QUESTIONS

1. Define obstetrics.
2. What is the average gestation period of a bitch?
3. What is the average gestation period of a queen?
4. List 6 techniques for pregnancy diagnosis and the most suitable time for their performance.
5. When does mammary development become obvious in the pregnant bitch?
6. When should the food intake of a pregnant bitch be increased?
7. By what percentage should the amount of the food fed to the dam have been increased by the time she is due to whelp?
8. Why might it be sensible to feed the dam smaller more frequent meals during the last 10 days of pregnancy?
9. What is a suitable diet for a pregnant bitch and why?
10. Bitches and queens are polytocious; what does this mean?
11. What types of wormers are safe to use during pregnancy?
12. List 4 clinical signs of pregnancy.
13. Give 2 physiological signs of pregnancy.
14. What is hypocalcaemia?
15. What drug is used to treat hypocalcaemia?
16. Give 2 other names by which hypocalcaemia may be known.
17. At parturition, the marginal haematoma results in a vulval discharge; what colour is this in bitches and in queens?
18. What is the ideal temperature for a whelping box?
19. What is prepartum hypothermia and when may this be detected?
20. List the signs of first stage parturition.
21. When would intervention be necessary by a veterinary surgeon during second stage parturition?
22. How would you stimulate straining during parturition?
23. How would you assist delivery during parturition if the foetus were in the breech position?
24. What is meant by dystocia?