In Obstetric parlance it's called pseudocyesis. All the signs of pregnancy, including swelling of the belly occur due to hormonal changes.
But apart from humans, it can occur in dogs. In bitches actually. Our dog is called "Chi" - which is short for "Chikkamunivenkatamma". She was in heat about ten weeks ago and as usual she used to spend nights howling and waiting for a boyfriend to magically appear while she went off food, much to our consternation. Of course we live in a walled compound where dogs cannot simply walk in and we just have to wait for the symptoms to pass - since Chi has not been spayed. Chi always seems to lose weight during such periods and I was thankful that she developed a healthy appetite soon after. In fact she became ravenous and started putting on weight. Oh she was active enough and I always felt that she was thinner than she should have been so I fed her well. But I had my doubts. I had read that dogs could become pseudo pregnant and so I consulted my uncle Mr. Google who told me everything I wanted to know about pseudopregnancy in dogs. It would pass. About 3 weeks ago Chi became very sick. She started panting heavily even without any exercise. Quickly I asked my uncle, Mr.Google and he told me that it could be that she had heart failure from obesity, Or she might have choked on a bone which was stuck in her windpipe. Or it could be anaemia from internal bleeding - but that was unlikely. She had not been injured. But Eureka! It occurred to me that it was about 60 days since her signs of pseudopregnancy had started - and sure enough she was showing other signs like trying to build a "nest". This could be "false labor" at the end of pseudopregnancy. The more I asked my uncle Mr. Google, the more clear it became that this was merely the culmination of a very interesting episode of pseudopregnancy. Nevertheless the symptoms were quite alarming. She began shivering and Chi just could not get comfortable. She whined and barked and finally went under a bed and howled. I crawled under the bed and heard the strangest sound. To my amazement this episode of false pregnancy, for the first time in the history of the universe, had resulted in the birth of a jet black puppy. Over the next 36 hours Chi delivered a total of ten pups - five jet black and five fawn colored. I consulted my uncle Google after each pup was born, but he was as wrong about the number of pups as he had been about the idea that pups cannot be born after pseudopreganancy. shiv
