Originally Posted by Micah my love (Post 2508282)

Do you know someone that has a new litter maybe the mom would take some of yours.
on feb/11/09 I took my very healthy girl in for a c-section she never woke up and i had 3 beautiful little girls left behind i found someone that had a new litter of 3 and she took my babies like they were hers they are almost 4 wks now and doing good. the lady that took them said she would give me 1 back
I went through trying to feed some one time and lost them 1 by 1 so i didn't want to try that again, wishing you good luck with yours

Betty & Micah my love:aimeeyork

Originally Posted by Micah my love (Post 2509129)

I don't know i guess for her it is the rate i never knew anyone that had this happen so i thought if i got one that this would be better than nothing
if she can live with it i won't worry about it. but if i could have helped someone in a case like this i would not have asked for anything and would have felt good for doing it.


Betty & Micah my love:aimeeyork

Originally Posted by Sugar's Mom (Post 2511478)

betty, it is riduculouss that she is even charging a fee and two pups at that. NO WAY!!!! She is cheating you. i hope you don't call this person your friend. friends help friends in situations like this.

Originally Posted by Sugar's Mom (Post 2511481)

Glad your babies are doing well and eating for you. i don't think you should let them go four hours even if they want to. it is so hard. i have had to set my clock every hour for several days, then every two hours for a day or two then i start stretching it out but never let them go over three hours. keep updating us and again, I am sorry you lost Sadie.

Originally Posted by FlDebra (Post 2504675)

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!

Originally Posted by Mardelin (Post 2512693)

...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

Originally Posted by FlDebra (Post 2513785)

Thanks Mardelin for so much first hand experience. I may take a look for the Goat's milk tomorrow. Their stools are much looser with the Just Born than the powdered formula I started with.

I was especially glad to hear about how yours were so people-oriented as they matured. I was hoping that would be the case for hand-fed babies. There has to be a plus to all this! Right now I am already looking forward to week 3 when they will go longer between feedings and can start some mushy eating on their own.

I have a spayed Jack Russell female who is very excited and interested in the puppies. She went from being afraid to being very curious. She may be able to provide some nurturing later but she is too rowdy to think about it for a couple more weeks, even with supervision. She is actually my male Yorkie's best buddy. They run our yard like a couple of race horses. My husband used to call her Hidalgo.

Originally Posted by Mardelin (Post 2513943)

oops! one more thing, a bit on the negative side; be prepared that these puppies will use each other to satisfy their nursing instincts, if you know what I mean. I was continually having to remove them off of each other. You might want to get a nipple, without putting a hole in it. Fashion some sort of a pacifier and let them suck on it, until they tire.

The other thing is when they start lapping you'll have to watch them to make sure they're all getting enough food. Weigh them before the feeding and after. I say this, because they don't have mother to nurse off should they still be hungry.

Oh! you will find that they will be great eaters.

Originally Posted by Mardelin (Post 2513943)

oops! one more thing, a bit on the negative side; be prepared that these puppies will use each other to satisfy their nursing instincts, if you know what I mean. I was continually having to remove them off of each other. You might want to get a nipple, without putting a hole in it. Fashion some sort of a pacifier and let them suck on it, until they tire.
.

Originally Posted by Breny (Post 2514041)

I didn't raise a WHOLE litter but I raised a cleft Chi from birth. I bottle fed her, using a premie human nipple. It took me about 3 months, around the clock (since she had the cleft and was behind the others it took her alot longer before eating food and she could only have solid hard food so it took even longer)

I used this recipe from birth on...

Originally Posted by FlDebra (Post 2518045)

I absolutely know what you mean. Glad to know mine aren't the only little pervs. I have them beside me all the time and when I hear a sucking noise, I am quick to get them off each other. I thought at first it just meant they were hungry but they will do it even a little while after being fed when their little bellies are still swollen. Maybe a pacifier is a good idea. I have a couple of extra nipples. Will give it a try.

Good news -- my littlest one is starting to take the bottle much better. Also looking a little perkier and gained .8 of an ounce in one day.

It is difficult to keep them clean. I bathe them every day and wipe with the baby wipes as I get them out to feed them, but they keep getting stinky. No wonder momma dogs are constantly cleaning on them. When this carton of Just Born is done, I am definately switching back to the powdered formula so their stools firm up. Haven't gotten the goat milk yet, but hopefully will get that this weekend.

You are right that even though tiring, I will always remember this experience. It will be hard to part with these babies.

Originally Posted by FlDebra (Post 2518066)

3 months, whew! I am already counting the days to see when I can start feeding from a dish. Sounds like that was a little miracle baby, thanks to you. I will keep your recipe in mind. It is quite a bit more calories per cc than the commercial varieties. So, did you feed a lot less at a time or less often? Might be helpful for my little one. He only gained .8 of an ounce in 6 days. Then finally yesterday he gained .8 of an ounce again. So, that is 1.6 ounces in 2 weeks. Not nearly as good as the others, but at least we are on the positive side.