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Shih Tzu - Birth Process/the Cord And Placenta
By Connie Limon, Fri Dec 9th
If you need to help remove the afterbirth: First be sure yournewborn puppy is breathing well on its own, the sac has beenremoved from the face, eyes, nose, head and the puppy has eitherbeen stimulated by mother or you, the doggie midwife, to breathewell on its own, you can then remove the afterbirth if it doesnot appear on its own of course. To do this, with one hand aboutone inch from the stomach of the puppy, grasp the umbilical cordand, with the other hand close to the matron, gently try to pullthe afterbirth down and out of the matron, but be sure you donot pull hard on the cord near the navel of the puppy. If your shih tzu matron does not cut the cord of the newbornpuppies, and sometimes this does happen, it is wise to have onhand before the whelping day, a pinch-type clothespin which hasbeen cleaned in boiling water or sterilized in alcohol, or ifyou prefer, a professional hemostat. The clothespin should beclosed on to the cord about two inches from the puppy's navel.Once you have this in place, cut the cord (with sterilizedsurgical scissors) on the puppy side of the clothespin orhemostat. Now you have part of the umbilical cord hanging out ofyour matron with a clothespin or hemostat attached and the puppyshould be in your hand with about two inches of umbilical cordleft on the puppy. This method prevents the umbilical cord fromslipping back up inside the mother. If the cord hanging from the puppy does not stop bleeding afteryou have pressed it hard on the end between your fingers forseveral seconds, you can use another clothespin to pinch it onthe very tip of the cord for a minute or two. This should causethe blood to clot. You can tie
a piece of string or thread onthe tip of the cord, but I have found just pressure with yourfingers or the clothespin treatment does stops the bleeding. Youcan also use the same kind of blood-clotting agents from petsupply houses that you use to stop the bleeding from a toenailcut too close. Cornstarch (cooking type) can be used in anemergency. The cord just dries up and falls off eventually justas they do on newborn human babies. Sometimes there might get tobe an infection. I have used just plain Neosporin antibiotic gela little dab on the area if it does get infected, and this healsup nicely.
The placenta looks like a small chunk of very ripe liver. Yelk!!Birthing is a very interesting and exciting process. Ilike best, however, when the mother is able and willing to dothe entire process while I just watch this miraculous act ofmother nature. Whelping day has always been an exciting time for me and usuallyit occurs in the middle of the night, which is probably why Ihave got my entire routine of life on a 3rd shift schedule. Justput on a pot of coffee and relax. After it is all over, giveyour matron lots of attention and some special kind of food youknow she likes. Make it sloppy food for the first few days afterthe whelping. About the author:Connie Limon publishes a FREE weekly newsletter. A professionalnewsletter with a focus upon health and wellness for you andyour pets. Discounts on shih tzu are offered tosubscribers. Current available puppies. Sign up athttp://www.stainglassshihtzus.com
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