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I will know January 22nd for sure. It depends on whether Ciara is pregnant or not. I bumped the henna thread but no one seems to be paying attention and it will alter a few people's plans.
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I noticed. I am alternately happy and sad about your dog's condition. :/ I almost hope she is not so that you can come...
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Yeah there are positives and negatives in either direction so it is pretty much a "what will be, will be" at this point. But I don't want to leave anyone in the lurch closer to the time which is why I'm announcing the likelihood of me not being there now. I *will* miss the hennna and the conversation if I'm unable to attened. Maybe you guys could call me?
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The dog nicknamed the "corgi hoover" turned down her food last night, and after I gave her a small amount this morning, threw up. I was warned that she might have morning sickness but I didn't realize how obvious it would be. I'd say the odds are now at an 85% probability she *is* pregnant.
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I have a feeling that by the 22nd I'm going to be kicking myself for scheduling the ultrasound because it will be so obvious she's pregnant that it will be redundant.
However I did have another friend whose cardigan corgi recently had an extremely convincing false pregnancy, including a convincing weight gain (though it could be because she was feeding extra food because they *thought* she was pregnant) I don't think it included morning sickness though. She waited until 7.5 weeks (gestation period is 9 weeks) to get an ultrasound because she didn't want to spend the money until she could get an accurate puppy count, and then was extremely disappointed to find out that there weren't any puppies.
As I have too many other events that I would like to participate in, and will have to be planned around or declined, like the Henna Party, I'm going the early 'confirmation' ultrasound route even though it costs $65. At 3.5-4 weeks you will be able to see placental "bubbles and sometimes detect heartbeats" but an accurate puppy count really isn't possible.
You might ask why they don't have canine home pregnancy tests like they do for humans. (If I've mentioned this on another thread ignore me.) There is a blood test that can be done at about 3 weeks for confirmation. It doesn't give false positives but it can give false negatives in the case of a small litter size. But they can't detect canine pregnancy based on estrogen and progesterone levels like they can in humans.
Humans of course menstruate (sp?) approximately monthly. Canines menustrate (sp?) twice a year. As a result, there is a mild false pregnancy every time even if they aren't bred. The false pregnancy can be more even severe if they are bred and it doesn't take, because the breeding itself trigers more of the same hormones to release. The hormones fluctuate exactly the same for the first three weeks after menses whether the bitch (techically correct term) is pregnant or not.
Only after 3 weeks do you get a difference in hormone surges. There is a hormone released called "relaxin" when the embryos actually implant into the uterine lining. This is also corresponds nearly exactly to when morning sickness will occur if it does. (A decent explanation is at: http://www.geocities.com/abakan1/geninfo.html ) However the test is more reliable at 4 weeks. But because fetal development is so rapid, at 4-4.5 weeks an ultrasound becomes just as useful as a diagnostic tool as the hormone test does. So I've chosen the ultrasound. It is what my local vet is most comfortable with. He has a colleague that is a fertility specialist that I could have gone to, for the blood test but it would be a bit more difficult for me to schedule. Besides, why stab her with needles if she doesn't have to be?
I may take her to the fertility specialist at 7.5-8 weeks to get an accurate puppy count. An accurate puppy count is useful for knowing when to take the mother to the vet for complications, if labor appears to have stopped and there is still another puppy left, for example. But, I haven't decided yet. Ciara's lines aren't known for difficult pregnancies or births. Obviously a 100% confirmation of the pregnancy will happen first before I cross that bridge.
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well I haven't actually had any expenses yet for this year, till the ultrasound.
As for last year, I marked most of my expenses in Quicken as 'dog stuff' that were dog related, and they are either on my bank or credit card statments or in my check register so would that be enough if they asked for proof?
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Oh and Boon a lady that I know that breeds Cardigans, lives in Tallequah and had her property hit by a small tornado yesterday. Fortunately no lives were lost but there was some damage and a tree uprooted into the house. Was there anything about it on the local news down there?
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Yes, that's enough for proof, and no, hadn't heard anything about a tornado in Talequah. I couldn't find anything about it on our local tv stations' websites either.
Sometimes people here call bouts of high wind tornadoes. I suppose it could've been one, but this time of year it's not very likely.
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There *is* still the possibility of it being a false pregnancy (I'm trying not to jinx myself and get my hopes up too high and then be disappointed now that I'm looking forward to puppies...)
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We braved the snowstorm to get to the vet's which was exciting going. Thankfully our neighbor helped clear our driveway with his snowblower. We owe him big time.
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Awww! My husband said our daughter looked like a puppy at my 2nd sonogram. Now I know what he means-- they don't look like much of anything yet, do they?
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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grin, yes, Sara/CT knows more about embryology than I do, but mammalian embryo development is pretty similar as far as the way the blobs look for at least the first trimester regardless of the length of the gestation.
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Yeah, for puppies. Hope they all come out in good shape.
Do all breeds have a chance for water puppies (I think that is the term)? What are the chances that one will be like that?
Posts: 747 | Registered: Aug 2004
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And it depends on how thick the hair is whether the vet has to shave or not. Ciara's was thin enough in the right spot that he didn't need to. She was very cooperative during the whole thing. We lay her down at first but she was actually standing up and he was just ultrasounding from underneath when he took the pictures.
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I would imagine flat faced (brachycephalic) breeds could have more problems with water in the lungs. What you normally do if you suspect fluid in the lungs is to support the puppy on your arms with its head toward your fingertips and swing it gently but fairly forcefully so that the centrifugal force helps get the fluid out of the lungs.
Hee hee, I've been showing the ultrasound pictures around work today and been having a lot of fun saying "I'm having puppies!"
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