unless she is bothered, I would wait up until 8 hrs before I went for any intervention. Oxytocin also does not keep well, refrigerated or otherwise, so really beware of the stuff you have - use fresh stuf from your vet if you need it, its worth nothing, and your bitch and pupies deserve fresh medication if needed. Good luck, let us know. Mo Lakin