Quote:
Originally Posted by FlDebra  The worst that could happen to a new Yorkie mom, did. I lost my sweet Sadie 3 days after she had 5 beautiful puppies. I knew something was not right and tried to tell the vet's office that in several phone calls. They gave me an appointment for Wednesday when I called on Monday. I called back Tuesday morning and said she could not wait another day, they had to see her. My complaints of her being lethargic were met with the explanation of her just having a very large litter and of course she is exhausted. I expressed my worry over the abundant discharge that was brown, green, watery. They said that was normal up to 10 days and unless it was bright red not to worry. Something kept telling me all was not right, even though I could not relate specific symptoms that caught their attention. Still, I knew my girl. They finally agreed to see her after their last appt. that day instead of waiting til my Wednesday appointment. As I was getting her cleaned up and ready to go, she seemed to fade even faster. By the time we got to the vet, she was very sick. I told them that and they said have a seat and we will call you. When Sadie could no longer raise her head in response, I went to the counter crying, "please something is terribly wrong!" Then they brought us back to see the vet. He knew immediately it was bad and took her for an xray and put her in the oxygen chamber. They got IV's started and were getting her prepped for surgery, but she did not make it. She did not retain a pup, but had an infection and had gone toxic very quickly. Vet said she could have retained a small part of the placenta, had a tear in her uterus, or just got an infection during the birthing process. I should have been more agressive to get her seen. I just could not put into words what made me know that all was not well until it was too late. Others saw her Monday and thought she seemed fine. I just had a bad feeling. But it wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that she really showed how sick she was.
I feel horrible about this. But I have little time to mourn as these 5 puppies need a LOT of care. I am bottle feeding them and that seems to be going well so far. They were 5 days old today and are acting very healthy, eating well, peeing and pooping with just a little rubbing with a cotton ball and sleeping 3 hours at a whack. I have a clip-on lamp with a 100 watt bulb above them for extra warmth. They all had their tails docked and dew claws removed this morning and that went smoothly too. I think they are about on track for the recommended feeding of 1 cc per oz. of body weight, every 3 hours for now. Weights this morning were 2.5, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0 and 4.0.
Anyone with first hand experience raising a litter from 3 days old?
How do the puppies do as they are grown, emotionally, personality, etc.? I know I can substitute for feeding and stimulating the waste but how does the loss of mom show in their psychology?
Any and all advice will be appreciated. Thanks in advance! |
This happened to me on my Go-Go's last litter. Out come was more favorable. They managed to save her, lots of heavy duty antibiotics and IVs However, when she was spayed in Feb they found that one of her horns had ripped. It had happened during delivery. My vet is a reproduction Specialist......and did extensive tests during her critical care. Complete Blood Tests (no infection evident) Ultra sounds, Coagulation tests, etc.
But, when she first went down it was on a Sunday, so, I took her to Emergency, their blood tests said she had low calcium levels, so they administered calcium (Go-Go had an alergic reaction), because her levels weren't low enough to warrant calcium.
Puppies were a week old when Go-Go went down. I had begun the bottle feeding right away. Was doing the Just Born. Vet said take them off of it because it causes premature catiracs. To put them on Goats Milk with equal parts of Distilled Water (Goats Milk is the closest thing to Mother's Milk). After that they thrived.
Kept the pups in 80 degree monitored area, bottle fed every 3 hours, until they began to increase their intake and the feeding times began to spread.
Diapered them every 4-6 hours. Weighed them and took their temp twice a day.
Since I pretty much leave my puppies alone with their mother (that is other than weighing and temp taking) the first 8 weeks of their life. This situation was a bit different, they had human interaction from the get go.
I'll tell you this litter did very well, as far as being well-adjusted. I could really tell the differance when they got older. Their acceptance of human touch, wanting to be held, being very cuddly and kissy was just more pronounced. More easily piddle pad trained.
My situation was a bit different than yours, since I still had mother, and I put a onsie on her 3 or 4 times a day and put her in with the pups, so they could get mothers warmth and she could satisfy her motherly instincts.
So, your puppies will do very well. If you have another female and she'll accept them, as far as the cuddling. Allow her to do so, that is with your supervision.
By week 3 they were up to 64cc of milk....about every 5 hours and at times went 7 hours with out a bottle. By week 3 1/2 they were lapping on their own.....Week 4 I added Gerbers Rice Ceral to their Milk.....By week 5 they were eating puppy kibbles