Perinatal mortality in dogs and cats

Abstract

Canine and feline perinatal loss is a frequent and frustrating event for practitioners and breeders. Working on these cases can alsobe enigmatic and difficult for diagnostic pathologists to determine the cause of death. Typical conditions associated with canineperinatal loss include infectious disease, sepsis, pneumonia, congenital abnormalities, and trauma. Fading puppy syndrome isalso a consideration. Currently, feline perinatal loss is not well characterized. Maternal health, a critical factor in perinatal losses,should also be assessed. Collecting an endometrial biopsy could constitute a critical part of this evaluation; however, more investigationis needed to correlate endometrial lesions to fertility.