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Preventing Mastitis When you have a litter of puppies, nursing on the dam is the entire focus of the pups’ little lives for the first 3 weeks or so, and continues to some extent until weaning. It is a very natural thing and usually goes along with out a hitch, but one must be watchful for any signs of a problem with the dam and her mammary glands as this can be a very serious, and even life threatening issue for her if she develops a problem. DAILY EXAMS The very best way to prevent a problem is to check your bitch every day. This is a simple process of running your hands down the mammary chain to check the state of her glands. I do it every time my girls go out to relieve themselves. All of the mammary glands should be soft although they can be in various stages of fullness. But they should not be hot or hard. Typically, if one gland is much harder than the others, this is a sign that you need to take immediate action. Also be aware of any other signs from the dam. She may not eat or eat with less enthusiasm than usual. She may get up more slowly or even limp/hold up her leg when walking or running because of the pain of bumping against the engorged mammary gland. STOPPING IT BEFORE IT BECOMES A PROBLEM If you detect a hot and/or hard gland, chances are the pups will not nurse it down. Believe me, I’ve tried to get them to. The problem is that there is old milk up in the upper areas of the glands and it gets thicker, a yellowish almost green color, and is harder to get out. The pup will suck a bit but when there isn’t milk flowing freely (as the fresh thin white milk does), the pup goes elsewhere. Meanwhile, the thick milk is getting older and setting up a prime area for infection to start. And the gland is getting sore from the pressure of the fullness and painful for the dam. Soon you have a sick bitch with a serious and potentially life threatening problem So the key is to be on top of things. This means checking your bitch every day several times a day to feel for any hardness or heat in the mammary chain. Should you feel even a slightly hardened gland, get busy on it right away. The key is to be firm but gentle. If you are too aggressive with it, you can bruise the already sore gland causing bruising and even more damage. But what you need to do is get it stripped out as best you can to get that old milk out and thus the potential for infection. If it is only slightly hardened, you can get the assistance of a strongly sucking puppy to help you. Just keep that pup on the full gland and it may help to gently massage down on the gland from the top to help bring the milk down. Since the sucking action of the pups helps the milk let down, you may find it helpful to work at expressing the hardened gland while allowing the pups to nurse the other teats. Most pups will only suck on the hardened mammary gland briefly, then move to an easier teat as the thick milk does not let down as readily. You need to keep putting the pup back on the gland or work it yourself. If the milk is too thick, having a puppy help may not work. I typically don’t have pups “helping” but bring her up away from the pups several times that day to work the milk from the top of the gland down. Keeping a head of cabbage in the freezer is a good thing to have on hand and can last for several litters. It doesn’t need to be fresh but there is some sort of drawing properties or something in cabbage juice so I simply peel off a frozen leaf and use it on the gland when I’m working at expressing the engorged gland. The leaf gets mushy, releasing the cabbage juice while also getting the mammary gland wet so your massage is not as likely to be as rough causing bruising while sliding and massaging downwards from the hardened area at the top of the gland. I keep a paper towel to wipe away the thick yellow milk that is drawn out of the teat as well. I feel that one can only get this worked down a certain amount in one sitting. From my experience, if there is hardening up high, you can work it down somewhat but once the portion closest to the nipple opening is soft and empty, it is best to wait awhile to allow the top portion to let down into the lower portion of the gland somewhat before working with it again. The key is to keep working with it gently and frequently until the entire area is once again soft and no longer hot to the touch. Many people also use heat when massaging and this is reportedly very helpful. Be careful that the heat you use is not too hot, though, as you can scald your bitch creating another problem for her. DON’T LET THIS GO! If your bitch is off her food, very depressed and she has a fever, it is imperative that you get her to a veterinarian very quickly! Mastitis is not something you can allow to continue and can be potentially deadly. If you catch it when the gland is only starting to get hard and your bitch is still eating, although maybe not as enthusiastically, you can work on it as described above. But be very aware that severe mastitis can hit hard and fast and if she is sick, don’t think you can cure this without prompt medical care. It is often a life and death matter. I have had two severe cases of mastitis with my girls. Antibiotics were used quickly. In both cases, the mammary gland abscessed, broke open, and drained, leaving a huge hole in the top of the mammary chain area. In both instances, the gland was functional with future litters. Interestingly, in the last case, a very small non-functional teat developed on my bitch’s side where the hole had been! The hole that opens is actually a good thing when there is an abscess as it allows the infection to drain out. It is pretty surprising how fast this heals because the mammary area is very vascular. People have done various things to treat this area but personally, I just kept the pus cleaned up, gave the antibiotics, allowed the pups to continue to nurse (they were 6 days old when this happened) and the hole healed nicely in a surprisingly short timeframe. I hope this information helps breeders prevent mastitis from progressing and also to know not to mess around with this very serious condition. Your bitches’ lives may depend on it! As always, I encourage anyone with ideas on issues I’ve discussed, or issues they would like to see addressed, to please share their thoughts with me. I can be reached at shilogr@yahoo.com Thanks so much! |
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