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WHAT IS RESORPTION ?

First broadcast on www.provet.co.uk  


This information is provided by Provet for educational purposes only.

You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Pregnancies may fail for a variety of reasons, and one of these is called resorption. But what is it ?

There is nothing worse for an owner than to be told that an animal is pregnant, and for the number of embryos to be confirmed, only to find that during pregnancy one or more of them has been lost. 

Resorption occurs when the pregnancy fails at an early stage (before the 35th day in dogs) and it is a process in which the embryo/foetal fluids are resorbed back into the mothers circulation, and any membranes and tissues that have been formed are digested and removed. Resorption of one or two embryos may be more common than we think, and it could occur in as many as 1/10 canine pregnancies. Fortunately, even though one or two may be lost through resorption, other embryos in the pregnancy usually go on to develop and are born normally. Occasionally a whole litter may be resorbed but this is uncommon.

The cause of resorption is unknown.

 

Updated October 2013