The puppy saga continues...kinda long...

[tammys]

For those of you who have not been following our puppy issues, so far we have dealt with these things:

1. Mama took the stitches out of baby girl's tail and licked it until it bled
2. Next day the vet glued the tai,l and mama removed the glue, and licked it again until it bled.
3. She realized baby boy had a tail and licked that until it bled
4. Both tails were raw, bleeding, and believe it or not, a little shorter than they were after they were docked!
5. Mama had to be supervised at all times with babies, and every two hours, we would bring her to her babies, so she could feed them, but she could not stimulate them to pee and poop, b/c she would hurt their tails again (she snuck into their box one night, and it wasn't pretty an hour later when I found her - blood all over the towel!)
6. Babies would not poop - regardless of what we stimulate them with - cotton, washcloth, etc.
7. Puppies' runny noses
8. And before all that, mama got sick the day after they were born, vomiting with diarrhea, and didn't make enough milk. Babies lost weight, but today (day 10), they have more than doubled.

FAST FORWARD TO TODAY
9. Babies still won't poop without warm water enema, and even then, the boy doesn't always go. They are going once/day. Yesterday, the baby had normal colored poop first, then some came out with a hint of green color, and what looked like little seeds. The vet said as long as he is eating, sleeping, gaining weight, we should just watch him.

10. Both babies still have runny noses. Again, we are just supposed to watch him. What's up with runny noses? Sometimes they sneeze. They do have a heating pad on half their box.

Mama is eating puppy food. I was mixing in some puppy formula with some of the food, but stopped doing that today.

The puppies are not receiving formula, just nursing.



Sorry this is so long, but has anyone ever known of such young puppies being constipated, and then having greenish, seedy poop?

[addicted]

I'm sorry that you're going through all this. I hope it will get better. Have you tried giving them infant mylicon?

[bjh]

I am sorry you are continuing to have problems. I can't offer much help because I have never encountered the problems you are having with the tail licking momma. The most important thing is to just make sure the pups are nursing. I really have never heard of having to give a puppy a enema when they are that young. How are the tails looking now? Can you take pictures of them? Do you let the momma stimulate them at all? Does the pup act like the tail is hurting him?

[tammys]

Originally Posted by addicted

I'm sorry that you're going through all this. I hope it will get better. Have you tried giving them infant mylicon?

I don't think they're gassy, so I haven't tried that. As easy as her pregnancy and delivery were, this is making up for it!

[tammys]

Originally Posted by bjh

I am sorry you are continuing to have problems. I can't offer much help because I have never encountered the problems you are having with the tail licking momma. The most important thing is to just make sure the pups are nursing. I really have never heard of having to give a puppy a enema when they are that young. How are the tails looking now? Can you take pictures of them? Do you let the momma stimulate them at all? Does the pup act like the tail is hurting him?

They are definitely nursing. The boy went up from 4.4 oz. to 9.4 oz. in one week. The girl went from 5.1 oz to 11 oz in one week.

My vet friend told me to try the enema. I have never heard of it before; then again, I had never heard of a young puppy being constipated.

The tails are much better, except for the ends, which are still kind of open and raw. I'll see if they show up on a picture. I should have taken a picture when she had first started doing it, but it was so gross, I honestly didn't think of it. My friend said she had never heard or seen anything like that before either.

I put band-aids on their tails, and let her lick them. Guess what? Still nothing!

They don't act like the tails are hurting them now, b/c I haven't let her lick them. They didn't complain when I put the band-aid on, so I think they're healing now. My friend said to put Neosporin on them, so maybe it's probably helping them heal.

I just can't wait for the tails to be perfect, so mama won't have anything to concentrate on.

[tammys]

Originally Posted by bjh

I am sorry you are continuing to have problems. I can't offer much help because I have never encountered the problems you are having with the tail licking momma. The most important thing is to just make sure the pups are nursing. I really have never heard of having to give a puppy a enema when they are that young. How are the tails looking now? Can you take pictures of them? Do you let the momma stimulate them at all? Does the pup act like the tail is hurting him?

I took a good look at the tails, and the hair on the bottom is actually growing back a bit. It used to look bald, and now it looks fuzzy.

I took a picture, but it since the bottom isn't raw anymore, the only part to see is the end, which is kind of scabby, but that doesn't show in the picture.

The band-aid fell of the little boy, and I watched mama closely to see what she would do. Straight to the tail she went! It won't be a big deal when they're all healed, but for now, it just won't work.

I am thinking of giving mama some goat milk tomorrow. Maybe it will help loosen things for the babies???

[Sookie]

Every time I have raised a litter of either motherless kittens or puppies, I have used a cotton ball with a little baby oil on it which I rub gently in a circular motion over their genitals. After a couple of minutes they always pee and/or poop - I've always found this to work. Make sure you use a cotton ball without oil afterward to wipe off the excess baby oil so the mommy doesn't lick it off.