My young Maltese is pregnant. What should I do and what to expect?

Here is some great information: https://www.petcoach.co/article/whelping-giving-birth-in-dogs/ Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

If it is early pregnancy, she can be spayed. Some vets may also carry medication to abort the pregnancy. Having a litter prior to physical maturity can permanently stunt the growth. He may also see issues with the bitch being too immature to care for the puppies. If he decides to move forward with this litter, here is a link which may help: https://www.petcoach.co/article/pregnancy-diagnosis-caring-for-the-pregnant-dog/ I hope this helps.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Millie. If you know when she may have been bred, I would schedule an appointment with her veterinarian for 45-50 days after that date. At this stage of gestation, if she is pregnant, puppies will be visible on an x-ray. This will confirm the pregnancy as well as give you an idea of how many puppies she is expecting. This will be extremely helpful knowledge while she is in labor. You will know when she is done or if she is struggling, you know more puppies are coming and to seek help. In the meantime, feed her a high quality puppy food to supply her with extra calories and nutrition. I hope this information helps!

It isn't ideal to get pregnant so young; however, she can still do it and this will not affect her growth in any way. She is however higher risk for complications such as inadequate milk production, underweight pups, and miscarriages. Here is a website link with how to care for your pregnant pup --> https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951916 https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951546 I hope that Bella has a succesful labor and does well. Best of luck and take care.

Hello, I’m not sure if there was supposed to be a photograph of the male dog attached to this post or not. If you have a large male who breeds with a small female, there is always a concern that she will not be able to have the puppies and will need a C-section. Any small female dog who is having puppies should have radiographs done after day 45 to see how many babies are expected. If you do not want her to have a litter, I recommend calling the veterinarian and discussing getting her spayed ASAP. Some dogs can have a shot to stop the pregnancy but there can be some serious side effects to that. Getting her spayed will eliminate an accidental pregnancy in the future. Getting her spayed also has other health benefits and is recommended for any dog not intended for breeding. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions!

There is not a specific number that they can have, but my most recent small breed dog had 10 pups and 9 survived. It is also possible that she has fewer pups which allows them to become larger. This is actually more worrisome because it can increase the risk of dystocia. I’m glad you are getting x-rays to help plan! Best of luck and I hope all goes smoothly! Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Dogs of her size can have issues with difficult births needing c-sections, eclampsia, puppies with low body fat and low blood sugars as well as other issues like liver shunts. I recommend having a veterinarian confirm that she is pregnant and if so follow the size of the puppies very closely to see if a csection will be needed.