Water Puppy Syndrome Shared By Nightingale Bullies
78What's to know about water puppy syndrome? By Nightingale Bulldogs
Water Puppies Shared by Nightingale Bullies
By nightingalebullies
Water puppy syndrome:
We can learn a bit from "people" medicine - water babies (hydrops) is usually from lack of red blood cells in the baby as a result of an infection or immune reaction.
It can effect only one pup in a litter or the entire litter. Water puppies are impossible to deliver naturally, they are huge, swollen, waterlogged puppies. A c-section is a must, as these puppies are generally 2 - 4x the size of their littermates.
These pups range from mild, medium to severely effected.
They do not get STUCK in the birth canal, they do not get that far, as they block the birth canal.
If your dam is pushing on a single puppy, contractions for 2 hours, without puppy presentation into the birth canal, especially after delivering one or two normal pups, you should seek veterinary assistance, as the remaining pups can die, along with the dam.
This is a Medical Emergency!
There are many opinions on why these water pups develop, some say it is congenital or environmental, some say diet, trauma to the dam, or even a virus. There is no evidence to show it is hereditary, but it does effect some breeds more than others. Especially the Bulldog & flat faced breeds including, Boston Terriers, English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, Shar Pei, Bullmastiff, Basset Hound, Chow Chow, and Pugs.
It has occurred in crossbred dogs, and pedigree dogs, such as the Borzoi, Maltese, Labrador Retriever, Schnauzers, Bichon Frise, Chihuahuas, German Shepherd, Old English Sheepdog (Bobtail), Poodle, Great Dane, German Pointer &, in a wolf from zoo/wildlife -park.
An x-ray does not always show the larger size of these puppies, as the weight is mostly fluid. An ultrasound is thought to detect these puppies.
Water pups are usually born alive, limp, and weak, and they look like someone blew them up, like a balloon. The dam was supplying the needed oxygen and nutrition through the placenta and cord, but soon after birth the medium toseverely effected pup will suffocate by the pressure of the fluid.
The mildly effected pups that survive the first 2 - 3 days, have been reported to become normal, and others say there were other underlying problems and they died within the first week.
The choice to try and save, or to let the pup go without suffering, will be between you and your vet, how much experience you have behind you, and if you are willing to put in the time PLUS be prepared for heartache. Trying to save these pups at this time, is considered experimental.
The cause or treatment of this condition is un- known at this time.
Treatment:
Treatment needs to be given right away for a mildly effected pup.
Elevate the head and extend the neck for a more clear air way.
To encourage urination run one or two fingers over the genitalia.
Some veterinarians have recently had great success using Lasix in saving water puppies. Lasix is the brand name of the chemical Furosemide. Furosemide is a diuretic-saluretic, which inhibits the re-absorption of sodium (salt). The drug is administered intravenously immediately after birth of the water puppy. Administer furosemide (Lasix) .1 to .2 ml intramuscularly, to increase urination, this can be repeated every 30 to 45 minutes for three injections. Caution: more than three could cause dehydration.
Keep the pups warm and stimulate urination as described above every 2 - 3 minutes.Elastic bandages have also been used to push out fluid (not too tight).
Mildly effected pups can take 1 to 2 hours to breathe normally. Moderately effected pups take 90 minutes to 4 hours to breathe normal. Medium to severely effected pups are difficult to save, they usually drown within 30 minutes. Severely bloated pups, have been known to split open at the abdomen, just from handling.Some signs for you to watch your pregnant female for are: drinking large amounts of water, nipples and surrounding tissues have a shiny look, nipples produce a fluid, very early in pregnancy.Autopsies have shown, that the organs are saturated in fluid and the life sustaining organs, cannot function, causing the pups to drown.
Theories:
A inuterine reaction to sodium, or an inability to process proteins. Hypothyrodism, as well as an inability of the lymphmatic system to drain effectively due to the anatomy.
None of these ideas have ever been proven.
Water puppies are often seen associated with a combination of vertebral column defects and often have further abnormalities particularly cleft palates
Some Findings on causes : (still not proven)
-- Congenital anasarca (congenital generalised subcutaneous oedema). The aetiology of congenital anasarca is not well defined (prenatal cardiovascular anomaly)
-- A traumatic origin (with disruption of the placenta) as a foetus suffering from anasarca is usually the sole occupant of a uterine horn filled with a large amount of haemorrhagic fluid.
-- Could be caused by a virus, it has been attributed to the after-effects of the mother's oronasal infection with the minute virus during the last trimester of pregnancy associated with myocarditis. In the latter case, elasticity of the foetus' skin allows extravasation of transudate that is compensated for by the immediate supply of fluid via the umbilical cord.
-- malformation of the lymphatic drainage system
Prevention:
Low salt diet.
Reduce potential Trauma (isolate pregnant dams)
Autogenous minute virus vaccine in the case suspicion of minute virus (anarsarca en-zootic within the same breeding facility).
Shared by Nightingale Bullies www.nightingalebullies.com
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Thanks for all the great information about Water Puppy Syndrome. I would have never known about it. I have some great information at my blog
http://www.buy-sale-bulldogs.info/ I am going to link to this hubpage if it all right.
Hi,
Sure... It is very common with the bulldogs unfortunately.
