Saturday, July 18, 2009
Day 62. It is looking more like the second breeding likely took which would techinally make this day 60. Bunny is acting very odd this morning. Her temperature is down to 98.2 yet she is panting heavily. She is also staying off to herself which is very unlike her. She has put herself back to bed three times this morning. I am glad Wendy is coming to hold her paw while I go in to work this morning. I told Bunny if she started having puppies before I got home, after being at home with her for the last three days, I would shoot her when I got here. :) Everybody keep your fingers crossed!!!
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Here is what the theriogenologists have taught me -- you count from the day of ovulation, which counts as Day 1. The pups are due on Day 63 regardless of when the matings took place. The puppies themselves are actually the 'timers'. They begin to produce a hormone that says to the mother's body -- OK, let us out of here!. The progesterone of the mother drops in response, which causes a temporary drop in the mother's body temperature to 99 or below. When this happens, the pups should begin to be born 12 to 24 hours after that temp drop is measured. ... The 98.2 definitely qualifies for the temp drop, and we are looking forward to hearing about the babies, and are praying for all to be well with momma Bunny.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of my comment: June was right when she said it must have been the 2nd breeding that took... Technically what happens is that the eggs are pushed out of the ovaries [ovulation]. But fertilization does not take place instanteously. The eggs have a membrane covering them which must dissolve before the egg can be fertilized. If semen are present, they speed this process along by hitting their heads against the membrane, which weakens it and breaks the whole into many parts. Think about cracking the shell of a hard boiled egg and you get the picture here. About 48 to 72 hours after ovulation, the eggs' membrane coverings have dissolved enough to be 'penetrable' by the semen and fertilization can occur. .... so it was some time around or after the 2nd breeding that the eggs were ready and obviously, the semen were there to do their job.... Good luck Bunny.
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