At day 8, pup was alive and nursing at 6 am, dead and slightly stiff at 1 pm the same afternoon. Other pups alive and well - mother had pushed puppy to one side of whelping box. No other mortalities, abortions or re-absorptions had ever happened to this bitch or her offspring. Puppy was placed in freezer and sent to University of Guelph pathology department the next day, where an autopsy was performed by Dr Bilfeld. Abdominal viscera are congested, spleen is enlarged and meaty.
Lungs are edematous.
Valves, outflow tracts unremarkable. The initial histopathology report from Guelph was toxoplasmosis, with cysts being found in the heart. I requested a second opinion , and tissue samples were sent to Saskatoon, where the diagnosis was made that there were multiple neospora organisms present in the dead puppy's samples. This is an interview with Dr. Bilfeld, the pathologist at University of Guelph who did the pathology on the puppy. I kept the poor man on the phone for two hours, so am very appreciative of his patience .