Runt puppy - 1 oz.

[pauldo]

My 6 lb. yorkie had 6 puppies yesterday. One girl didn't make it -- I left the room for about 5 minutes and she gave birth to a girl but didn't break the sack open, by the time I got back and ripped open the sack I couldn't revive the little girl -- my two females never break their baby's sacks open (is that commom)???

The last puppy that was born was a little boy (1 oz) He is very thin and fragile looking. His other 4 siblings are only 2 ozs. but push him aside to get mom's milk. I have tried placing him on mom's nipple but it doesn't look like he's sucking (I don't see his jaw moving or hear the smacking sounds I hear from the other pups). I am trying to feed him with canned puppy milk formula every 3-4 hours using a dropper -- is this the best way to handle this situation????

[Ellie May]

Not sure about the best way but if he is having problems nursing, have you checked him for cleft palate?

[pauldo]

Yes I checked and there is no cleft palate.

[luvfla]

I'm going to say some prayed for Runty......

[Josie's Mom]

We had a 1 oz puppy last April. She didn't like the formula so we gave her Goats Milk--she loved that!

She is Five Lbs 2 Oz today. Don't give up, everything will turn out ok.
As for breaking the sack, Josie never did. We had to break all of them
for her too.

Good luck, we'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

[gloriajean]

You could rotate the puppies and just the little guy nurse by himself if he latches on. Good luck

[tammy8833]

Mine dont break the sak either
they seem so small mine are usually 3-5oz at birth but my female is 8lbs
i hope someone can give some suggestions on the little guy

[Sugar's Mom]

i break the sac for my girls. You are going to have to supplement this little one every hour with one cc of puppy formulka. I used Goat's milk with a puppy from one fo my first litters. The puppy got bloated, had diarreha and died after about two days. Vet said it was the goat's milk so I will never use it again. I use a syringe with a nipple of it or just the syringe by itself but unless you are experienced this is very dangerous due to the chance of aspiration and pneumonia. It is better to tube feed but I don't have experience doing that. until he is strong enough to nurse. You are also going to have to hold him to the teat and make sure the others do not push him off.

[YorkieAZ]

Just want to tell you good luck with your little ones. You will need much patience and diligence with feeding if he does not have the sucking reflex yet, if he does you have won half the battle. Mothers milk will put weight on him so much faster than a suppliment, so always try to get him to nurse first.
Best wishes to you and your babies.

[gabbriellew]

Get your vet to teach you to tube feed this puppy. An alternative if he is not able to suck is to use a mini Haberman bottle that allows you to control the flow so he does not aspirate. You will need to tube about 1cc per oz of body weight every two hours around the clock
ruth

[pauldo]

Thanks everyone for your help and prayers. He actually starting sucking last night from his mom -- I just have to push the others way and let him on, and then he seems to be sucking ... The dropper kept him going the 1st 24 hours, but it sounds like there are some better ways I should know about -- I have a vet appointment with my pups today and will talk to the vet about other methods in case this happens to me again ... he's still very little and not out of the woods yet, but I feel so much better that he is now sucking on his own.

[luvfla]

Sounds like you are going to have to be his 'muscle' for dinner time!

[luckylady]

Hi, I just wanted to say congratulations on your pups and will say a prayer for continued success with your little one & the rest of them.
Good luck!

[scrapindee]

I'm glad to hear things are improving.

[reneernc]

Here is a link with info/recipe for feeding
Bottle Feeding Puppies

Here is more info that I borrowed from another forum that provides alot of info. Good luck with your baby.
(I have also heard about boiling down liver and giving small amounts of broth, will see if I can find that info)

Weight of pup..... amt to feed per feeding.............frequency
--------------------------------------------------------------------

3-7 oz pup.........1cc per oz of wt......................... 3 hours
8 oz pup............12 cc........................................ 4 hours
10 oz pup...........15cc................................ .........4 hours
12oz..................18cc........................ .................5 hours
14 oz.................21cc........................... ..............5hours
16oz..................24cc........................ .................5hours
20oz..................30cc or (1oz).............................5hours
24 oz.................36cc. or (1 1/3oz).......................5hours
28oz...................52cc or (1 3/4oz).......................6hours
32oz...................60cc or (2 oz.)...........................6hours
36oz...................68cc or (2 1/4oz)........................6hours
40 oz..................75cc or (2 1/2oz)........................6hours
48 oz..................90cc or (3 oz)............................6 hours

You must weigh your puppies! Use a good scale that measures ounces like a postal scale or baby scale. I find the digital scales to work nicely...

In the first 24 hours your pups should either gain a little or stay close to body weight. Each day your pups should show a slow weight gain of 1/2 to 1 oz. If a pup is not gaining within these guidelines then you need to decide to supplement, say morning and evening feedings for a day or two until it gains according to schedule. If they are still lagging behind then step it up to with a third feeding...

The goal is for the puppy to feed from its mother to stimulate milk production ,then be able to eliminate the supplemental feedings. However a smaller or weak puppy or a larger than average litter will likely require supplementing to catch up. Occasionally you may need to step in and feed full time. Mothers milk should be checked to make sure there are no infections causing the problems.

Caution: DON'T FEED A CHILLED PUPPY!!!!!!
You must warm a puppy back to normal, I stick them down in my shirt so they warm gradually...You can also put warmed towels from your dryer in the whelping box to help keep them warm and prehaps give it some warmed fluids (pedialyte or water with a tiny bit of karo syrup) by mouth. A chilled puppy will not feed well or digest well.

I use the Playtex nursers with a slow flow nipple or a premie nipple. I have found these to work perfectly. It looks rather large for a puppies mouth but remember they have to wrap their tongues around that nipple to get the milk...It takes a little coaxing but it will work!..Don't forget to potty puppies before and after each feeding and to burp them half way through feeding!