Case information:
A 4.5-year-old intact female Weimeraner presented with a history of having been bred 23 and 27 days previously. The breedings were not intentional.
Question:
What methods of pregnancy diagnosis can be used at this point in pregnancy?
Answer:
Remember that days from breeding is not necessarily the same as days of pregnancy because bitches may stand to be bred well before and well after ovulation, and spermatozoa may remain viable in the female reproductive tract for up to a week.
Abdominal palpation is most useful from 28-35 days after breeding. Before that, the puppies are too small to feel in the abdomen, and after that, the sacs containing the puppies abut each other and are no longer palpable as discrete structures.
With abdominal ultrasound, pregnancy may be detectable as early as three weeks after breeding, and is considered completely accurate after 25-30 days from ovulation. After 28-30 days of pregnancy, the puppies heartbeats can be seen, making ultrasound the best tool to assess how viable the pups are.
Case Outcome:
The bitch was not palpably pregnant. The owner was asked to bring her back in one week for abdominal ultrasound. Ultrasound was performed 30 days from the first breeding; no pups were seen. The bitch whelped two pups 68 days from the first breeding, suggesting the bitch had been bred well after ovulation and that ultrasound was performed early relative to ovulation. The small litter most likely was missed due to the abdominal conformation of this large, deep-chested bitch.