# Pregnant Golden with High White Blood Count



## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

My bitch is 7 weeks pregnant (due date March 12). On Sunday she ate 4 rib bones and couple pieces of garlic bread. Monday she was lethargic and eating less than usual and with less gusto. She did have 3 bm's and I checked them all and saw nothing in them. On Tuesday she ate only a couple bites of dry in the morning and nothing the rest of the day. She's moving very slow, sleeping a lot and having difficulty rolling over and getting up. She has been drinking water. Took her to the vet last night. She normally weighs 57 lbs (a little girl) and weighed 67.8 last night. Did an xray - no blockage (whew!). Ultrasound shows 7-8 active puppies with strong heartbeats. Bloodwork showed higher than normal white blood count. Put her on amoxycillin twice a day. Gave her first one last night and again this morning. Last night she ate a little bit of roast beef and a slice of cheese. This morning she had a bm (wasn't straining) and drank a lot of water and ate a few pieces of cheese. Will feed her some rice and beef in a couple of hours. Any suggestions on what the high white blood count could mean? Also, she's never been off her food nor did she have this problem last time she was pregnant (also had 8 puppies).


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Was any other blood work done? And do you routinely do CBC's on your pregnant bitches?


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

I normally do not run bloodwork during the pregnancy. This was unusual due to her having ingested the bones and acting "off". She has since eaten brown rice and beef this morning and was able to climb up on the couch when yesterday she was barely able to make it in and out of the house on steps to use the bathroom. Hopefully the antibiotics are kicking in. They ran a full panel - the white blood cell count was the only thing that was off.


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

Just heard from the vet - her progesterone level is low and they want to start progesterone injections ASAP. What's going on with her?


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

If you are not a member of Golden Breeder Discussion Group on Facebook, you may want to join. There was just a discussion along these lines not that long ago. A member has a girl whose progesterone was dropping. The injections are to keep the progesterone level up and prevent her from going into labor before the puppies are ready to be born. One of the things a drop in progesterone can signal is impending labor.

Not sure about the WBC. If it were earlier in her pregnancy, I would suspect pyometra; later and I would suspect mastitis.


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

Thank you for the information. I will check out the FB Forum.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

And I would definitely follow your vet's advice. Did he/she have any comments on the WBC?


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

On www.vetconnect.com, there is an interesting article by repro guru, Dr. Hutchinson about progesterone levels in the bitch. He specifically says that he only supplements when the progesterone goes lower than five nano grams and it is longer than seven days to the due date.... Look up the article, it is from a reproduction seminar he did.


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## Claire's Friend (Feb 26, 2007)

What about pancreatitis ???


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

They didn't mention anything about pancreatitis which I assume something would have shown up in either the bloodwork, xray or ultrasound. 

Her progesterone level was at 2.6 yesterday so we are starting progesterone injections today, Friday injection with a re-test and ultrasound and again a shot on Sunday. She isn't due until March 12 so it's more than 7 days before her due date. 

I am most definitely following my vet's guidelines - this bitch is to valuable to my family as a beloved pet to have anything happen to her or the pups.

She is feeling better today as she is now moving around more, climbing up on the couch, etc. when yesterday I had to lift her over the steps to take her outside to go to the bathroom.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Keeping my fingers crossed for both of you!


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

ukicvr said:


> They didn't mention anything about pancreatitis which I assume something would have shown up in either the bloodwork, xray or ultrasound.
> 
> Her progesterone level was at 2.6 yesterday so we are starting progesterone injections today, Friday injection with a re-test and ultrasound and again a shot on Sunday. She isn't due until March 12 so it's more than 7 days before her due date.
> 
> ...


I think they do a separate pancreatitis snap test that isn't part of the standard lab work, but I could be mistaken. Good luck and I hope everything turns out well.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Have you run an ultrasound to make certain the pregnancy is still viable and to verify that you aren not dealing with a pyometra?


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

Swampcollie - My original post mentioned that an ultrasound was done on Tuesday and the pups were all active with strong heartbeats (7-8 pups from what they could tell at the time). I took her in last night for her first shot. She ate her dinner with gusto and almost took my finger off when given a treat LOL (back to normal for her). She slept all night until 5 this morning when she asked to be let out. She ate her breakfast also with gusto and her temp was down from 102.2 on Tuesday to 101.5 this morning. I take her back Friday morning for another progesterone shot, a progesterone test to see if her progesterone is rising and another ultrasound to make sure the pups are doing ok.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

How are her lymph nodes? Is everything normal there? Are her gums pink and okay?


