possible pregnacy?

[lotsafun]

hi everyone, we rescued a lovely dog from a previous neighbour who was unbelievably was just going to leave her behind when they moved. Finding out about his intentions we decided to take the dog on and instanly fell in love with her, he told us she had had all her vacinations etc so will be fine and we assumed she wouldve been spayed too, only to recently find that she has not as she is on heat now as i speak. The other day she got out when one of the kids left the door open and mated with our neighbours bichon frisse (spelt wrong i know) and we are concerned that she may of caught as she is on heat. My question is now
1) how will i tell if she has?
2) how much is this roughly going to cost us, as obviously we will be getting all the necesary vacs if and when they are born etc.
Many thanks

[mollykins]

What kind of dog is it, seeing as the male was only a little dog, you probably won't have the problem of the puppies growing to big for the mum (unless the mum is an even tinier dog).

Possibly having a cesarian, depending on the size of the puppies is one cost you might come across.

[mollykins]

And the cost of any other complications and care that the mum and puppies after theyre born

[jules77]

There is the option of terminating any possible pregnancy with something similar to the morning after pill for humans, but it is not without side effects, and it may be too late for this. I would discuss it with your vet asap, as he may be willing to spay her now. You wont be able to tell for sure if she is in whelp until around 4/5 weeks by having her scanned. As regards whelping costs, it is dependant on if she needs a C section or not.

[lotsafun]

hiya mollykins she is a yorkshire terrier so i dont think the pups will be too big for her, well fingers crossed anyways. Thanks all for your replies, do you think it would be better to give it a couple of weeks or go and see a vet straight away.? would the vet be able to tell me anything yet to if she is pregnant or not

[wolf63]

The vet should be able to spay her and remove the puppies when removing her womb. I think that you should go the vets soonish though.

[jules77]

Only thing I have heard about Yorkies is that they dont whelp easily. This is not something you should enter into lightly and I would be seeing my vet asap to discuss termination.

[lankeela]

When you say she was mated the other day, how long ago? The vet can give her a jab to stop any pregnancy. This used to be done within 48 hours, but there is now one that can be given up to several weeks later - your vet will advise. Although cost is a consideration in having a litter, the safety of the bitch would be my concern. Keep a close eye for any discharge which could be pyometra, an infection of the womb, which can be fatal if left untreated. Also if a C section is needed (probably minimum of 400 pounds - more if overnight or weekend or Bank Holiday) you could end up losing the bitch and puppies. If you lose the bitch but the puppies are ok you would have to hand rear them which would mean 24 hour care with feeds every two hours. All in all I would be seeing my vet to stop any pregnancy, but if you decide to let it go ahead be ready for a lot of work, expense and maybe heartache.

[lankeela]

Some bedtime reading - don't have nightmares!

http://www.dogstuff.info/to_breed_or_not.html

[lankeela]

This is the jab: http://www.virbac.co....nicalfiles/Alizin.pdf