The puppy ultrasound: The Ultimate Guide

When to do ultrasound for puppies?

Veterinary Ultrasound can confirm pregnancy as early as day 20-22 after breeding, but it’s not guaranteed to show the correct results this early.

Hence, getting the ultrasound done 30 days post-breeding or between 25 and 35 days of gestation to diagnose pregnancy properly is recommended.

Ultrasound is not accurate in counting puppies, but a puppy heartbeat ultrasound can determine heartbeats accurately.

The heartbeats can give you an estimate of the number of puppies present.

Planning the timing of doing a puppy ultrasound is essential because the gestational sacks lose their distinct shape after a month.

When can an ultrasound detect puppies?

Veterinary Ultrasound from 4-5 weeks after mating is an easy way to diagnose dog pregnancy in the initial stages.

The number of puppies cannot determine the number of puppies this early.

The X-ray can be used to confirm the litter of puppies, but the skeletons can only be visualized on x-ray until day 45.

How to read puppy ultrasound?

The puppy ultrasound pictures are read to diagnose any abnormalities during pregnancy.

To read a pregnancy ultrasound, you first need to know what a puppy ultrasound looks like and the anatomy.

When observing a puppy ultrasound, the position of the fetus doesn’t matter.

In the puppy ultrasound pictures on the monitor, you can see the work of the placenta relative to the cervix.

You can check the umbilical cord connected to the placenta to make sure that the attachment is standard.

Two small black circles and one black stripe will also be visible. Those are the three blood vessels in the cord, which is the correct number to have.

You can also look closely at some structures inside the brain.

The bright outer lining visible in the puppy ultrasound image is the Choroid plexus, making up the spinal fluid. We also look at the cerebellum, which is present at the back of the brain.

It looks like two balls stacked on top of each other. This allows us to determine if the size and shape of the puppy’s brain are right. The puppy ultrasound image can also detect any spinal defects here.

You can look at the fetus’ face, which looks more like a skull, as there isn’t much fat on the baby’s body at this stage.

The eyes, which look like sockets, the lips and the nose behind the puppy’s hands can also be observed.

The normal uterus is best located by scanning transversely between the urinary bladder and the colon.

The central body parts are the spine, the four chambers of the heart, kidneys, legs, and position of the feet, which are observed to analyze the baby’s profile better.

How much does a puppy ultrasound cost?

A puppy ultrasound machine generally costs more than X-rays. Usually, a puppy ultrasound cost can be anywhere between $300 and $600.

However, if you have pet health insurance for your dog, you can dodge the high costs of medical imaging.

From Plen Medical, you can find a cheap and high-performance puppy ultrasound machine.

What can puppy ultrasound do?

Dog pregnancy lasts for around 63 days. If we measure the time duration from single breeding, it ranges from 57 to 72 days.

This is the ovulation duration during which the female’s hormones and body changes can be observed.

There are various methods to diagnose pregnancy in a dog.

Pregnancy can be interpreted in a variety of ways in the dog. These include abdominal palpation, relaxin test, radiographs (X-rays) and ultrasonography.

Different methods are accurate at different time frames.

Ultrasound pregnancy confirmation can be done as early as day 20-22 after breeding but can be missed this early.

Performing the puppy ultrasound 30 days post-breeding is the right time to confirm pregnancy.

Although ultrasound is not accurate in counting puppies, it can determine heartbeats in the puppies.

Specific measurements can be obtained through puppy ultrasound, such as the gestational sac diameter, body (abdominal) diameter at the level of liver and stomach, fetal crown-rump length and fetal skull (biparietal) diameter.

These relate closely to fetal age and permit assessment of gestational length and childbirth dates, mainly if you did not perform ovulation timing beforehand.

Variation in breed size and individual deviation in measuring techniques can lead to inaccuracy in predicting fetal age with ultrasound.

Fetal Sex Determination

There have been reports that sex determination could be done between 55 and 58 days of gestation using puppy ultrasound.

