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"Doctor, you ought to have a hair dryer!"  "Why
are the Schnauzer puppies still wet?" I asked the breeder as I noted
the waxy layer shone on the black coat. Like a newly polished
black car gleaming under the afternoon sunlight. Clasping each other
for warmth, the puppies were quiet. These puppies were a bit under weight and had been stressed for at least 12 hours before the emergency Caesarean section. Were they dead? "You ought to have a hair dryer," the breeder said. I had provided him a towel and he wrapped the puppies with the towel. "Why don't you rub the puppies dry with the towel? Or the paper towels?" I asked. I had just stitched up the bitch and did not expect to see such wet puppies. I had handed them to the breeder as I took them out of the womb. I thought he would do what the other professional breeders would have done. The end result would be dry puppies. None of them had asked for hair dryers. It was not necessary to provide hair dryers although it would be nice to provide one. Unnecessary equipment increases veterinary health care and professional breeders, being business people, are always looking for the least expensive veterinary bills. I picked up the pups and rubbed the back of their head, above the neck with the cloth towel. "You are using too much force to rub the puppy," the breeder's eyes opened wide in disbelief at such rough handling. "Please be gentle!" He was like a new father holding a first born human baby like a piece of fragile pottery. The puppies stirred. Their noses sought each other like heat-seeking missiles. I presumed he was an experienced breeder since he was renting kennels and paying a rental of around $2,000 per month. I knew little about him. Except that he had not more than five puppies for vaccination per month. He could have sent most of his puppies to another veterinarian for vaccination.  This was the second time his bitch had a greenish vaginal discharge
and the second time he had asked the same question. "Is a Caesarean necessary? Will the other puppies be born naturally if I wait?" In the first case, the emergency Caesarean delivered two live puppies and one stillborn. History repeated itself. The breeder asked the same questions again. I replied that an emergency Caesarean delivery was necessary. This time the stillborn pup was dead and enclosed inside the amniotic sac whereas in the first case, the sac had broken. The placenta had shrunk, beginning to decompose. The contents of breakdown cells flooded the uterine body with greenish-black discharge out. The discharge looked blackish inside the womb. The two pups had been greatly distressed and did not move when taken out of the womb unlike healthy plump and vigorous pups (picture of Maltese pup) removed by Caesarean at the correct time. Healthy pups usually struggle and breathe within one minute of being delivered from the amniotic sac. The blood from the womb in this Schnauzer mother was darkish red unlike the bright red shine of healthy uterine blood (picture of Maltese uterine body being stitched, see below).  I doubted that the two Schnauzer pups would not survive past
seven
days but I could be wrong. Therefore I kept mum. I dared not ask
the breeder as no news is good news. But, three days later, I asked the breeder. The puppies had died because the bitch was not a good nursing mother. This was common. "How about surrogate mothers?" I asked him. "The other bitch rejected the puppies." the breeder said. Would the puppies survive if bottle-fed every two hourly? I don't know the answer to this case but there are few success stories amongst the experienced Singapore breeders. With weak and stressed puppies, it would be hard for them to survive. Every puppy's life is precious and valuable to the breeder. Natural birth will be the best but careful observation and timely emergency Caesarian deliveries lead to a sustainable and profitable breeding business. The inexperienced breeder usually learns the hard way through puppy deaths unfortunately as there are no proper dog breeding schools. This is the reality of business. Once there is a greenish black vaginal discharge in the pregnant bitch, the puppy is dead. An urgent emergency Caesarian section is necessary to save the other puppies and the mother. |
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TOA
PAYOH VETS 
