When should i ultrasound my dog

Ultrasound from 28 days after mating is an easy way to diagnose dog pregnancy early. It cannot tell you how many puppies are present. X-ray can confirm the number of puppies; however the skeletons do not show up on x-ray until day X-ray is also a useful tool to check all the pups have been born after whelping.

Your pregnant dog need a balanced nutritious, highly digestible complete diet. Calcium supplementation is discouraged as this can lead to problems after whelping.

In lactation they also require more energy; premium food in more frequent meals or ad lib is suggested. Every pregnant dog is different so it is better to tailor the diet to individual needs and monitor weight and condition. Come in and see one of our vet nurses and discuss the feeding needs of your bitch during and after pregnancy.

De-worming is also important as pups can get worms through the placenta and from the milk. Treat your bitch regularly from mid pregnancy.

Get rid of any fleas now as well with a good product! Daily exercise is good to maintain muscle, but it is sensible to avoid strenuous exercise in the last 3 weeks of your dog pregnancy. Prepare a whelping container that is draft free and puppy safe, allowing enough room for the pregnant dog to lie down without crushing puppies. An external heat source may be necessary. Line the box with clean washable lining. In the last days the bitch will become restless and start to nest, and she may stop eating.

Just before whelping, the vulva and vagina will swell and some clear discharge may occur. If you have been performing progesterone testing, you may feel very confident about how many days pregnant your animal should be.

If you are going by number of days post-mating and your bitch has had multiple matings, remember to always use the latest most recent date. Conception does not necessarily occur on the day of mating or artificial insemination, which is why it is really important not to go by the first mating — you could end up overestimating her current gestation by up to a week! Be wary of anybody offering you a scanning service prior to 30 days.

It is highly likely that they have not been properly trained, are unscrupulous and simply want to win your business in the short term at any cost, or both. The very high risk of a false positive or false negative is not worth them risking their reputation over. Below: The tiny flicker of foetal heartbeats can be appreciated even as early as 30 days gestation in a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel.

Before you book a scan , it is worth thinking about what information you hope to get from it. A word of caution: Remember, though, if your bitch is acting unwell, never call a pregnancy scanner — call your vet. Pyometra is a dangerous possibility in any unspayed bitch, and the difference between life and death can be minutes.

Motion can also be detected, which gives us an assessment of the heart's ability to move blood. Some diseases can be diagnosed with this method because they have a specific ultrasound appearance. Others, however, produce ultrasound findings that are not definitive. In these cases, we would choose another imaging method, or even a combination of methods, to gather the diagnostic information needed to provide the best care for your dog or cat.

One of the important features of an ultrasound examination is the ability to find abnormal areas in the organs. This permits precise biopsy of those areas, particularly because the live, moving ultrasound image can serve as a guide for a veterinarian to obtain a sample of the area in question. This can be done, for example, by inserting a needle that can be seen on the ultrasound image and obtaining cells from the organ, or even a sterile urine sample from the bladder.

A technician may test a sample, or a pathologist could examine the biopsied section of tissue under a microscope to gain more information. In many cases, the ultimate diagnosis is made by the pathologist. Special preparation would likely not be necessary for an echocardiogram.

However, if organs in the abdomen are to be studied, we may instruct you to withhold food from your pet for the 12 hours ahead of the exam. Additionally, the urinary bladder is best visualized if it is full of urine.

Therefore, your pet should not urinate within three to six hours of the study, if possible. Cover or put away litter boxes for cats before you head to your appointment. For smaller dogs, you can try to keep them from urinating by carrying them into our office.

If anesthesia is needed, there may be other steps to prepare your pet for the ultrasound procedure. However, if biopsies are to be taken, a short-acting anesthetic will be needed to help prevent complications.

You will receive specific instructions for your dog or cat if this is the case.