Complications at birth and anxious mom
 

Layla just delivered a litter yesterday and there were some complications. She had showed almost no sign of pregnancy except 1-2 lbs of weight gain, took her to the vet 3 weeks ago and the vet only felt her abdomen and said she didn't think she was pregnant. I was observing her eating habits after that and keeping an eye out in case the vet was mistaken about her not being pregnant. Sure enough she went into labor two nights before.
Layla's 1 1/2 yrs old, it's her first litter and only one pup made it, but as she was getting the baby out of the sac and getting the cord off she bit part of one of his legs off. I took them to the vet and the baby needs to get the rest of the arm (up to the shoulder) amputated. Baby is doing good otherwise. Mom is doing ok but she's a little too anxious with the puppy. At first the puppy was having some trouble latching on (he still needs help sometimes) and when he'd be on the nipple and start latching on mom will start to lick him and cause him to loose contact. It seems all she does is lick him most of the time. She starts getting anxious and crying anytime the puppy is away or if I'm caring for him. I don't want to interfere with the bond with Layla and baby but I step in when baby needs to eat. Is this just because she's an unexperienced mom and maybe was just a little too young for her first litter?

i dont have any advice to offer but wanted to bump this for you
and say good luck with the little pup

I am sorry you lost some of the litter and the one pup got injured. That is why I never let a momma break the sac and cut the cord herself. It is just too risky. Some mommas just like to lick their babies a lot. She should settle down before to long. I don't think it has anything to do with her age, just her maternal instincts. You might need to just hold Layla's head and give the baby a chance to suckle uninterupted. When will the vet want to amputate the puppy's leg? Please keep us updated.

I never let my moms deliver on their own either. I had a mom once cut the cord too short and opened up the abdoman of a pup - she got ahead of me and no help to hold her head back during this delievery and lost the pup. Yorkies - majority just do not know how to deliver well. So I cut cords, open sacks, etc...

Yes, if you hold the mom's head while the pup begins to nurse it will release certain hormones as the pup suckles allowing the mom to get sleepy. Once that happens you can let go, but stay there and watch. You may need to do this till the pup gets throught this first hurdle - first week for now.

I am so sorry this happened. I have a cat with only 3 legs and he gets around pretty good. So hopefully the outcome will be okay with your little once.

Update: the pup got the rest of his little leg amputated. He's doing well right now and mom didn't seem to notice anything different with him, I was worried she might reject him. Hopefully he'll continue to do well.

Wow, I'm so sorry. Hope your little guy continues to thrive!

Thanks everyone for the encouragement!

Mom still is pretty anxious over baby and still needs help nursing, I don't think she likes me helping out; today I found her and the pup out of the whelping box and under my bed! I was so freaked out when I didn't see them in the box and mom didn't come when I called her. When I found them I was so scared for the little pup. Needless to say when I leave the room now I have to put her in the crate as much as I hate to do it. I've been with them practically 24/7 because I'm afraid to leave them alone. Does anyone know if mom will get better at caring for pup or not?

~My moms always seem a little anxious on the 1st litter. In time, she'll relax and feel more comfortable. I am sorry about the puppy having his leg amputated, but thankfully he survived. Maybe you can love on mom while she is nursing to help the one that isn't latching on good, at least until he can do it on his own. Good Luck with everything.

Thanks!

I've been helping mom and she's a lot better now, but I'm not sure she'll be able to nurse much longer. Pup was feeling bad today and wouldn't latch on so I had to bottle feed him all day and mom's milk is drying up quickly. She got spayed a couple days ago, the vet recommended it but said she could still nurse since there was only one pup. I'm a little peeved about that, I had specifically told the vet that I didn't want to spay her if she couldn't nurse the pup. I'm praying for the pup though, I really hope he makes it!

My Paris only had one pup and she had to have a c-section. For the first 2 days she wanted nothing to do with him and I had to physically hold her on her back like a baby in my arms and then take Napoleon and latch him on to her and he would nurse and she felt more comfortable like that. We were very worried that she wouldn't bond with him or want to mother him but 72 hours after the birth she wouldn't leave him even to go to the bathroom or eat and I had to encourage her to go when I knew she needed to go. I think for her the first few days of not wanting him were due to the c-section and wanting to be with me for recovery. We worked around that together and she finally took over. I'm not a breeder and this was my first and last puppy experience (she was spayed in the c-section) but I think doing what you are doing in just staying with her and the baby will ease some of her nervousness. I am baffled that the vet didn't do an ultrasound or x-Ray to see if she actually was pregnant before this all happened. I'm so sorry that you have had to go through such a traumatic ordeal. Hang in there! Would love to hear more updates on the mom and pup when you get a chance! :-)

Unfortunately Layla and the pup have to be kept separate until the pup gets his stitches out. I took him to the vet again on Friday and he had to reinforce the stitches and leave it open with some antibiotic powder, and because all Layla wants to do is lick away I have to take care of pup. His amputation site got infected as well so he had to get some antibiotics. Poor guy, he was really lethargic (which had me so worried!) and won't latch on to mom anymore. The vet said all I can do is keep him warm and feed every 2 hrs with puppy replacement milk. He's a little more active now, actually tries to squirm away when I'm feeding him compared to being completely flaccid just a couple days ago. I'll keep praying for him though.

I don't have any advice, just wanted to say good luck to you. Hugs.

I'm so sorry to hear of all the troblem you and your babies have had. I also had a mommy cut into a pup's leg from then on I do everything as soon as the puppy come out. Good Luck!

Sadly the puppy died tonight. He seemed to be doing better these last couple days but I guess he had too much going on. Poor pup struggled for nearly three weeks; I know he's in a better place now, but I'm still heartbroken.
Thank you all for the support.