Young Puppies
It is most important that both the mated animals should be
free from worms and skin disorders. Fifty per cent. of the casualties
among young puppies are due to one or other of the parents having been
in an unhealthy condition when mated.
A winter whelping is not advisable. It is best for puppies to be born in the
spring or early summer, thus escaping the rigours of inclement weather.
During the period of gestation the breeding bitch should have ample
but not violent exercise, with varied and wholesome food, including
some preparation of bone meal; and at about the third week, whether
she seems to require it or not, she should be treated for worms.
At about the sixtieth day she will begin to be uneasy and restless. A
mild purgative should be given; usually salad oil is enough, but if
constipation is apparent castor oil may be necessary. On the
sixty-second day the whelps may be expected, and everything ought to
be in readiness for the event.
A coarsely constituted bitch may be trusted to look after herself on
these occasions; no help is necessary, and one may come down in the
morning to find her with her litter comfortably nestling at her side.
But with the Toy breeds, and the breeds that have been reared in
artificial conditions, difficult or protracted parturition is
frequent, and human assistance ought to be at hand in case of need.
The owner of a valuable Bull bitch, for example, would never think of
leaving her to her own unaided devices. All undue interference,
however, should be avoided, and it is absolutely necessary that the
person attending her should be one with whom she is fondly familiar.
In anticipation of a possibly numerous litter, a foster-mother should
be arranged for beforehand. Comfortable quarters should be prepared in
a quiet part of the house or kennels, warm, and free from draughts.
Clean bedding of wheaten straw should be provided, but the bitch
should be allowed to make her nest in her own instinctive fashion. Let
her have easy access to drinking water. She will probable refuse food
for a few hours before her time, but a little concentrated nourishment,
such as Brand's Essence or a drink of warm milk, should be offered to her.
In further preparation for the confinement a basin of water
containing antiseptic for washing in, towels, warm milk, a flask of
brandy, a bottle of ergotine, and a pair of scissors are commodities
which may all be required in emergency. The ergot, which must be used
with extreme caution and only when the labour pains have commenced, is
invaluable when parturition is protracted, and there is difficult
straining without result.
Its effect is to contract the womb and expel the contents. But when the
puppies are expelled with ease it is superfluous. For a bitch of 10 lb. in
weight ten drops of the extract of ergot in a teaspoonful of water should
be ample, given by the mouth.
The scissors are for severing the umbilical cord if the mother
should fail to do it in her own natural way. Sometimes a puppy may be
enclosed within a membrane which the dam cannot readily open with
tongue and teeth.
If help is necessary it should be given tenderly and
with clean fingers. Occasionally a puppy may seem to be inert and
lifeless, and after repeatedly licking it the bitch may relinquish all
effort at restoration and turn her attention to another that is being born.
In such a circumstance the rejected little one may be discreetly
removed, and a drop of brandy on the point of the finger smeared upon
its tongue may revive animation, or it may be plunged up to the neck
in warm water. The object should be to keep it warm and to make it
breathe. When the puppies are all born, their dam may be given a drink
of warm milk and then left alone to their toilet and to suckle them.
If any should be dead, these ought to be disposed of.
Curiosity in regard to the others should be temporarily repressed, and inspection
of them delayed until a more fitting opportunity. If any are then seen
to be malformed or to have cleft palates, these had better be removed
and mercifully destroyed.
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