Oh, boy, .....now the work starts. Getting Mom to eat enough to feed all those babies can be a challenge. Also, you may have some small ones there that will need supplementing right away. I just went through one of my girls (a 5 pounder) having 6 babies. I was worried from day 1 about Mom and the babies. I started right away with calcium supplements for Mom (I used PetCal) and fed her as much as she would eat. She ate well for the first 2 days and then got picky on me. What worked for me with her was feeding boiled chicken, beef liver, scrambled eggs, goat's milk and canned food. By the second week after giving birth, she was eating 5 to 6 meals daily.
Your babies may look fine for the first day or so due to pre-nartal nutrition they got from Mom but can drop off really quickly. If you see any that aren't gaining, supplement them right away. Don't wait for them to start going downhill. With my girl, there were 2 smaller ones and I supplemented them starting the first day. I let them nurse but made sure they had enough with supplementing. I used the canned goat's milk (mixed with equal parts water) and added a little karo syrup to it. I used an eye dropper for feeding them and went slowly so they didn't aspirate the food. I warmed the formula to about the temp for baby formula. I use the inside of my wrist to check it.
I would think that the biggest things to watch for in your girl would be infection from the c-section and eclampsia (low blood calcium). You'll find the signs of it in the link posted earlier. You can hopefully avoid it by giving her calcium supplements and calcium rich foods. There is also a recipe for whelping pudding at the top of the forum here that is very good. With the PetCal tabs, I fed 1/2 tab twice daily. My girl did fine and had plenty of milk for her babies until weaning.
Not sure of the temp where you are, but the babies need to stay warm. They are unable to regulate their body heat for the first 3 weeks and need to be in a warm room (about 78 degrees) with no drafts. I also use a heating pad but make sure Mom can get off of it so she doesn't overheat.
Congrats on the babies and good to hear Mom is doing well. Best of luck! |