I just left the vet,my English Bulldog just had a c section & delivered 6 beautiful water babies.They were all dead before they were even born.I just wanted to share our experiance. My bitch did indeed drink tons of water in her last 20 some odd days,I noticed that around her back nipples it was VERY shiny skin (looked almost like a burn reaction) & last night I pulled her skin up on her front leg while she was standing up & it didnt go back down real fast.Her temp dropped to 99.4 on friday & we watched her close beacuse that was her 58th day & to early to take pup ,( I say pup because I had ultrasound on day 42 & showed 1 pup & x-ray on day 53 & showed 1 pup) , then today (Sunday) her temp started going up 100.8 & she had some clear greenish discharge .Took her into vet & c-sectioned her & she had 6 puppies & vet said they had been dead for a couple of days.My bitch was absolulty huge ,when you would touch her poor belly she would moan.The puppies didnt look to horribly bad just a little fluidy but they advised us they were water babies.Hope this can help others in what to look for.
My English Bulldog just had puppies on May 12, 2009, she had 5 total puppies but only 4 made it. One of the puppies was a water baby. 2 of the puppies were normal, but the other 2 were born missing hair on their heads and a spot missing up around their tail, our vet has no clue what caused this, but said our puppies are very healthy puppies and that the hair will grow back. Anyone ever heard of this happening before, and what might have casued it? They are all so sweet..........and we love them. Lots of work though, our momma isn't helping much and we are having to hand feed the pups a lot. any suggestions would be appreciated.
Sometimes puppies that are not fully developed can be born with patches of hair missing. It should grow back and be okay.
I sure hope the hair grows back..........they are healthy, just bald in spots........they look like old men...lol
My Dachshund Dam had her first litter March 26,09 and the second pup was a water puppy. I was shocked and scared for her and the other pups. Had NO idea what this was or what caused it. It seemed to be stuck, I didn't know what to do, it was 4 am. I didn't know if I should pull the 2nd pup out or let nature take it's course. I chose the latter. It was 3 hours between the first and the water pup. My worries are will there be another one in the second litter? Was it a fluke or was it something that happened to my Dam? The other six are very beautiful with no problems. At first I thought the placenta separated from the pup too soon, the stomach was open. It was a water puppy, I had NO idea there was a name for what happened to the second pup of the first litter. It's very upsetting and makes you worry about the Dam and the rest of the litter. Good luck to all in the breeding world!!!
had a cocker spaniel that had a water baby in 2 seperate litters. In both litters their was live pups. out of both litters we did not have any to survive. mom did deliver her water baby with a little help from us.
I have never in all my years ever heard or seen this. We had many many litters of puppies. I am wondering is this a new thing, by that I mean has this syndrome only appeared in the recent years?
We just had a litter 9 english bulldog pups! Wow, we didn't expect that as the x-ray showed 6-7 pups. Unfortunately, I had no idea about these pups, but my mom had known about them. Our pups did were no alive when born and it is heartbreaking. The information on this site is very helpful in knowing what things we can do different next time during our dam's pregnancy.
Just had a litter of 3 today (Bostons) and all were water pups. I guess sever, they were not large but very thick skin, jelly as the vet said. It is so sad.
My boxer Roxie gave birth to Three pups late last nigh. One little girl who was very blue and had a hard time breathing, after 30 minutes she finally came around. the next two boys saddly were water puppies. But i notice that most things i read on water puppies says they can not be delieverd naturally? Our boxer did just fine and they were double the size or the first puppy.
Anyway we are very sad about the baby boys that we lost but very excited to welcome this lil girl to our wold!
It happened to us in a litter of Bernese Mountain Dogs
6 puppies were normal and 1 was a "water puppy" born dead and the last to be born. I can deliver photos if someone's interested. I'm from Portugal and mail e-mail is: fernandogomes1962@gmail.com
Forgot to say that the puppy had no sexual definition!
I have a water puppy in my last litter
I breed standard wirehaired dachshunds
of course ..I have to do C section and the rest of babies
they were 5 , went so well
strange for my breed !!!
I have a water puppy in my last litter
I breed standard wirehaired dachshunds
of course ..I have to do C section and the rest of babies
they were 5 , went so well
strange for my breed !!!
adrianall@gmail.com
We have had two liters of Boxers, the prior one was a year ago. Nine very healthy pups. Bella is such a good mommy. This year, her second liter, she had six, one was a water puppy. Bella (mommy) was so sad and so was I. I have researched on line and am positive it was a water puppy thanks to your web site. Taking mommy and surviving pups into the vet tomorrow.
I had a water puppy born last night, she was the first of a litter of 6 Yorkshire Terriers. Unfortunately she was dead at birth, the bitch did not need a C section but did have difficulty in giving birth. I have been breeding for many years and have never seen this before, the only change I have made is to introduce a new male, bred by me but with an outside bitch. Thank you for your information it has helped me understand what may have caused this and how to try and prevent it happening again.
Maltese Checks 3 years ago
This hub of yours gives total valuable information regarding "water puppy syndrome"! I'm sure this will help many dog owners deal with their pups' predicament. I really hate to know that there are puppies killed this way! I have a soft heart for these little darlings! btw, the picture above can also be great-looking if you can put it on your personalized check. Check this out if you want to know what I mean. I'm sure you would love this idea. Dog owners like us should have this! Thanks for your hub, nightingalebullies!
http://www.onlychecks.com/maltese-checks.html