Birthing Difficulties (Dystocia)

The length of pregnancy for a dog or cat varies between 57-63 days.  Signs of dystocia vary for each species.

Dog

• If the dog is actively pushing for 20-30 minutes with no production of a puppy
• If it’s been longer than 2 hours since delivery of the last puppy
• If the dog has weak, infrequent contractions for longer than 2 hours with no production of a puppy
• If the dog has passed a blackish-green discharge with no puppy following within 30 minutes

Cat

• If the cat has 20 minutes of intense labour with no production of a kitten
• If the cat has 10 minutes of intense labour and a kitten is visualized but not fully delivered
• If the cat has acute (sudden) depression
• If there is presence of fresh blood for more than 10 minutes with no production of a kitten

For a cat, the entire birthing process can take up to 24-36 hours which is normal as long as kittens are being delivered with no signs of dystocia.

If any of these signs are noticed, your pet must be brought to a veterinary hospital immediately for birthing assistance or cesarean section.  Without assistance, there is a risk of losing the babies and possibly the mother.

Eclampsia (Hypocalcemia)

Commonly this occurs in small breed dogs and sometimes cats, when they are not receiving a proper diet to sustain the nutritional requirements for nursing.  All nursing mothers should receive a high quality puppy or kitten food while lactating.

Signs of hypocalcemia include:

• muscle or full body tremors
• seizures
• hyperthermia (fever)

If any of these signs are noticed, disallow the babies to continue feeding off the mother and have the mother seen immediately by a veterinarian.  For instructions on how to care for the babies if their mother cannot, see Care of Orphans.