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Hattie and her many pups!...
by Liz Watkins BVSc MRCVS

I first heard from Hattie’s owners at 3am one morning. She was giving birth, and had produced four puppies, two of which were stillborn. Still birth is very common in dogs and the occasional one is not a cause for particular concern. So we decided to watch and wait for a couple of hours and see how she progressed.

By 5 o’clock there was no further action, and it was time to see Hattie at surgery. Everything still appeared normal on examination. The next stage was to inject her with oxytocin. This is the same substance given to women at childbirth. It causes the uterus to contract, propelling the pups outwards. Within an hour of the injection we had 2 more pups, but then she went quiet again.
An ultrasound examination showed she still had several live pups in her, although we could not confirm movement or heartbeat in all of them.
A second injection of oxytocin, several cups of coffee, and a full exchange of life stories followed, as Hattie’s owners and I watched her sitting happily in her kennel wondering what the fuss was about.
By 8.30 a.m. it was clear she was not going to progress further, and the decision was made to perform a Caesarian section. (This is called Caesarian because legend has it that one of the Roman Caesars was born this way)

One problem we had was that morning surgery was due to start at 9.30, and as this was a weekend we had only one vet on duty. So a few phone calls later, and with the co-operation of our lovely and very understanding clients, we had cancelled the first few consultations.

Surgery was straightforward, and 5 more pups were delivered. One was sadly dead, but the rest were thriving, leaving Hattie with 8 pups – plenty enough for her to cope with!
I then had to start the day job. So if your vet ever looks a bit tired, remember we don’t get to take the day off just because of a busy night!
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