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Shih Tzu - Birth Process I
By Connie Limon, Fri Dec 9th
A day or two before a normal delivery you may notice a smallamount of mucus at the opening of your shih tzu's vulva. Justbefore the actual whelping, she will produce a mucous plug. Youwould have to watch your shih tzu very closely in order toobserve these things or else this is easily unnoticed. I haveseen this process only a few times, as I was not truly watchingcontinually and probably missed most of them. It is notnecessary to sit and wait for this. But if you are extremelyanxious about the whelping, these are signs to watch for thatwill tell you will be coming fairly soon. A small bubblemay also appear just outside the vulva. It looks like somethingthat maybe you just need to pull out really quick and get ridof, but by all means, do not do that! Leave it in place, becauseit contains the first puppy. I have one female, Buffy, by namewho has presented with this bubble for hours before the actualpuppy came. There is no set rule about this. On some females, Inever see a bubble, only suddenly a puppy arrives. So if you seethe bubble, just leave it alone, do not break or pull on thisbubble. It generally does not appear with the rest of thepuppies. I mention it here mainly because first time I saw Buffylike this I wanted to help her somehow and rid her of this oddlooking bubble. Fortunately, I ran for my references onwhelping, and did not do this. Soon, she delivered her puppiesall by herself. Her whelping is very, very long, but they alwayssurvive and so does she. I am use to Buffy now and do not worryabout her whelping. Personally, I love to see them whelp quickly and get it over it.This is not very often, however. You still might want to consultyour vet if there is unusual lengths of time in between puppies,but especially if your shih tzu is visibly having contracturesand straining and no puppy arrives - this is a true medicalemergency. For the majority of shih tzu I have been acquaintedwith, however, they are free whelpers and very goodaffectionate, nuturing mothers. What an exciting time to witnessthe birth of these little shih tzu puppies!!! You won't be ableto tell much about exact colors, they are as if "bald" with noneof that beautiful hair. It seems like a miracle they turn intothe beauties they turn into when you see them at birth. They arevery sweet though and sometimes cry just like real human babiesas they wiggle and squirm trying to survive in this strange newworld they just emerged into. are born blind and deaf.Their eyes looked glued together and their ears are closed upalso. Puppies grow in the right and left horns of the uterus. Aplacenta or afterbirth is attached to the wall of the uterus andis the source of food and oxygen for the puppy inside the matron.
The first puppy in either the right or left horn of the uterusis lifted into the birth canal and then detaches from the wallof the uterus. When this happens, in a normal delivery, thepuppy will seem to "pop" out sometimes all at once, sometimeshalfway and it takes more contractures to push the puppy on out.If you see a puppy that looks hung up, grasp as much of the sacand puppy as you can and gently pull outward and down when thefemale has a contraction. Never pull the puppy straight back orjerk it hard. Puppies can be born head first, feet first or butt first. Theeasist delivery will be head first, and is the most desirabledelivery of course. Usually these come out without problem. Ifthe puppy tries to emerge
feet first or butt first, it sometimesgets stuck and takes longer for mom to push it out. At this point, do not panic, but just try to gently pull outwardand down using a dry washcloth to get a good grip. The sac on apuppy is very slippery. As soon as the puppy is out, the mothershould by instinct start to lick and tear at the sac around theface, eyes and nose. This is of most importance at this time. Ifthe sac is not broken quickly, the puppy could smother to death.So if mom does not start this right away, just simply tear itwith your fingers, and the puppy will begin to try and breathe.If mom does her job correctly she will continue to tumble thenewborn around, licking and cleaning the sac completely off tostimulate the puppy to breathe. Again, if mom is too tired orfor some reason her instincts do not kick in quick enough, youcan begin to stimulate the puppy to breathe on its own byrubbing it briskly with your dry wash cloth, rub its back andshoulders, head, evey part you can get hold of and hopefully momwill also begin to cut the cord about this time and consume theplacenta that should have arrived along with the whelp orshortly after. Mom does not always do this however, and I haveseen mothers let their whelps lie with their placentas and cordsattached until they deliver two or three other puppies, and thenturn to eating the placenta and cutting the cords. As long asthe puppy is out, the sac is broken and they are not strugglingto breathe, and are breathing well on their own, it does nothurt anything for them to lie attached to the placenta until momgets good and ready to return to that part of things. I think sometimes mothers get distracted by the others that aretrying to be born and they know if their previous whelps are outof the sac and breathing, sometimes even nursing with theplacenta and cord attached, they are fine. If mother is doingher job correctly she will always stimulate them to breathe ontheir own as first course of action and leave the other thingsto another time if necessary. She needs to deliver one placenta per puppy and you need to keepcount. If she retains a placenta, it can cause infection, andyou will need to take her to the vet for a shot to help her toexpel the placenta. It is always a good idea to take your mom tothe vet shortly after whelping to be sure she has not retained aplacenta or even a dead puppy that will need to be expelled. Anytime you leave newborn or take their mother away forbathing or going to the vet, you will need to provide the puppybox with a heating pad and place a baby receiving blanket overthe box to create a warm incubator. I learned this lesson thehard way. I took a mother from her babies just long enough tobath her and blow dry her, but never provided the newsborns witha heating pad, it was summertime even, and all those babies diedwithin a day or two, they were doing fine before. I concludedthey must have "chilled" while mom was gone. Mom will provide alot of warmth for her newborns. She will wrap her body aroundthem to warm them up, but you still need to use heating pads,and especially if you take mom from the box to tend to her forsomething. The number one cause of a newborn dying is becomingchilled. It is imperative to warm them up as quickly as possibleand keep them warm. 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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