Whats the topic for today?

I’m going to talk about accidental mating of bitches

You mean things like the morning after pill?
Sort of. There is a course of 2 injections that we give to prevent pregnancy after mating but people don’t need to panic about having this done the morning after as it is still effective up to 45 days after mating.

How effective are the injections?
99% if treated in the first 3 weeks and 95% if treated after that

Are the injections expensive?
Relatively yes. It will typically cost a few hundred dollars for a medium sized dog. There are options though.

What are the options?
You can have the bitch ultrasound scanned 28days after mating to see if she is actually pregnant. If she is then you can have the course of injections at that stage or chose to let the bitch have the pups.

Are those the only options?
No. You could choose to have the bitch spayed regardless of whether she is pregnant or not. We can spay bitches up to 4-5 weeks of pregnancy but after that stage it becomes too risky.

Why is that? What is the risk.
The blood vessels to the uterus become very large in pregnancy and there is a much greater risk of bleeding after the surgery.

Is there any other advice you can give on this topic?
Yes. The best option is to avoid accidental mating’s in the first place. The most effective way to do that is obviously to have all non-breeding bitches spayed.