Pregnancy diagnosis

It's been 2 weeks now since Jess was mated, and another 2 week until we're off to the vet for an ultrasound, so another 2 weeks to wait to find out if she is definitely pregnant or not !

Unlike humans, there is no immediate test that can be done to check pregnancy in dogs.  The options available are :

1. Wait until visible signs appear - these are not going to be visible until 35-40 days into the pregnancy though and can be :
- darkening colour and development of the teats
- enlarged mammary glands
- opaque or white mucus vaginal discharge
- morning sickness (as well as refusing food till midday - with a Labrador ? yeah right :)
- abdominal enlargement - this is not likely until day 40-50. When the uterine horns become very full with the developing foetuses they fold back upon themselves and drop lower into the abdomen.  This may not happen if the litter is very small

2. Abdominal palpitation. This involves the vet trying to feel the tiny marble-sized foetuses in the uterus, strung out like a bead necklace. This is possible at around 20-30 days post mating but not on all bitches and it depends on the shape of the bitch

3. Measuring levels of hormone relaxin. This hormone is produced by the placenta and begins to appear in the blood stream at the time when the fertilised eggs become implanted in the womb (usually between 17 and 19 days post-ovulation). This test is normally carried out around 30 days after mating.

4. Ultrasound. Using the same ultrasound imaging equipment as used for women, foetal heartbeats can be seen from days 20-25 of pregnancy.  The accuracy of the results though depend very much on the equipment being used and the skill and expertise of the operator. It is more useful than other tests as it can help to indicate the number and size of the puppies. Pregnancy diagnosis is said to be 94% correct through the use of ultrasound (not sure of the reliability or sample size of that statistic though !), but assessing the number of pups in the litter is not so accurate, especially when there are more than 6 foetuses.

So, it's ultrasound for us (at the preference of the vet) and in 2 weeks time I will be able to post the results :)