Continued
Problems at the navel site
(1) Bleeding
When a puppy is in the womb, it is connected to its mother by the umbilical cord which contains tubes (one vein and two arteries) which bring in nutrients and take out impure blood. When the pup is born the mother instinctively removes the membranes surrounding the pup, and severs the umbilical cord by biting through it. If the cord is cut too cleanly, instead of the mother shredding it with her teeth, or if it is cut too close to the puppy’s abdomen, the cord might continue to bleed. You must then be prepared to clamp or pinch off the cord and tie a thread around the stump. The stump and the thread will fall off in due course. Because blood is such a good medium in which germs can grow, it would be advisable to disinfect the stump with strong iodine (soak a Q-tip with Iodine forte and wipe the stump with it).
(2) Infection
As described above, when the mother severs the umbilical cord, her teeth might introduce germs to the navel site, especially if the mother is suffering from some disease in the mouth (eg, dental caries or gingivitis, etc). Similarly, the stump of the umbilical cord can become infected by contamination from