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

Everything else is fine - gums are pink, lymph nodes are fine. Like I said, now she's back to eating like a pig. I'm thinking and the vet is thinking the same thing - she might have had a slight infection which caused her WBC to rise and the rib bones probably irritated her stomach. Since being on the antibiotics her temp has gone down (but not to labor levels) and she's moving around more although still having difficulty getting up but she is quite large for a little girl. We'll see what her progesterone levels are tomorrow and what the ultrasound looks like. Because I will be at a dog show all day tomorrow I won't be able to post my results until tomorrow evening if I'm not too exhausted.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I'm SO relieved to here this great news. I think sometimes pregnancy can hold hemangio and lymphoma at bay, with only a few signs. Such an affirmitive response to antibiotics makes it an infection- phew!


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

True - but I still have the low progesterone to worry about. The vet said that it can cause her to have early labor and could kill the pups. Keep your fingers crossed that her progesterone is up tomorrow after her 2nd shot and stays up until her c-section on March 11


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

Why is she having a C-section?
Good luck to your girl and the pups!


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I did follow this discussion on the FB group. I so hope all will be well for the pups.


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

C Section because too much time and money was invested in getting her pregnant and don't want to lose any of the pups and with the complications she has been having it's even more crucial that everybody - mom and pups are doing well.

Besides - she free whelped the first 6 last time but puppy 7 was dead in the birth canal and wasn't coming down and was blocking puppy 8 so we had to do an emergency c section to get those 2 out.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Well, I certainly am wishing the best for your girl and her pups. I must have missed it, but I never caqught her name. What is ner name. How about a picture o her! We do so love to admire all the beautiful dogs on here.


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

Her name is Hope and she's on K-9 Data. I'm a little new to this forum to know how to attach pictures etc.


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## Neeko13 (Jul 10, 2010)

Good luck for your Hope, I will say some prayers that pups and her continue to stay healthy :crossfing ....hoping the shots will help her as well..


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Best wishes to Hope, beautiful name.


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

I wanted to thank everybody for their thoughts, prayers and wishes. Hope's progesterone level was back up to 10.1 on 3/2. Her last shot was yesterday and her appetite and behavior is back to normal. Her WBC is still slightly elevated but not horribly so.


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Five more days. Best wishes for a mom to be soon, sweet Hope. She is in my thoughts and prayers.


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

Mom and pups are doing well so far but keep praying. 4 girls 2 boys born via c-section on Sunday. Only two the pups wanted to latch on while we were at the vet's office so they all got plasma for antibodies. Mom only had milk in 4 nipples. Put her on meds to get the milk flowing. Puppies all finally latched on about 11 pm that evening. Weighed them Sunday at 4:30 pm - 11.5 to 14.5 oz. Re-weighed on Monday at 3:30 pm and they had all lost anywhere from 1.3 to 2.1 oz. Was told this is normal. As of this morning. None had lost any additional weight but only 2 had gained minimal amounts. Will re-weigh when I get home.


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## goldhaven (Sep 3, 2009)

Congratulations on your litter. Hope everything goes well.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

My experience is that at the beginning, the pups gain 10% of their body weight/day. They should not be losing weight... I have only had to tube feed one pup and it was just for two feedings. I tube fed this pup because he did not gain weight thru the day. He seemed weaker than the others. The feeding jump started him. I have raised eight litters of pups and have never lost one if it was born alive.... I go by that 10% rule....


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## goldhaven (Sep 3, 2009)

As soon as thing get back to semi normal, please post photos. I would love to see them.


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Congratulations. I am glad everything worked out fine. Keep up with updates. And pictures would be nice too. Sending prayers for sweet Hope and her puppies.


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## ukicvr (Feb 29, 2012)

They lost weight the first day anywhere from 1.3 to 2.1 oz but now at 1 week they are all at 1.5 lbs or close to it. They started at 11.5-14.5 oz each. Everybody is doing well, are strong and way too mobile for pups whose eyes aren't open yet! LOL


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

So glad to hear Mom and pups are doing fine  We need pictures!


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Tahnee GR said:


> So glad to hear Mom and pups are doing fine  We need pictures!


Yes, we need pictures of sweet mom and puppies.


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