The American Beagler Forum

I wasn't quite sure what was wrong with my 3 yr. old Beagle Kandy that morning in July when I let her out to potty, but I could tell something was up...she didn't seem quite herself and I thought I saw her stagger a bit as she headed down the lawn. Eclampsia was the first thought that ran through my mind and I broke up some extra CalTabs to mix with her breakfast.
By the time I had finished my first cup of coffee I had convinced myself Kandy was just suffering the usual aches and pains of a new nursing Mom who had free whelped a hefty litter of pups a few days earlier . But as I let her back in the door I noticed that one of her breasts looked a little "square." She certainly didn't look abnormally swollen or red for a nursing Mom but when I reached down to touch her side she flung her head back at me and that is when it first occured to me that I might be dealing with Mastitis.
Mastitis is an infection of the milk glands. Usually only one gland is affected, which was our case. Mastitis can be caused from a bacterial infection, most commonly the streptoccoci bacteria which is also guilty of causing vaginitis and tonsilitis . Other causes of Mastitis are an excess of milk. Milk accumilates in the gland and if there are not enough puppies, or the puppies aren't especially strong suckers, the glands become congested and painful.
Often bitches with Mastitis have high fevers of 104. and above. Kandy had a rather mild fever of 102.4 so I did not go into panic mode. I called my vet and she didn't have any appointments available until 7:30 that evening which gave me all day to care for my bitch and research what I thought might be a mild case of Mastitis.
If you have a new Mom with Mastitis it is easy to be confused as to whether she has Mastitis or just engorgment. Most of my experienced breeder friends of twenty or more years in breeding dogs had never had a case and didn't really know what to suggest. Already I knew more, or at least not less, on this subject than they did. The misinformation was coming in as well. Don't nurse the breast, tape the breast (okay, I tried that, I shaved her afflicted breast with a 15 blade and tried various tape and bandaid contraptions that were completely futile and not making the little mama very happy at all). By the time I gave up on the taping I had more of my hair in the tape than Kandys!
I had also discovered information that recommended putting the strongest puppy on the affected breast and letting it help drain the infection out through the milking process to hopefully avoid an absess. All of the books recommended antibiotics and I had a fresh stock of Amoxi so right away I gave Kandy two for good measure.
So there I was, trying not to overreact as nothing looked critical and thinking that I was good to stay home, feed her antibiotics, nurse the affected gland and basically tend to my beagles. All seemed well. No-one that I talked to suggested any different and my (former) vet didn't seem all that interested in seeing her.
As Murphys law would have it ,despite my efforts, Kandys infection swelled practically over night and when I checked on her early Monday morning she had a small leak in the absess. I called my husband Jim to come hold her for me while with a warm cloth I gently squeezed as much of the pus and blood out of the absess as I could. I actually thought things were looking up...no more temperature, she was still nursing her puppies and it looked like the big boil had popped, expunged it's poison and would scab over and heal. Ha Ha Ha.
Life was good for about the twenty minutes it took to potty Kandy and call her back in. She trotted in with a rather joyful jaunt BUT had a hunk of flesh hnging out of a gaping hole that was once a tiny little "drain."Once again I took a warm towel and removed as much pus, blood and tissue as I could while resigning myself to the fact that we were going to be making a trip to the vets after all.
Ever the optimist, I thought we were talking stitches. But during Kandys veterinary examination it became perfectly clear that we weer talking some pretty major surgery, possibly even a masectomy. The necrotic tissue needed to be "debraded" (removed surgically) and the whole infection site needed to be cleaned, and stitched up with a drain carefully placed to allow fluid to release as she healed. Kandy would also be on crate rest with leash walks, taking Clavamox and a mild painkiller twice a day, and forced to wear her "funny hat" (E-collar). We decided against the more extreme masectomy proceedure with the understanding that not removing the nipple could present problems if she were ever bred again. My research has found that the general consensus is that there is about a 50/50 chance the bitch will develope Mastitis again, in the same or another breast, should she become pregnant again. Further advice suggests starting a preventative course of antibiotics such as Cephalexin a week prior to whelping may help stave off a case of Mastitis but certainly that is something you would want to discuss with your vet before trying on your own.
While Kandy was in surgery for the day I was sent home with Esbilac and intentions to bottle feed her five pups. I did my best sitting here with warm bottle and tiny puppy in lap watching Honey contentedly snooze while her brood of six nursed away. Kandys pups did not seem to want to suck on the nipple and I found trying to bottle feed such tiny puppys (8 days old) frustrating and almost cruel. On the advice of one of my friends and mentors in the breed I snuck one of Kandys hungry little puppies into Honeys whelping box where in no time flat it had nipple in mouth and was vigourously sucking away....I snuck another, and another. Honey awoke, looked up, sniffed the puppies, looked at me, basically rolled her eyes and dropped her head back down on her pillow with a grunt. She has been raising Kandys pups ever since. It has been over a week now and Honey has been nursing eleven puppies while Kandy has put her energy into healing from her ordeal.
Mastitis has been quite an experience and the medical bills and lack of sleep haven't been fun. I have quite a schedule of switching Honey from litter to litter. Unfortunately litter A is a week and a half ahead of litter B which is a dramatic difference at these early stages of canine development.
On the upside everyone has adjusted beautifully, including Kandy who has always been a bit of a Tomboy and seems perfectly content to hang out in the dogyard while Honey sits with the pups inside. Luckily I can supplement the older puppies to help take some of the load off of Honey and before long they will be weaned. The silver lining in this whole ordeal has been watching my Honey take on Kandys pups like her own. She has taken a rather exhausting and expensive experience and turned it into something, well, priceless!
Honey with her six (big uns) and Kandys 5 (little uns)

Great story Thank you For sharing we have only had one slight case that was an infection of the mamary gland but was able to head it off with warm towels and antibiotics.
isnt it Amazing what these little hound will Do? we have had them raise pups from different litters heck we got one that every time mama would leave she would go clean the pups up for her If she could have started producing milk and took over i think she would have.
Again thank you for sharing and give Honey a pat from us....

Thanks TC! If I ever have Mastitis in the kennel again i will know to DEFINITLEY use the Clavamox or Cepha antibiotics right away. I think thats how i screwed up, using Amoxi. For Mastitis which can be caused by a variety of different bacteria's I have learned that we need to use a broad spectrum antibiotic
Best!!

Honey Pot my foundation bitch caught it a few years ago. Pups were doing great about a week old. Once I found it took her to the vet and got her antibodied up and thought i was good to go. Pups dropped like flies. Killed me. Feel fortunate that you had one that had whelped there to carry the load. Good luck with them. Rasing pups is the Best of Times and the Worst of Times all in one.

I just had a female loose six pups the same way as Will described. Two of them I bottle fed for a couple of days and still ended up loosing them. I have one left, his name will be Rocky Road. Lol Of course it all happened on a holiday weekend and had to wait until Tuesday to see the vet. I wasn't sure if cephahexalin could be given to a lactating female. I had some at the house if I had only known. Also you can buy it in bottles of 50 at pet stores for about what he will sell you 20. It has been packaged for fish but it is the same mg. as the vet prescribed. Mine was even the same manufacturer as waht he described.

I have had a problem with Mastitis over the past couple of years with older females. I give them calcium and Milk-Aid because of their age and end up with more milk than the pups can use. Usually with an older female 7+ my litter size starts to diminish. I guess I am over preparing them for the pups but I really like the milk aid. Maybe I should just them regular senior vitamins instead of the calcium vitamins.