The Cost of Raising A Litter

[EskiLovr]

A new arrivals thread or topic heading would be cool!!

Good idea Mauigirl!!

[lvoss]

When it comes to homes, it sort of depends on what TC gives us but most of the litter will be in California, Southern and Northern. One may go to North Carolina.

We love having people come over to help socialize puppies. My mom is already asking people to come over and play with puppies when they are old enough. Me and my husband will be going down for both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays so we can get in some time playing with the pups. Luckily on Thanksgiving weekend there is also some lure coursing and racing events down there so I can wear out my dogs and then head over for a puppy fix.

[mauigirl]

@lvoss:

One may go to North Carolina.

One of these days we're going to drive to the Carolinas for coursing. Would be cool to meet the people behind Suddanly Basenjis and Jokuba Basenjis. Then we might get to meet TC too

[dmcarty]

I have a question here for those of you doing ultrasound and xrays on preggers moms. Are you doing it to: determine how many puppies, because you didn't think she was preggers, because you fear some crisis or ??????????

I can say only once has any animal (basenji) I owned been x-rayed and that was because of a singleton and we were not sure it was the only puppy. The bloodhounds different story because not being always the natural whelpers that B's are - it's important to know when you're done or to pinpoint some issues that might indicate C-section.

I have noted that vets are 'recommending' this now and trying to determine if it is for $ or if it has given some valid information?

[tanza]

I do ultrasound to know if preggers…. I like to be able to let my puppy people know we are really on our way and we should have puppies.... I don't go too much by the count with the ultrasound, depending on the Vet. I do xrays 3 days before the due date, cause I do want to know how many we will have.... Then if you have 4... and the bitch had 3 and seems to be stopping and its been awhile.... instead of "I guess she is done" you know there is still one there... and I can finalize to my puppy people exactly what we have as far as numbers and then if we will not have one for someone at the bottom of the list, we can refer them on.....

[lvoss]

I do the ultrasound to confirm pregnancy, like Pat I want to be able to tell my puppy buyers that there really are puppies expected. Also, it is nice to see that they are progressing normally. I don't normally do a second ultrasound but have found that both my mom's vet and mine will do them for free if we come in for something else just to satisfy their curiosity that the pregnancy is on track.

I do the x-ray to make sure that I know how many pups to expect, I want to know if I need to call the vet.

I know of one litter of Manchesters that may have been saved if the owner had done ultrasound or x-ray. All the pups were in one horn and the bitch's uterus twisted when she went into heavy labor because of the uneven distribution. If they had known before labor that the pups were so unevenly distributed they may have been able to save the pups by doing a c-section.

[dmcarty]

I agree that it is usefull for some reasons but have heard of some doing this so many times during the gestation that it seems a little excessive.

I had a friend who just had it done on her bitch (not a basenji) They said - oh yeah there is at least 4 and all looks fine. There were 3 - one was quite big, was breach and stuck and they lost that one - so in that case - not terribly medically helpful.

[lvoss]

How much information an ultrasound can give is highly dependent on the skill of operator. My vet looks for sacs and heartbeats at 28 days to confirm pregnancy and give a rough count. Bitches can reabsorb puppies from the time of that first ultrasound at 28 days and actual whelping so the count is not always accurate even if the operator is very skilled.

The reason for doing x-ray in addition to ultrasound is that the x-ray a few days before whelping gives a more accurate count and allows a vet to see if the skulls will pass through the pelvis. It won't really help with positioning. Rally's second litter was all lined up correctly 3 days prior to whelping but one had turned by the time she went into labor and got his butt wedged in the birth canal neccesitating a C-section. So even doing everything, is no gauruntee you won't have problem but the emergency vets at Davis were very happy to have all that information that I had because I had done ultrasound and x-ray. We lost the one stuck puppy but they saved the other 3.

[sharronhurlbut]

It sounds like its about stacking the odds for a successful litter yes?

[lvoss]

Yes, and being prepared if something does go wrong.

[lvoss]

A Saturday at the vet with puppies, $1200 bringing the total today to $3920.21

[lvoss]

I kind of stopped posting the running total because my mom, the co-breeder, didn't always let me know how much she paid for some services. Here are what I know of the rest of the costs for raising the litter.

Dew Claw removal and wellness check for mom and puppies - $90
First Shots + Microchip - $310
CERF Exams - $140
Second Shots - $115
Registration - $140
AKC DNA Profile - $140

New Total - 3565.21

This list doesn't include the added food expenses, paper towels, carpet cleaning, etc but I never keep track of that stuff. It also doesn't include the emergency vet visit when the pups were born. I know the estimate had been $1200 but I did not see the final bill and my mom won't tell me what it was.

Here is the cost of the stuff in the Puppy Pack that we sent home with each puppy.

Collar - $4.99
Lead - $6.99
Trial Bag of Food - $2.50
Variety of Treats that the puppy likes - $5.99
Nylabone - $3.50
Toy that smell like home - $3.99
Blanket that smells like home - $1.00
The Puppy Primer by Patricia McConnell - $7.95
Homemade Puppy Winter Coat - $5.00
Homemade Adult Winter Coat - $10.00
Snuggle Puppy - $13.95
Rou's Tips for Basenjis - $13.00
Total - $78.86 per Puppy Pack.

So a low estmated total is $3801.79 for the litter.

My price for my puppies comes out to $850 and my mom kept Bella so that would mean $2550 to offset costs.

So on this breeding we lost $1251.79 or the way I like to think of it, Bella cost us $1251.79. She is still cheaper than Sophie so I think we did OK.

[lvoss]

Oh, and the emergency vet visit cost can be considered the cost for TC since my mom and dad have talked to Sue and they all agreed that she could stay. She is keeping my mom's boys in line and she loves her daughter Bella.

[YodelDogs]

OoOOoooOOOO I didn't know you kept TC! That's awesome!

I totally fell over reading your litter expenses! I am….dumbstruck. I thank God that I have never had such expense with any of my litters but I know it could happen at any time.

I think you would kill me if you knew how much Ayla has cost me. :o

[lvoss]

My dad fell in love with TC and she really became his dog. So as the time approached for TC to go back to North Carolina, my dad did something that totally surprised my mom, he asked her if TC could stay. So TC is staying and my mom is hoping to finish her AKC Championship. My dad is looking forward to getting "his" dog out for some coursing and racing this year.

[mackeyfan]

thank you so very much for sharing this. I knew breeding was hard work and $$, but wow never seen someone break it down like that.
:eek:

[Schouiffy]

Can we turn this thread into a stickey??????????

[lvoss]

Most people don't realize the costs involved. I had a person call me a couple of weeks ago researching the breed. She asked what the average price of a puppy was and was shocked when I told her that in California $900 was the average. When I said this was due to the high cost of vet care in the state her response was, "You have to take them to the vet?"

Once people see the itemized cost, it all makes sense but most just never think about what goes into breeding a litter.

[Alex]

This thread is already a sticky.

[Andrew]

@lvoss:

When I said this was due to the high cost of vet care in the state her response was, "You have to take them to the vet?"

:eek::eek::eek:

I've really enjoyed this thread, and I appreciate the work you've put into it. I had no idea how much went into breeding personally, but this comment FLOORED me!

I wonder if this person realizes you have to feed these animals & take them out to potty, too!?!?!?