The vet can use the puppy ultrasound pictures to observe the sonographic appearance of the external genitalia in fetuses in utero, which is also affected by the positioning of the fetus.

Although ultrasound won’t accurately tell you how many puppies to expect, it does have other benefits beyond just confirming pregnancy.

The information gained from the fetal heart rate through the puppy ultrasound pictures can explain fetal viability.

Puppy ultrasound can also be used to diagnose pregnancy ailments.

Ailments in Pregnancy

• Embryonic Resorption- The conceptus completely resorbs if the embryo dies within 35 days of pregnancy.
• Ultrasound can detect the absence of heartbeat in the source, disintegration of the embryo mass, and the inward bulging of the uterine wall. If there’s no heartbeat, it indicates fetal death.
• Fetal Abortion- After the death of the fetuses after day 35 of pregnancy, abortion and vaginal discharge follow due to the amount of fetal fluid present.
• Fetal Abnormality- Due to multiple fetuses, it is hard to examine each one thoroughly.
• However, numerous abnormalities can still be detected by identifying a change in the anatomical structure of the fetus using puppy ultrasound. Some of them have resulted in the delivery of the litter using cesarean operation.
• Fetal Distress- The standard heart rate for a fetus is 200 beats per minute. If the ultrasound picks up a rise or fall in the heart rate, it’s pointing to fetal stress. It can be measured using B or M-mode ultrasonography.

Puppy ultrasound FAQ

How accurate are puppy ultrasounds?

Puppy ultrasounds are not accurate in determining the number of puppy fetuses.

X-rays are recommended if you want to know the litter count, as a precise puppy count may be required to make the whelping process easier for the breeder since you should know when you’re finished.

A radiograph puppy count can be done between 55 and 58 days of gestation to determine the number of puppies accurately.

An ultrasound puppy count is inaccurate because it’s straightforward for one puppy to be obscured by another in the puppy ultrasound images.

Also, in puppy ultrasound, imaging is done in real-time. There is movement involved- of the mother dog, the unborn pups, and the transducers.

Therefore, identifying which sac you’ve already seen and counted is tough – and with larger litters, impossible.

How to tell if a puppy has kidney problems?

The common symptoms of kidney failure are:

• Lethargy
• Significant weight loss
• Pale gums
• Foul-smelling breath
• A great loss in appetite
• Nausea and diarrhea
• Increase or decrease in water intake
• Increase or decrease in urine volume
• Blood in urine
• Mouth ulcers
• Uncoordinated movement such as walking limpingly
• Intestinal seizures
• Severe dehydration
• Heat strokes
• Snake Bites
• Leptospirosis (a bacterial infection)

How is kidney failure in puppies treated?

Treatment of your puppy’s kidney failure and finding its causes depends on a few factors like the extent of functioning of the kidneys, the development of the condition and its underlying causes.

Acute kidney failure can make puppies extremely sick. They might have to be admitted to ICUs.

Milder cases may be cured by antibiotics, fluids and medications and dialysis if needed. Nutritional supplements should also be given to the puppies for their well-being.

For unborn puppies, puppy kidney ultrasound can be done to detect kidney problems.

Ultrasonographic evaluation of kidney development in dog fetuses can be done using puppy kidney ultrasound.

There is a strong correlation between gestational age and kidney length, as there is a high probability of sensitivity between 48 and 52 days of pregnancy.

You can check the kidneys and bladders in the puppy ultrasound images to determine if they are functional and producing urine.

Can an ultrasound detect how many puppies?

No, an ultrasound cannot detect the number of puppies effectively.

Can ultrasound be wrong about puppies?

Ultrasound is ineffective when it comes to counting the number of puppies. X-rays are more accurate in measuring puppies, though not in the early stages.

Can you hear unborn puppies’ heartbeats?

Yes, a puppy ultrasound can accurately determine the heartbeat of puppies.