INTERN. Caesaean section of Corgi with 7 pups - how long does it take? 61 minutes

"No cries from the puppies," the breeder took over the 5th Corgi pup I had delivered by Caesarean Section. All 7 puppies had not moved when taken out. As if they were dead wood.

The breeder hoped that the dam would give birth naturally. I doubt it but it was the breeder's judgment that mattered. A life and death situation. He was a very experienced old breeder and he knew the consequences of procrastination.

"I may as well do Caesarean section at 9pm now as no vets will do it after midnight," he justified.
I did not put in my 2 cents' worth of reply. Singapore has nearly 70 veterinary clinics.  There will be vets. But all 7 pups will be delivered dead! He still needed to pay more for a Caesarean section to receive 7 dead Corgis!
 



I do an audit of my surgery to assess any area of improvement.

A: Injection of induction drugs: No
B: Isoflurane gas first given: 8.40 pm
C: Isoflurane gas stopped: 9.52 pm
D: First skin incision: 8.48 pm
E: Skin stitched up: 9.47pm

E-D = 61 minutes for 7 pups
The skin incision was 1/3 of what the first vet did and so the closing was faster. It would be faster if I had not done a continuous suture over the interrupted sutures of the linea alba and a subcuticular suture after that. Then the skin is stitched. In the other case of the Dachshund, I did only a continuous suture over the interrupted ones closing the uterine incision.

My assistant recorded the following:
Uterus incised: 8.58 pm
Uterus stitched up: 9.27 pm

First puppy taken out: 9.02 pm
Last puppy taken out: 9.13 pm. All 7 puppies handed to the breeder within 11 minutes. All not moving or crying.


FOLLOW UP  2ND DAY
All puppies and dam OK.  Dam nurses 5 pups. (video done) and a poodle nurses 2.

Everybody is happy with the outcome.
I made a sufficient incision length the width of the puppy's head (approx. 10cm long) and milk out the puppies from both uterine bodies. The incision was to one side of a uterine horn, near the bifurcation. I could not locate the bifurcation.