It is a well-known fact that humans and animals exhibit some physiological similarities of pregnancy, not to mention the shared use of ultrasound to visualise and monitor the foetus during gestation. However, what about some of the more ‘symptomatic’ areas of pregnancy, such as the misfortune dubbed as morning sickness? Unfortunately, I am writing this article from bitter (and current!) experience, and it is my own familiarity with pregnancy sickness that inspired this train of thought. Although somewhat off topic, it is of my opinion that the term ‘morning sickness’ is a misnomer, implying that sickness is only experienced early on the day and dissipates in the evening. I am sure I am not alone in saying that sickness and nausea can be experienced at any time of the day and night, and for those lucky few, consistently with no let-up (the sarcasm here is no doubt palpable). Whilst the appearance of sickness can be very obvious in the human sufferer, what about in our veterinary counterparts? Is sickness during pregnancy a universal occurrence?

Understanding why some women experience sickness during pregnancy could help to soften the blow - it is likely that most mothers would agree that being sick is a fair trade-off to ensure the foetus is healthy and the pregnancy outcome is favourable. One paper written by Flaxman SM and Sherman PW (The American Naturalist, July 2008 172(1):pp54-62) looks at the potential reasons why some women experience morning sickness. Two opposing theories have been suggested, with the idea that the body is sick to limit the intake of potentially damaging substances (such as those found in certain foods) that may be harmful to pregnancy being the current favoured theory.  To read more about these theories, please feel free to read this article by clicking here or here.

In this case, do animals show similar behaviours in order to protect their offspring? After all, if being sick is a defensive mechanism put in place to aid in a healthy pregnancy, surely some animals would also exhibit pregnancy sickness? Disappointingly, there doesn’t seem to be much information available on whether animals fall prey to sickness, but the data suggests that animals do not experience pregnancy sickness and are able to bypass this unpleasant affliction as described by Flaxman SM and Sherman PW and Ann Hohenhaus, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (LiveScience). The aforementioned paper published by Flaxman SM and Sherman PW proposes that as humans eat a greater variety of foods relative to other animals, this could explain why sickness is not experienced by our veterinary counterparts. Who would have thought there would be reason to envy your dog or cat?!

If you would like non-sickness (!), ultrasound related veterinary pregnancy information, you can contact us by clicking here.