Monitoring of the newborn dog and prediction of neonatal mortality

Abstract

Despite the high neonatal mortality rate in puppies, pertinent criteria for health evaluation of the newborns are not defined. This study was thus designed to measure and to characterize factors of variation of six health parameters in dog neonates, and to evaluate their value as predictors of neonatal mortality. A total of 347 purebred puppies under identical conditions of housing and management were examined within the first 8h after birth and then at Day 1. The first health evaluation included Apgar score, weight, blood glucose, lactate and β-hydroxybutyrate concentration, rectal temperature and urine specific gravity (SG). The second evaluation at Day 1 included the same parameters, excluding Apgar score and weight. The mortality rate over the first 24h and over 21days of age was recorded. The early predictors of neonatal mortality in the dog were determined with generalized linear mixed models and receiver operating characteristic curves analyses. An Apgar score at or below 6 evaluated within the first 8h after birth was found associated with a higher risk of death during the first 24h. A reduced glucose concentration (≤92mg/dl) at Day 1 was found to be associated with higher mortality between 1 and 21days of age. Low-birth-weight puppies were characterized by both low viability (low Apgar score) and low blood glucose concentration, and thus were found indirectly at higher risk of neonatal mortality. This study promotes two low cost easy-to-use tests for health evaluation in puppies, i.e. Apgar scoring and blood glucose assay. Further investigation is necessary to establish if the strong relationship between blood glucose and neonatal survival reflects high energy requirements or other benefits from colostrum intake.

Bodyweight at Birth and Growth Rate during the Neonatal Period in Three Canine Breeds

“…Birth bodyweight has further been evaluated on the basis of different breeds grouped according to their expected adult bodyweight. In these cases, the bBWs of BMD puppies of the present study are similar to the mean and median bBW of puppies of the group of large-sized breeds reported in previous studies [15,16,20]. The importance of breed-specific evaluation becomes evident when comparing our results with the results reported by Gill [12] and Mila et al [16].…”

“…In these cases, the bBWs of BMD puppies of the present study are similar to the mean and median bBW of puppies of the group of large-sized breeds reported in previous studies [15,16,20]. The importance of breed-specific evaluation becomes evident when comparing our results with the results reported by Gill [12] and Mila et al [16]. Grouping breeds differently resulted in the TT being either a dog of small size [16] or of a medium size [12].…”

“…Canine neonatal mortality is estimated to account for 20% of all puppies born until the age of 7-8 weeks, with 75%-90% of deaths occurring within the first three weeks of life [9,[11][12][13]. Correlations between low birth bodyweight (bBW), growth rate within the first 2-4 days of life and neonatal mortality in the canine species have been reported [9,12,[14][15][16] for groups of breeds. Previously published studies on canine bBW used a population comprising puppies of different breeds grouped according to their expected adult bodyweight.…”

“…To date, there are no rules on how to group dog breeds according to their bodyweight, which leads to important differences in the composition of the populations of these studies. For instance, the Tibetan Terrier has been considered as a dog of small size [16] or of medium size [12], depending on the weight ranges used to describe breeds of either small or medium size. However, no breed-specific bBW cutoff value has yet been established above which a canine neonate is to be considered normal.…”

Vaginal isolation of beta‐haemolytic Streptococcus from bitches with and without neonatal deaths in the litters

“…All together morbidity and mortality range from 5 to 35% (Mosier, ; Münnich, ; Poffenbarger, Chandler, Ralston, & Olson, ; Veronesi, Panzani, Faustini, & Rota, ). Pup mortality has been attributed to a wide variety of causes including dystocia, congenital defects, low birth weight, infectious diseases, trauma and fading puppy syndrome (Gill, ; Mila et al., ). The principal cause of pup death was attributed to maternal factors and mothering failure (trauma, excessive licking, lactational failure and cannibalism; Andersen, ; Gill, ).…”