Ask The Doc: Birth Problem

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My yellow (white) female has had two litters. She seems to have difficulty with the delivery. Her labor stopped with her first litter after 3 pups. Not realizing the problem, the 4th pup died inside of her and she delivered her pup 12 hours after she should have delivered the pup.

This year she had 5 pups. The last pup her labor stopped so I gave her a shot from the vet to start her labor up. She continued to push a few minutes after administering the shot but could not deliver the pup. I had to go up in her and help pull the pup out. I resuscitated him and he is doing wonderful. Why does this happen to her. I will be having her spayed. Another question: With this litter she had two pups that were born with somewhat wavy hair. The hair could be compared to the stripes on a tiger. Not the coloring,but the wavy hair followed the pattern of the stripes on the tiger. The female pup had no nails on her back paws but had two rows of red nubs on each back paw. Her front paws had some red nubs and some smaller nails that were real white. Her pads on her feet were somewhat immature/flat looking. Just looking at her you would not notice the problems with her paws. It was upon closer inspection that you would notice the problems with her paws. Also, the end of her tail did not completely form skin and hair. It was bald on the end of the tail with the tail bone sticking out of it. The vet was very interested in this. The male pup had wavy hair like the female but had paws that were fine. They both did well and we re nursing. They died two days later within hours of each other. The male to die first. The litt le female died in my hands while I tried to resuscitate her to no avail. When they were both dead I did notice that the male pup had smaller nails that were as white as the ones the female had.

The vet did an autopsy and did not notice anything irregular. She did not do an extensive autops y...heart valves and such. What could have caused this? My sister and her husband have a recessive gene that has produced two children with Severe Combin ed Immune Deficiency (SCIDs) That made me think that maybe these two labs (bitch & stud) might have recessive genes that produce this. Have you ever heard of this. If you have, is it carried through the Labradors? When they were born (10-11-99) I went on the internet to try and find an answer through the Labrador page. I was using a friends computer. We now have our own computer so I thought I would do a more extensive search on the internet and was happy to see your web page with the question and answer. Actually, it didn't take me that long to find you. I would so greatly appreciate an answer to this because it has bothered me so much. Thank you for your response.

Dr. DeMichael: You have asked several questions and I'll do my best to provide my opinions for you.

I) Your first question was regarding the dystocia (difficulty in birthing) and "why does this happen to her?". One of the prominent causes of dystocia in the case you describe is due to "uterine inertia" or lack of muscular ability of the uterus to perform the necessary contractive function to deliver the pup. There are several causes of this from simple fatigue, to a lack or deficiency of minerals and substrates necessary for muscle function. One of the more important of these minerals is calcium and a deficiency will shut down the animal's system quite readily. As you know, calcium requirements are very high in the bitch particularly as she makes milk for the expected pups to nurse on. We supplement all of our pregnant girls with a calcium- phosphorous-vitamin D product beginning after the first month of pregnancy and continue them on the supplement throughout the lactational period, increasing the amount as her needs require.

II) Regarding malformation of the pups paws, tail and associated tissues, there is likely some genetic malfunction that caused this improper development. Quite commonly the affected fetuses will have multiple organ dysfunction as well, which might explain the fact that they died at such an early age. Beyond genetics, other things to consider would be uterine health, placental health, toxic causes such as plants, chemicals, certain deworming agents, etc. I don't administer ANYTHING foreign to the girls when they are pregnant unless it is critical for their survival.

That's a short list of the possibilities surrounding your dog's parturient problems. Perhaps it adds a bit of insight into a difficult situation.