0419Singapore dog intervertebral disc disease, spinal disc pet health and
welfare educational for animal lovers, from
Asiahomes Internet Tips for Pet Lovers, sponsored by
AsiaHomes Internet.
April 28, 2003
Will the 37 degree Chihuahua
survive the Caesarian section?
 "Her
water bag burst and no puppy appeared for over two hours," Mr
Formicelli said over the mobile phone. "Can you perform a Caesarian
section now?"
The pregnant Chihuahua sat
apprehensively inside her cage lined by the Straits Times
newspapers. Mr Formicelli's driver pulled her out of the blue
and white cage and put her on the examination table. He
pointed to the newspapers soaked with a pool of colourless
gelatinous fluid. This would be the vaginal discharge of the water
bag.
The Chihuahua did not look as healthy as some of the other pregnant
bitches. She might die under the general anaesthesia.
I inserted the digital thermometer into her rectum. It read 37
degrees Celsius. The normal temperature of an adult dog ranges from
37.8 degrees - 39.2 degrees with the average being 38.5 degrees.
Was her temperature too low and therefore she might not survive the
general anaesthesia.
 12
- 18 hours before the first pup is born, there may be a drop in the
temperature to as low 37 degrees. The temperature usually
rises 12 hours before whelping. This bitch should have at least 38.5
degrees since she was already in the whelping.
Should I operate or not?
If I did not operate immediately, the puppies would definitely die.
I put the stethoscope on the abdomen. There were puppy hearts
beating. More than one. The heart beats were not loud, not as
strong as I would expect of puppies about to be born.
If I operated, the mother might die but some of the puppies might
live. The puppies might also die.
How many puppies were there in the first place? An ultrasonic
scan or an X-ray would let me know. However, these procedures would
add to the cost of the Caesarian section.
Mr Formicelli, like most, if not all Singapore breeders want the
cheapest Caesarian section. The lowest fee charged by one
veterinarian for a Chihuahua was $150 inclusive of general
anaesthesia. The highest quotation was $1,000.
 Chihuahuas
usually need an elective Caesarian section as this breed has
difficulty giving birth. The cause is usually primary uterine
inertia associated with physical blockage as the puppies can
relatively be large.
Mr Formicelli had not wasted much time and the puppies were alive
inside the uterus. That was good of him and due to his considerable
experience in dog breeding.
It was 4.30 p.m when he phone. There was no point waiting till after
midnight to get the veterinarian to perform an emergency Caesarian
and get dead puppies. Each puppy was worth at least $1,000.
If there was no puppy after one hour of straining by the bitch, he
would contact the veterinarian.
The Chihuahua's abdominal operation area was shaved. She had an
intravenous drip. I applied a face mask to put her under gas
anaesthesia. She was strong enough to fight the mask. Her
teeth bit into the rubber edges. I released her as she
struggled vigorously. Then back to the gas.
 There
were injectable drugs to tranquilise her but these would add to the
risk dying under anaesthesia.
Speed was important. The first puppy would have been born with the
backside out first. It was large. When I broke the gelatinous bag,
cleared his nose of mucus for him to breathe, he was not crying
immediately, as expected. At least, his tongue was moving. Rubbing
the back of his neck made him cry. He would survive.
Now for the second puppy which would have been born face out first.
He was 30% smaller in size than the first. Meconium (puppy's faeces)
dotted the gelatinous sac. His nostrils oozed out serous fluid. I
removed the bubbly discharge. There were more, as if he had a
runny nose. How could he breathe his first if there was so much
fluid in his lungs? Did the meconium go into his lungs and block the
airways?
I held him upside down, gripped his body between by two hands and
swung him downwards in an arc. No signs of life. Swung him another
three times to get the fluid dislodged from his airways.
Then I rubbed the back of his neck, behind his head, up and down
with his face downwards.
No signs of life. His tongue was reddish brown. This runt was lost,
I thought. Thirty seconds since he was removed from the amniotic sac
must have ticked by. Should I blow air into his mouth?
Then, his tongue curled upwards. He did not cry but he was alive.
Now, to the third puppy was milked out from the higher end of the
uterus into the incision at the body of the uterus. She was as big
as the first puppy. She did not cry lustily as expected. At least
she was stronger.
"Reduce the halothane gas from 2% to 1%," I said to Nurse Ann after
I had stitched up the uterus and started to stitch up the muscle
layers. The anaesthesia was switched off and oxygen was supplied as
I stitched the skin layers.
I expected the bitch to be
awake as soon as I finish the last of the skin stitches or earlier,
as most would do so. The oxygen would have flushed out the halothane
gas from her lungs and blood circulation.
The bitch could not wake up fully. Her eyes were blinking when I
touched her eyelids. She was alive, but barely. I put the puppies
close to her, to get the mother-puppy bonding. She did not respond
to the puppies as they groped to suckle. Like all newborn, their
eyes would open in ten days' time.
 The
bitch was shivering as if her body was cold after being washed off
blood. Caesarian sections are always bloody.
Nurse Ann wiped her dry with a towel. Her shivering stopped soon.
She continued rubbing the bitch for another ten minutes.
Her puppies did not cry now. They were weak and had not moved much.
Healthy Chihuahua puppies do move a lot to look for milk but not
these three.
Would the mother and progeny
die soon? Mr Formicelli's driver had to go back. The
bitch now raised her head. She could not understand why there were
three puppies snuggling close to her.
She was frightened. She tried to stand up but was wobbly. To
get away from the moving pups fighting for milk.
"First-time mothers sometimes don't know what to do," I said to the
driver as the bitch stood up and tried to escape from her maternal
responsibilities.
 The
driver snuffed out his cigarette before he put the puppies into the
box. Mr Formicelli would bring the puppies close to the mum to
suckle. He would know what to do.
Temperature is a word that is in the mind of all Singaporeans as all
of us are aware of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
viral attacks on people.
Everybody wants to buy thermometers such that they are out of stock.
The Ministry of Education ordered a few hundred thousand
thermometers for the school children.
The cabinet ministers were reported in the press that they checked
their temperatures daily to monitor their health against the SARS
viral infection. The deputy prime minister Lee Hsien Loong mentioned
in the press that when his temperature was 37.1 degrees, his
personal assistant complimented him as being number one. This
was not the time to be the top dog, he commented. If his
temperature was 38 degrees, he would be the first cabinet minister
in the world to be mandatorily quarantined at home for ten days and
be "checked" to ensure that he was really at home.
As for this Chihuahua, 37 degrees were the pits. It was not good for
her too as she was not strong enough to recover fast from the anaesthesia. |
