GESTATION
After the egg and sperm cell meet and fertilization takes place, the little ensuing entity (called a Zygote) starts dividing itself and developing into an embryo which will grow into a foetus and then into a fully formed baby (pup, kitten, piglet, etc.) in the mother’s womb, until it is discharged from the womb into the world. The period of time from the conception to the delivery is called GESTATION (the period of pregnancy).
Different species have varying gestation periods. For no other reasons than offering those fans of this column a bit of reference material, I am providing below a Table compiled by the scientists who put together the vets’ reference “bible” – The Merck Veterinary Manual. It makes for interesting comparisons. Pet owners who are really interested in their pets should keep this article and refer to it whenever they feel the compulsive need to call their vet on the matter of pregnancy duration. The Table is also for those caregivers who collect these “Pet Care” articles.
Gestation Periods
The numbers in the table shown reflect averages. For example, the dog’s gestation length is given as 56-64 days. But any Veterinarian who has been long enough in practice will be able to recall a bitch (female dog) that had given birth to her pups before day 56 and even after day 64 of her pregnancy.
The message here is that you should not get into the panic mode, if your canine companion has given birth before the 56th day of pregnancy or not yet by the 64th day. Also, I should mention that if there are many puppies in the womb, the mother dog might begin to push them out before the 56th day has been reached.
In any case, you should be in constant contact with your Vet from the time the female companion animal comes into heat right until the offspring have been born and thereafter. If everything is going good, the first time you will see the Vet should be 3 weeks after parturition (giving birth) when the pups/kittens have to be dewormed.
SOME IMPORTANT NOTES ON PREGNANCY LENGTHS
NOTE WELL: If your breeding programme is planned, then the caregiver/breeder should record the exact date(s) of the mating. This will help in determining the birth expectancy more accurately – for example, if the second mating was the successful one, then the caregiver should expect that the birthing will take place between 63-65 days after copulation (mating) or even later.
When is the
pregnancy length too long?
My answer relying on experience and on the same MERCK’s VETERINARY MANUAL referred to above, is that great accuracy may be difficult to achieve – not lastly because the dates of copulations may not coincide with the date of the actual conception. However, if the period extends beyond 65 days, there is reason for concern.
DOG BREEDS AND PREGNANCY LENGTH
Research has shown that the West Highland Terriers (WHITE) have significantly longer gestation periods than most breeds. The scientists have worked out that the variation of pregnancy length between German Shepherds, Dobermans, Labradors, Golden Retrievers and Bernese Mountain dogs was not markedly significant.
Further, the same study, interestingly found that the litter size (amount of pups in the mother’s womb) did not show any influence on the length of pregnancy.
Nevertheless, I should mention that statistics can be very unreliable, especially if the sample size in small and the methodology of statistical analysis used is suspect. Also, the season and a tropical environment during which a female is bred could very well result in varying gestation lengths.
I trust that this article addresses the gestation topic fully. If any caregiver or bona fide breeder needs more information, please contact us directly.
Happy Masharamani to all – revellers and non-revellers.
