What did your vet say?

What a night last night! I really thought I was going to lose the boy. But I was up and bottle fed them both every 2 hours. Today the Vet said the Mom wasn't producing enough milk. He said I am doing everything right and to continue to feed them every 2 to 3 hours.

So I am going to do whatever it takes to keep them alive and well. The girl actually gained weight and the boy remained the same. I just want the boy to get stronger, he is not as strong as the girl.

But they are both doing much better today. I'm about to drop dead, but they are good :D

Thank you all for your help!!!

They are in very good hands. They will be fine because you are there for them. :)

i feel for you. I just went thru this with my last litter. i feed three babies every hour round the clock for several days. Actually, started with five but lost two of them. After about a week they took off and have been fine. make sure you are giving mom plenty of milk producing foods.

aw Kev, so sorry that they are struggling. I guess you just have to do what you have to do. I hoep your boy continues to do better.
Sonya

It's tough to do round the clock feedings but we have all been there so hang in there they need you!! I wish you the best!

Thank you all so much for your support. I do have a question. How often and how much shoud I be feeding them. I have been feeding them about 4cc's of formula every 3 hours. Is this enough? They usally don't want anymore than that. But they have been gaining weight today, YIPPIE!

I just wanted to say, I really couldn't have done this without all of you! It's weird, I don't know you all but I feel really safe and secure when I get your feedback and help!

I wish I could give you all a big hug! Thank you so much :)

I was in the exact same situation this week... I was told to give them 3 cc after letting them nurse from Luna, and only if they seemed fuzzy... I did that for a couple days, and as they kept stimulating milk production, she has more milk today.

You are doing wonderful!!! Good job!!! Are you using a bottle?? Syringe?? Dropper?? Tube???

I'm using a syringe. I tried the bottle but it didn't work that well. But I don't know if the Mom will produce more milk. I am giving her lots of cottage cheese, chicken, eggs and yogart. Am I missing anything?

I thought I would post the feeding schedule that my mom has used for years...this is what she has typed out and shared with others...


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

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.

If you want to bottle feed instead of tube feeding...
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!

Hope this helps some...

EXCELLENT advice Jackie!

Omg....that is why I
 

Leave the birthing to you smart people....:):)

OK, I think I am doing it right. There are always on a heating pad that is under a towel. When I feed them I wrap them in a towel. I'd put them down my shirt, but I don't have anything that will kep them warm, hehehe. The girl is back to 4 ounces now and the boy is 3.3 (last night he was 3.1).

But I am doing this full time The boy isn't nursing at all from the Mom.

Excellent help you are getting and I am so thankful for that.... I just had a litter three weeks ago.. lost two puppies on day 6 and 7... I do not know how to do subq fluids.. but I will learn as the vet would not do this for me..so I lost them.. tube feeding was just not enough even every half hour of giving some fluids through out the night..
then on saturday I lost one at 19 days old.. had a post mortem done and all they could find was an empty tummy but no cause for death.. I was last with him at 2 a.m. and by 8 a.m he was gone..same female has had litter that was no problem except for gracie who we had to tube feed every two hours night and day.. but she was given subq fluids at night as the tube feeding began and then first thing in the morning.. we still have her..
we have one girl left that so far at 23 days old she is weighing 1.5... when we lost the boy last saturday morning.. he was weighing 1.1 and I was more concerned with our girl as she was not gaining.. she was not losing but she was not gaining over a 2 day period..
I am not recovered from this past week yet..
good luck with your babies.. anne

Wow, I knew you had babies but I didn't realize there was so much drama going on with them. Glad they seem to be responding to your tender loving care. Take care and get a few winks of sleep if you can, my friend.