if you have a hospital near by that can run progesterone test for humans..maybe your vet can have them run it so you get a quick turn around. It is the same testing as humans-I just found that out!!


not just my bulldogs, but my heart & soul!!

Unfortunately I didn't do progesterone and suffering the consequences now. Bitch came into heat between Xmas and NY and we were out of town so I had my helper "just breed her" Bred her over a period of 1 week which is a long time when planning a c-section. Regarding progesterone testing to determine c-section--most of the vets that do progesterone here require a 1 day turn around for results as they send the blood to an outside lab. So if I use progesterone as an indicator to schedule c-section, by the time I get the results the bitch could be in labor. I am not sure of the purpose of using an ultrasound to evaluate heart beats. I would be more concerned with lung maturity which an ultrasound cannot evaluate or physical size of the pups which is better evaluated by skeletal size from an xray. However since you do progesterone testing it would be interesting to do a correlation between temp and progesterone--taking her temp at the same time the blood specimen for the progesterone as drawn. If I lived close enough and had a vet that would come in at a moments notice, the ideal would be to just let the bitch actually start labor.

Miriam Olesen
http://www.omegabulldogs.shutterfly.com/

In my experience the temp drop is easy to miss, or sometimes doesn't happen (this could be because it is missed) but is short term. I've always been told that you have 12-24 hours after the temp drop before pups are coming.
My Vet does a Progesterone test on the bitch the day prior to our calculated due date and an Ultrasound if there is any concern of impending delivery. She will do another Ultrasound the morning we go in for C-Section to check the pups' heart rates. From that she will either move on the C-Section immediately, or hold off for several hours, or until the afternoon/evening.
Your having done several inseminations shouldn't really change her due date, because due dates are calculated on 63 days from ovulation, not from breeding dates. You should know her ovulation date from the Progesterone tests done prior to breeding her.

Never again will I breed without progesterone testing. Not having a more precise day to do c-section is a big stresser. Poor girl is seeing the thermometer and starting to clamp down her tail--LOL

Miriam Olesen
http://www.omegabulldogs.shutterfly.com/

and my vet said to let him know when it dropped below 99 and stayed there for at least an hour (without any other truly stressed signs) and we would make plans for delivery that day. On one of the last ones I can recall, her temp dropped about 2am and I watched it hourly while biting my nails, and finally awoke him at 5am, got to his office about 6am (he brought his wife in to assist and other staff started arrive around 8) and we prepped her for c-section...actual delivery of pups was about 8am and we only had two pups so they were out fast, but vet had to do some "cleaning up" of the uterus on mama so that took a little longer (her 2nd and last delivery). HTH

that it does seem to drop/rise rapidly in some girls so that is why I do it every two hours, I do it even more than that if I'm seeing a "temp change" (like every 45 minutes)

My vet always waits for my bitches to go into the beginning stages of labor. I'd say 8 out of 10 bitches have a temp drop, I do it every 2 hours when things are getting close, particuliarly early signs of labor:nesting,refusing to eat, enlarged droopy vulva, gooey dark BM's,panting, "far away look"

well aware of eval HR in utero or during labor of human baby but in dogs there is usually a litter. If US shows 1 pup with decreased or erratic HR but other pups are fine and would benefit from increased time in utero (Mom not ready to start labor/progesterone is still up)you would c-section and perhaps endanger remaining pups on the basis of 1 distressed pup? I don't see the value of an ultrasoud at this stage of pregnancy. This is also a delimma in human babies when there are multiples but human medicine is better equipped to deal with human babies then most vets are to deal with sick puppies. However back to my original question--if actual date of ovulation is not known is monitoring for temp drop a good indicator of imminent onset of labor? Once temp drops, does it stay down until labor starts or does temp return to normal value in a brief time. For those who say that temp drop doesn't always occur--is that true or is it that bitch is c-sectioned before it has had a chance to occur.

Miriam Olesen
http://www.omegabulldogs.shutterfly.com/

"purpose of using an ultrasound to evaluate heart beats"

to evaluate to see if teh pups are in distress...if in distress...no progesterone test is needed.....pups need to come out. Same as with a human baby.