# Pregnancy Question



## Otro (Jan 11, 2013)

First let me give the known history before the questions. The girl I am asking about, Cleopatra, is a foster dog. I received her as a foster late Wednesday night when the shelter called saying they had a pregnant dog that was ready to "pop". She is aprox 6-7 years old and a min pin/ chi mix as best we can tell. 
She does look pregnant with a larger belly however there is no mammary enlargment at all. In the last few days it does seem that the nipples have become a bit more obvious. The vulva is a bit more swollen then normal. She went to the vet on Friday for a checkup and he couldn't palpate any puppies and doesn't believe that she is pregnant but might have an infection. Because she is eating very well, about 1 1/3 cups of food a day, alert, active, and appears very healthy he said to watch her for a couple of weeks and see what she does. She weighed 14 pounds. Yesterday morning she began acting like she was going into labor. She went into her crate and started barking and growling at us if we looked in at her. She was licking her tummy and vulva. She then settled down and allowed us to touch her and you could feel that her tummy would tighten and then relax. This lasted for several hours and then she went back to normal. She did also get up and eat during the period of time she was restless. Today she is acting totally normal. 
So I was hoping that maybe you guys that have had lots of pregnant dogs and maybe even have seen pyometra, might have some ideas of what this silly girl may be doing. Could she be having a false pregnancy or is she too early or late to palpate pups. If it was the pyometra wouldn't be she acting sick by now with her tummy enlarged and all? I know most things I have read said that they won't start to show until the 4th week if they are pregnant and by then the breasts should start to enlarge. But they also say this with a false pregnancy. 
Anyway I figured it was worth a shot to see if you folks had any input. The other pregnant dog I have dealt with before was less than a week from delivery and there was no question that she was pregnant so this girl is a lot different.
I will upload a picture as soon as I can get one.


----------



## Otro (Jan 11, 2013)

I did forget to add that she does have a small tumor on her left rear mammary gland. It is round and maybe an inch in diameter. The vet said he could remove it when she is spayed.


----------



## MinniesMom (Jan 24, 2014)

Vets aren't always right. They can just do the best guess. We rescued our little girl and found out she was pregnant a week later. We now have 2 week old puppies. She went from tiny to HUGE almost over-night. Have you felt any movement?

Minnie's mammaries stayed tiny right up until the day AFTER whelping. She was also relatively active. She managed a 3 foot jump onto my bed at 7 weeks pregnant! She also scarfed down a full breakfast literally 20 mins before whelping.

I'm DEFINATELY not an expert on Canine pregnancy. I would think with a belly that big, you would feel movement, but that depends on so many factors.

I'm surprised he didn't do an Xray to check for fetal skeletons. If he thought she had an infection did he run any tests? 

Did he take her temperature? If so, what was it?

She certainly looks pregnant...Please let us know!


----------



## Annkimiko (Sep 5, 2013)

Looks pregnant to me many of my girls don't have milk till after pups arrive movement usually in the 8th week X-ray should show about 10-14 days before pups I also have had a false pregnancy she swelled up but after about 2 weeks after bred only lasted about a week then she carried a little stuffed animal around for awhile lol I would probably ask vet for X-ray can't really feel them after a month along till they start moving


----------



## Otro (Jan 11, 2013)

Sorry I didn't reply sooner
It has been about a week and a half and we still aren't sure. At her first vet visit her temperature was normal. He didn't do any further tests only palpated .
She went back to the vet last thursday for an upper respiratory. At that point her temperature was up to 103 degrees. He did palpate again and still couldn't feel anything though he stated that if she was pregnant the babies may be hiding under the ribs. He no longer seemed to think that an infection was a problem. 
I did ask about an xray but he felt that if he couldn't feel the babies then they wouldn't be far enough developed for an xray. 
So we still have no idea! She is active, eating like a pig, her tummy has gotten a tiny big bigger but nothing drastic. Still no mammary development.
We have thought that we felt movement, like a little foot kicking the side of her tummy. I do still feel this but I don't know if it is just that we thought there were babies and so assumed it was babies? Kind of wishful thinking? 
I will let you know what happens.


----------



## Otro (Jan 11, 2013)

Here are two more pictures of her that we took about 5 days ago.


----------



## joshall (Oct 13, 2013)

She does look pregnant. Any updates on her?


----------



## Otro (Jan 11, 2013)

Well, she is still eating like a little piggie. Looks like she has gained a bit of belly but not shockingly so. We are almost at the end of her third week with us. I do notice that it really seems that most of the belly is up near her rib cage and not near as much down toward the back legs, if that makes any sense. Would this just be because, if she is pregnant, that the puppies haven't moved down for delivery? I only ask because this is common in our bunnies, if we palpate sooner than about a week before delivery the babies are much closer up to the rib cage while in that last week they have moved down more between the back legs. 
At this point we are just waiting since she is still acting very healthy. She is just finishing off her antibiotics for her URI and is very active and happy.
Here are two more pictures of her that I just took today.Being black she can be so hard to get good pictures of her.


----------



## zellko (Jul 3, 2013)

Update? Would love to hear the outcome


----------



## Otro (Jan 11, 2013)

Still not sure what it going on with her. The plan now is to take her in for an xray in about a week and a half. This way we know that she has been in the rescue long enough that if she is pregnant an xray would show it. 
She is still a busy girl, eating well and started taking some short walks with our milder weather this last week. She loves that.


----------



## Otro (Jan 11, 2013)

Thought maybe folks would like to know the outcome She was not pregnant. We don't know is she was having a false pregnancy or what.She never had milk or anything. She has lost 3 pounds and is looking very good. She is now 12 pounds.
She was spayed yesterday and the tumor removed from her mammary gland and will be ready for her new home in about a week.


----------

