Teacup chihuahuas – Whelping puppies and the pregnant dam!
As I mentioned in the past, breeding teacup chihuahuas is not for someone who does not have experience of breeding dogs. You can read more about this here – breeding teacup chihuahuas.
That said, if you are interested in how your little tea cup chihuahua started her life, this will of great interest to you!
When the female tea cup chihuahua is found to be pregnant, the breeder will start to keep an eye on the days. In some situations, the first stages of labor may pass without notice. However, you can detect these changes if you monitor your tea cup chihuahua’s temperature regularly. Normally, her temperature will be around 101F. Once she is pregnant, her temperature will drop a few degrees, to around 98F. The breeder may also have the dam X-rayed to determine the number of pups to be expected.
When the breeder finds that the temperature has fallen and remains at this level, there is normally around 12 hours before the dam begins to labor. This is normally accompanied by restlessness in your tea cup chihuahua. She may move around a lot in an attempt to get comfortable.
In addition, the dam may also start to vomit or “move her bowels” in an attempt to release the pressure in that area. There is also an increase in urination and limited interest in food.
At this point, the experienced breeder will collect a number of items to have on hand, just in case. These items will include warm towels (of course!), scissors (sterile), food, water, some antibacterial ointment and lubricant.
After some time, there may be some discharge from the vulva and it’s appearance may change; it may become more swollen. This will turn to a greenish discharge after a tea cup chihuahua pup is born. Your dam will now be digging in her box and contractions will begin. After several contractions you will see a balloon-like sac appear outside the vulva. This is the first of the teacup chihuahuas!
The tea cup chihuahua will start to lick her pups to clean them and remove the sac which encases them. At this point, the pup should start to breath on their own. Each tea cup chihuahua pup should be pushed out in around 15 minutes. If the dam appears to be straining and no puppy appears, the breeder may contact the vet for further assistance, depending on their experience.
Once the pups have been born, the umbilical cord will need to be cut, as the dam will be unable to do this. Taking the sterile scissors, the breeder will cut the cord (carefully!) leaving around an inch of cord attached to the pup.
As you can tell, breeding is not for the faint of heart!