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Dog Breeding: The Dangers Of Inertia Caused By Overweight Pregnant Dogs
Overweight matrons often have difficulties in whelping. One problem, "inertia," occurs when the matron is incapable of producing enough "whelping hormones" (pituitary oxytocin) to maintain strong contractions. The cause appears to be a failure to properly sensitize the uterus. Some matrons never produce enough to deliver on their own. Others may suffer inertia when whelping a large litter over a prolonged period of time. A matron may suffer inadequate and insignificant contractions to effect normal whelping.
Inertia is the greatest cause of whelping stillborn puppies. Many puppies die needlessly because the matron is overweight, in poor physical condition, lacking muscle tone or incapable of sustaining contractions because of hormonal or dietary inadequacy. Female dogs incapable of whelping normally for whatever reason must be seen immediately by the veterinarian for a possible cesarean section delivery.
The reason for this is that during inertia when the dam is unable to sustain contractions by strength or time, puppies can die by suffocation when the placenta (afterbirth) has already separated from the uterine horn's wall. The placenta, which usually separates after delivery, is attached to the puppy by the umbilical cord and normally contains enough oxygen for a puppy's successful trip.
If the birth is slowed through contraction inadequacy, the puppy can suffocate from lack of oxygen. Thus a female suffering from overweight or malnutrition will suffer needlessly during whelping, and her inadequate condition can prove fatal to her offspring.
If in a normally sound condition, a matron's total caloric intake should not be increased until close to halfway through her term. At this time her food intake may be safely increased slowly. If a matron normally ingests two cups of food per day, she can be safely increased to three cups daily by four weeks in whelp.
If, by the size of the matron, the litter promises to be a large one, her intake may need to increase as much as threefold. It must be noted that the majority of puppy growth is made during the last two weeks of gestation. Prior to that time changes occur more in the support tissues. Under normal conditions then, giving approximately twice the amount of food than usually ingested by the week of parturition is an excellent regimen to follow.
A matron can be safely maintained at this volume level during the first week following whelping. If her litter is large, her caloric intake needs continuous adjusting as the puppies grow, during which time they receive sustenance solely through her milk production. Some matrons of very large breeds and/or very large litters require three (and occasionally more) times the volume of their normal food intake.
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