I see where you posted that she had the babies at 56 days. That's really early...are you sure about the days?
Anyway, the pups are here. Six is a lot for a Yorkie to handle and I'm not surprised that you have a smaller one. If it's not getting enough food, or even if you think it may not be, you need to go ahead and supplement.
Get yourself a can of goat's milk (available in the grocery store), mix it with equal parts distilled water. Add a little karo syrup to it. Warm it up like you would for a baby formula. This is far better than any commercial milk replacer.
What I do is to warm a small amount of milk up and add just a bit of karo once it's warmed. An eyedropper works well for the little ones that can't suckle. You can feed it drop by drop to make sure the pup doesn't aspirate it. Hold the baby upright while feeding. It should be getting 1 cc per ounce of body weight every 2 hours. You have to be careful not to overfeed, though, as that can cause the formula to back up and the baby will aspirate it. Better to feed less more often that to have that happen. Gently burp the baby after feeding. Mom should take care of diapering after you're done.
It's very important to not let these babies get chilled and, the smaller they are, the less able they are to maintain body heat. Do you have a heating pad placed in the whelping box? Do you have a scale to weigh the babies?
The first few days are very critical to a pup's survival. You should count on not getting much sleep and monitoring/feeding the baby throughout the night.
The smallest is your most critical priority, but you cannot ignore the others, or the Mom. Make sure she eats well, gets plenty of water, and put her on a calcium supplement. The calcium supplement is very important as 6 babies creates a massive drain on her body. Low blood calcium can lead to eclampsia very quickly, which can be fatal to the Mom. If it occurs, she will at the least no longer be able to feed her babies and you will be left hand feeding the whole litter.
There are lots of brands of supplement to use. I have the ones from PetSmart. They are called '21st century Pet Chews Calcium'. Each tablet is good for a 20 pound non-nursing dog. A nursing dog, of course, needs more and I give my girls 1/2 tablet twice daily while nursing.
Make sure all those babies are warm and keep a close eye on the little one. Best to go ahead and start supplementing that one right away. It can't afford any setback. Best of luck and post back with any questions you may have. |