Termination of pregnancy in a dog: in what cases is it used?

The problem of unwanted pregnancy is quite acute for owners of bitches. After all, it is not always possible to keep track of your pet during heat; quite often unwanted relationships occur that have their own results.

It is possible to correct an unpleasant situation, but it is better not to do this at home. The female body is a complex mechanism that requires careful professional intervention, preferably as early as possible.

Only an experienced veterinarian can choose the right way to get rid of offspring and the ideal medicine that will not cause irreparable harm after a thorough study of the medical history and tests.

Treatments are selected based on the condition of the female and her health.

In what cases is pregnancy terminated in dogs?

Let us immediately note that terminating a pregnancy is a very responsible step, since the procedure can have a very negative impact on the animal’s health. Accordingly, they resort to it only in rare cases, agreed with the veterinarian:

• This is often faced by owners of purebred animals who have not taken care of their pet. If there is a suspicion of mating with an outbred “watchdog,” there is no point in waiting two months and wasting the resources of the dog’s body on bearing and giving birth to useless puppies. But even in this case, we would recommend terminating the pregnancy in the early stages (this is much safer for the dog itself).

• It is recommended to end pregnancy if the dog has serious infectious diseases. Firstly, in case of severe illness, abortion is still almost guaranteed. Secondly, you won’t be able to get healthy puppies in any case. Thirdly, bearing offspring at such a time further undermines the health of the bitch herself, which will inevitably have an impact in the very near future.

• The most difficult option is termination of pregnancy in the event of intrauterine death of the offspring. This often occurs in the later stages and is interrupted surgically. Unfortunately, in this case, all the reproductive organs of the animal are removed, so that in the future the dog will no longer be able to give birth.

Diagnostics

Standard blood tests can be used to detect parasites or B. canis. If the pregnancy loss was due to another reason, an abnormal amount of discharge will be noticeable.

A veterinarian may use ultrasound to detect a viable pregnancy or to look for anything left in a dog's uterus after a miscarriage or termination of pregnancy.

This is because a dog's uterus sometimes cannot effectively remove all pregnancy substances (such as placental tissue) on its own, leading to infection or internal bleeding.

Optimal timing of termination of pregnancy

As for the optimal timing, a very simple rule applies here - the sooner you relieve the dog of the “burden”, the better. In the later stages, there is a very high risk that something will go wrong. And even if the procedure goes well, the dog will inevitably suffer from the consequences of a sudden and unnatural change in hormonal levels. Therefore, experienced veterinarians recommend terminating pregnancy only at the safest time:

• The best option is up to 5 days from the moment of mating. During this period, many pregnancies end naturally due to embryo rejection, so there will not be any serious consequences for the dog’s body. This period is ideal for purebred dogs after mating with an unwanted male. If everything is done correctly, the pet will soon begin a new estrus, during which it can be bred without any risk.

• Termination of pregnancy performed within 22 days from the date of mating is also quite painless. At this time, you can still use agents that promote the resorption of embryos. There will be a hormonal surge, but it will probably not affect the pet’s health.

From 40 days onwards, a dog’s pregnancy can be terminated only for very significant reasons (intrauterine death, serious illness). In these cases, it will not be possible to do without serious consequences for the bitch’s health; the recovery period will be long.

Answer

When a dog reaches the age of puberty, the owner has another concern - how to prevent the appearance of canine offspring. Not all owners are ready to bother with puppies. Often people don't have the space or time. Placing children of unknown origin into good hands is not an easy task!

The timing of the onset of the first heat varies from person to person. As a rule, it begins between seven months and one and a half years of age. The average duration is 21-22 days. The first heat is shorter.

The reproductive cycle in dogs includes 4 periods:

1. Proestrus is actually estrus. There is a rush of blood to the genitals, and spotting begins. Lasts 7-10 days.
2. Estrus is a time favorable for conception, bleeding stops, and the dog is ready for mating. The smell attracts male dogs. Behavior changes. The duration of the period ranges from 4 to 12 days.
3. Metestrus is the period when the body recovers after estrus and discharge completely stops. Hormone levels return to normal. During this period, if fertilization does not occur, the bitch may have a false pregnancy.
4. Anestrus is the time between heats. Determines the frequency of their occurrence.

The time during which a dog can become pregnant occurs every six months.

Methods for terminating pregnancy in dogs

In modern veterinary medicine, only two methods of terminating pregnancy are used:

• Medication.
• Surgical.

The first option is considered the safest. In addition, medical abortion is much cheaper and does not require any preliminary preparation. Most often, veterinarians use two drugs:

• Mesalin , also known as estradiol benzoate. Used specifically to terminate pregnancy in bitches after unsuccessful/unwanted matings. Can be administered subcutaneously or intramuscularly, the standard dose is 0.5 ml of solution for every 10 kg of weight. The optimal time of administration is from 3 to 5 days from the moment of mating. In cases where the exact time of mating is not known, repeated administration of the drug is indicated on the 7th day.

• Alizin . This drug is much more versatile and convenient, since it can be used up to 40 days of pregnancy. The drug is administered subcutaneously at a dose of 10 mg of active substance per kg of body weight. Use only with the knowledge of a veterinarian! After 10 days from the date of use, it is necessary to conduct a control ultrasound. There is only one problem - the medicine is rare and very expensive, so you need to look for it in advance.

You need to understand that the relative safety of medical abortion does not guarantee the absence of side effects.

The most common side effect is the appearance of bloody discharge from the external genitalia. A rare but possible side effect is uterine bleeding. Therefore, such products should only be used by an experienced veterinarian, and in the first hours the dog should be under his supervision!

