How to prevent and treat miscarriage and difficult birth in Tibetan Mastiff breeding?

Miscarriage in female Tibetan Mastiffs is divided into 2 major categories: infectious and non-infectious. The former is seen in infections caused by Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus, fetal Vibrio, and Brucella abortus, as well as other disease infections. The latter is mostly seen with insufficient progesterone, insufficient corpus luteum formation, and miscarriage at 2~5 weeks of pregnancy; premature regression of the corpus luteum causes miscarriage at 6~7 weeks; miscarriage after 7 weeks is mostly caused by insufficient placental function. Abnormal placental structure or abnormalities of the fetus itself, malnutrition or advanced age of the female dog, pregnancy toxemia, trauma, and certain other causes can also cause miscarriage.

Difficult birth commonly involves pelvic abnormalities, hypoplasia, fracture healing, etc.: unicornuate uterus, narrow or malformed vagina, etc. Maternal malnutrition and anemia lead to weak uterine contractions, and excessive obesity or aging causes uterine weakness; uterine rupture during delivery, and first-time whelping dogs are all prone to difficult birth. An oversized fetus, abnormal fetal position, fetal malformation, etc. also make difficult birth more likely.

Miscarriage is the delivery of a premature fetus without any warning signs. If caused by pregnancy toxemia, the dog has symptoms of anemia; in habitual miscarriage, blood-tinged discharge can be seen from the vagina lasting 5~6 days. After miscarriage, some dogs eat their puppies, while others do not.

During difficult birth, the dog makes painful cries, is listless, and urinates frequently yet still cannot deliver the fetus.

Treatment: For dogs that miscarry and cannot retain the fetus, they should be culled and must not be kept for breeding. For those with difficult birth, oxytocin should first be injected intravenously, 10~300ml, or 10% calcium gluconate 10~30mL can also be injected. If the fetal position is abnormal, the birth canal is narrow, or the amniotic fluid has been lost, then surgery should be performed to remove the fetus. Make an 8~10cm long incision in the abdomen, remove the fetus from the uterus, then perform suturing, and inject antibiotics for 3 to 7 days.