An overview of dystocia from a theriogenologist

In an interview with Lacey Rosenberg, DVM, DACT, an associate veterinarian for Veterinary Specialties at the Lake in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, she explained what can cause dystocia, a birthing complication, and her expertise in managing this condition during the Fetch dvm360 conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Below is a partial transcript.

Lacey Rosenberg, DVM, DACT: Dystocia basically is difficult labor or difficulty giving labor in small animals. There's thousands of different causes, but most of the time, what we're gonna see is stuck puppies, uterine inertia—which is where the uterus just isn't contracting appropriately from the get go. Or what we call secondary uterine inertia, which is where a female has had a certain number of puppies and just gets exhausted. We can see metabolic problems that can cause dystocia, like hypocalcemia or hyperglycemia, pregnancy toxemia, lots of different things that can cause it.

Managing dystocia [would start with] getting a really thorough history, confirming that the patient actually has a dystocia, and then usually, we have to be very cautious with medical management. So really making sure that it's an appropriate candidate for medical management [and] that we have a decent chance of success with medical management.