Are EDCs Blurring Issues of Gender?

Background: Dystocia occurs more commonly in some breeds of dogs than others. The Boxer breed is one of the highrisk breeds for whelping problems. The aim of this study was to document some reproductive parameters and the frequency of dystocia in Boxers. Methods: Two questionnaires were sent to the breeders of Boxers in Sweden during 1994 to 1997. Data from 253 whelpings and 1671 pups was received, which constitutes 56.5% of all Boxer litters registered with the Swedish Kennel Club during these years. Data was analysed using Chisquare test, and Fischer's exact test. Results: Dystocia occurred in 32% of the individual bitches, and in 27.7% of all the whelpings. Caesarian section was performed in 22.8% of all the whelpings and in 80.1% of the cases of dystocia. Medical treatment was tried in 20 cases but was successful only in 5 (25%). The dystocia was of maternal origin in 68.6% and of fetal origin in 28.6% of cases. The most common reasons for dystocia were primary uterine inertia (60%) and malpresentation of the fetus (26%). Dystocia increased with increasing age of the bitch from four years of age. Average litter size was 6.6 (± 2.2) pups born, and 5.0 (± 2.1) pups registered. Pup mortality was 24%. Stillbirths accounted for 6.1% of the pup deaths and 1% died in the neonatal period, while 15.6% of the pups were euthanised, the majority because they had disqualifying white coat colour. Cryptorchidism was observed in 9.8% of the male pups born and in 13.4% of the male pups that were registered. Conclusion: The Boxer suffers a high frequency of dystocia, mainly due to uterine inertia, but also fetal malpresentation. Breeders should be adviced to include easy whelpings in their breeding program. Background Dystocia is defined as difficult birth or the inability to expel the fetus through the birth canal without assistance. Traditionally, dystocia is classified as being of either maternal or fetal origin, or a combination of both. In a study of 182 bitches of many different breeds that were brought to a veterinary hospital because of dystocia, Darvelid & Linde-Forsberg (1994)[1] found that 75.3% of the cases of dystocia had a maternal cause while 24.7% were of fetal origin. Previously Gaudet (1985) [2], in a similar survey reported that 60% of dystocias were due to maternal causes while 40% had foetal causes. The overall incidence of dystocia in the bitch is probably below 5 per cent, but it may amount to almost 100 per cent in some Published: 21 March 2007 Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2007, 49:8 doi:10.1186/1751-0147-49-8 Received: 20 March 2007 Accepted: 21 March 2007 This article is available from: http://www.actavetscand.com/content/49/1/8 © 2007 Linde Forsberg and Persson; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.