3/18/2023 0 Comments Puppy incubator![]() Clinical examination of the damĪ general clinical examination should include an assessment for signs of bacteremia for example, is there evidence of infection on the skin, ears or mouth (including dental tartar) of the dam that could represent a source of bacteria? Is there any foul-smelling vaginal discharge indicative of metritis? Check the mammary glands for signs of mastitis, inadequate development of the mammary tissue, and the teat anatomy to verify if the neonates can suckle easily (Figure 1). Ideally, the clinician should also wear fresh clothing. Examination should be on a clean, dry surface, preferably heated (e.g., a heat pad set at 28-35☌), using disinfected gloved hands. Newborns have an immature immune system and must be protected against nosocomial infections, so time spent in the waiting room should be as short as possible, with no contact with any surface or other animals. Once at the clinic, certain hygiene precautions are advisable. Hyperthermia will not only interfere with the clinical evaluation, as overheated newborns cry and are often hyperactive, it also increases a puppy’s metabolism and thus its energetic expenditure. Microwavable heated pads or hot water bottles should be used with caution to avoid induced hyperthermia and to prevent skin burns (and cylindrical bottles may also roll and crush newborns). However, excess heat is also to be avoided, since newborns are unable to move away from anything that is too hot. Advice on the correct way to transport neonatal puppies is also vital since newborn pups have poor thermogenesis, it is important that the ambient temperature during transportation is maintained at around 28☌. If the owner has been monitoring the weights of the neonates, it is useful for them to bring the figures or growth curves as well. ![]() Examination of the dam may identify a condition that can impact on a puppy’s health - such as metritis, mastitis, agalactia/hypogalactia, invaginated teats (which prevent suckling), or (rarely) vulvar vesicles indicative of a maternal herpesvirus infection. The owner should be asked to bring not only the sick puppy to the clinic, but also its littermates and the dam apart from anything else, checking all individuals in a litter can allow early identification of other sick puppies. Clinical signs in neonatal puppies are usually nonspecific, and can include respiratory distress, crying, abdominal distension and pain, anorexia, poor weight gain, weakness and hypothermia, but none are pathognomonic for a particular underlying cause. For 85% of puppies that die within the first month of life, clinical signs appear less than five days before death, so newborn puppies that appear to be unwell must be seen as an emergency as soon as an owner has contacted the clinic - and treatment is usually implemented before (and most of the time without) any precise etiological diagnosis. Veterinary patients younger than three weeks of age are fragile and - for various reasons - can deteriorate very rapidly when ill. ![]()
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