Prevention

To avoid it being too late, most breeders and doctors advise taking care of the safety of pets in advance, preventing the appearance of unwanted offspring.

There are many means of canine contraception today. However, they all work differently and have varying degrees of safety.

The most common:

• Sterilization or tubal ligation.
• Castration or removal of the ovaries and uterus.
• Hormonal contraceptives, injected in the first three days of estrus and preventing it.
• Medicines based on herbs and natural ingredients that reduce desire.
• Special hygienic panties that act as a barrier contraceptive when walking.

Recovery period

In case of termination of pregnancy in the early stages, there is no recovery period as such. If pregnancy was interrupted later, the animal must be provided with quality care:

• Complete peace.
• Water is provided without restrictions.
• In the first two weeks, we recommend using high-quality canned complete food for feeding.

But this is not the most important thing. The dog should be monitored in the first week after termination of pregnancy, and special attention should be paid to the presence/absence of discharge from the external genitalia. If they suddenly appear and your dog smells unpleasant (this indicates serious inflammation), you should immediately contact a veterinarian!

Causes

Some types of most common causes of spontaneous abortion in dogs:

• B. Canis - This bacterium is extremely common among kennel dogs because it is easily transmitted. This disease leads to both stillbirth and failure to conceive. It is usually characterized by prolonged vaginal discharge and can sometimes be accompanied by complications such as arthritis (spondylitis) and inflammation of the eye (uveitis). In addition, dogs often have bacteria in the bloodstream (bacteremia) for up to 18 months after spontaneous abortion.
• Mycotic abortion - This fungus most often causes excessive bleeding in the uterus and can lead to abortion of the fetus.
• Fetal Death – If a dog has a hormonal imbalance, it can lead to fetal death, causing stillbirth or spontaneous abortion.
• Neospora Caninum is a parasite commonly found in dogs. It can be spread if a dog ingests contaminated water, food, feces or contaminated animal meat.

Treatment regimens

In the treatment of pyometra, cloprostenol is used together with Alizin. Treatment regimen:

• Alizin is administered subcutaneously at a dose of 0.33 ml per 1 kg of animal weight;
• a day later the injection is repeated. This should cause the cervix to open, allowing pus to exit the organ cavity. If the cervix does not open, you still cannot do without surgery;
• within 5 days, injections of Cloprostenol are given - 1 mcg/kg of animal weight;
• then Alizin injections are given weekly for a month.

Important! Treatment is carried out only under the supervision of a veterinarian and with ultrasound control.

Contraindications

There are contraindications for taking drugs with a corrective effect that reduce or completely suppress the sexual instinct. It is prohibited to give contraceptives for diseases of the reproductive system (pyometra, metritis, endometritis, etc.), diseases and tumors of the mammary gland, diabetes, animals before puberty, pregnant and lactating females. You should not give medicine during your first heat. It is also unacceptable to prescribe such drugs on your own without consulting a specialist.

What to give a dog to prevent it from becoming pregnant should be decided only by a qualified veterinarian, who will first assess the pet’s health condition and select the correct drug. After all, one dog will only need sedatives that suppress sexual instincts at the level of the nervous system. And the other will need full hormonal correction of the sexual cycle. All contraceptives should be considered as temporary measures, and remember that surgical castration of both females and males is still the best option.

When is veterinary contraception needed?

Of course, the most reliable option is surgical sterilization (castration) of the dog. But such an operation may have several absolute or relative contraindications, such as:

• diseases and conditions that increase the risk of an unfavorable outcome of the operation (pathologies of the heart, kidneys, etc.);
• physical exhaustion of the animal;
• age (too young or too old dog).

In addition, it may be planned to obtain offspring from the dog in the future, which makes surgical sterilization all the more undesirable. In all these cases, veterinary means of controlling sexual behavior, also called contraceptives for dogs, come to the rescue. These drugs allow you to “postpone” the onset of estrus, interrupt an estrus that has already begun, or prevent pregnancy from occurring during an unscheduled mating.

Analogues and prices

Alizin is an expensive drug. 10 ml of injection solution costs more than 3,500 rubles. On the pharmaceutical market of veterinary drugs there are other means for interrupting unplanned pregnancy in females. They have different active components. You can replace the absence of Alizin in a veterinary pharmacy with analogues:

1. Castril - cannot be used for pyometra, endometritis and other diseases of the genital organs in females;
2. Cowinan;
3. Mesalin can provoke the development of pyometra.

Contraception before

The vast majority of sexual behavior control products should be started before the onset of heat. Depending on the drug, it should be given to the dog no later than a few weeks or days before the start of the active phase of estrus. In order not to miss this moment, it is advisable to keep a calendar of estrus, which will allow you to accurately navigate the timing of the next “problem period”. But it is important to understand that some circumstances can significantly shift estrus. These include:

• Diseases suffered by the dog, including those requiring treatment with hormonal drugs.
• Chronic diseases of the endocrine system and metabolic disorders (obesity, diabetes, etc.).
• Unfavorable completion of the previous estrus (false pregnancy, miscarriage, intrauterine death of puppies or death of the entire litter after birth, etc.).

Effect of contraception before

Depending on when you start taking the drug, its effect may change. Thus, EX-5, EX-7.5, EX-5T from AVZ, used 7–15 days before the onset of estrus, delays it in time: it “returns” a few days after discontinuation of the drug or several months (if taking was long). And if the drug is started no later than on the third day from the start of the sexual cycle, it is interrupted. ECS can also be used in male dogs that exhibit increased excitability, hypersexuality, aggression and other undesirable traits of sexual behavior. The drug is available in the form of a suspension and tablets.