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030608Singapore elective
Caesarian Sections pet health and
welfare, educational for Singapore dog breeders, from
Asiahomes Internet Tips for Pet Lovers, sponsored by
AsiaHomes Internet.
June 11, 2003 Elective Caesarian sections save puppies "The first puppy died because it was born breech," Mr Teng, a dog breeder said in a soft sad voice. A breech delivery means that the puppy was born with the backside out first. Now, it was four hours later and he decided on a Caesarian section. The bitch's rectal temperature was 38.9 degrees Celsius, a normal temperature. She was slim. Her teeth were white as she was a year old. She was slim and near her navel, she had a pointed protruding lump, indicative of one end of a very big puppy. This made it possible for me to perform a small skin incision which was what the breeder wanted. I separated the white linea alba band separating the right and left abdominal muscle, incise into the left uterine horn, peeling open the green membrane of the placenta. The puppy's head showed through the translucent amniotic sac. I pressed the puppy's head towards the opening of the uterus to squeeze it out. The uterine incision was very tight, being a bit narrow. I snipped open the uterine horn another 0.5 cm. The head squeezed out, but the right front leg was extended, as if the puppy was all ready to get out. The extended leg obstructed the exit of the head. According to the book, the veterinary surgeon should just make a big skin incision, take out the left and right uterine horns, incise the uterus and take out the puppies. The surgery would be much faster but the skin incision would be four times as long for heavily pregnant bitches with more than 3 big puppies. In practice, the Singapore breeder judges a good veterinary surgeon as one who delivers the puppies with the shortest of the skin incisions. For cosmetic reasons. That could be why human obstetricians incise below the bikini line during Caesarian section. 
I pushed the front legs back to flex it. This puppy was huge. Its tongue
was purplish red. I swung it in an arc a few times, wiped away the
mucus from its nostrils and its tongue. Rubbed the back of its neck. It
breathed and cried in less than 5 minutes. The other puppy was in
the right uterine horn. To maintain the small incision, I pushed it down towards the same opening of the first puppy near the uterine body. This was a breech presentation puppy and there was less problem. It took time to manipulate the puppy. It was equally healthy and cried in less than 5 minutes after stroking its neck and swinging a few times its head downwards in an arc to expel the fluid in its lungs and nostrils. It was a joy to deliver vigorous healthy puppies. The pink-nosed Spitz puppies looked plump.
"Breech presentation is quite common in canine obstetrics and the puppy
does not die just because of that." I said. "You could X-ray the bitch to
find out how many puppies are in breech presentation and then decide on a
Caesarian if all are breech deliveries." |
