new litter....want advice on small pups feeding
 

My baby had two healthy boys at 3.8 oz and 2.7 oz tonight. We lost the little girl who was 1.9 oz and never could revive her at birth. I'm worried about the small guy and have had to help him latch on every couple of hours. How long should it take him to figure it out himself and should I be supplementing him and weighing him how often? He nurses well once latched and does not cry for it. I just have to squirt a little milk on his mouth and rub him with a nipple and he will soon open his mouth enough for me to stick the nipple in. He eats well each time I do this but he has not been successful at finding it own his own.

Congratulations on your new litter. I am sorry you lost the tiny girl. How are the puppies doing now? Sometimes with the tiny ones you do have to keep attaching them every hour or so in the beginning. The most important thing is that if he is able to nurse strong enough and long enough to get satisfied.

Sometime a tiny puppy will wear himself out just trying to nurse. The following article give some good information on caring for tiny newborn puppies. I have used the glucose formula in paragraph 10 and I feel that it really helps with the smaller pups:
http://www.showpapillons.com/formula.htm

Please keep us updated on how they are doing.

If you have a NutriDrops, rub a bit on his gums, it absorbs very quickly and gives them strength to latch on......He'll soon get it on his own

He seems to be doing fine. This is my first litter of yorkies. I have only bred rottweilers in the past and am us to to much bigger puppies. The larger one has gone from 3.8 to 4.2 since last night and the little guy was 2.7 and now 2.8 oz. I just worry because he is so tiny.

where do you get nutridrops from, how often do you give them and how much?

I'd do a goole search for your area. Checking out pet stores that may have them. I've always ordered mine from Revivalanimal.com

do you recommend giving mom calcium? I've read a lot of conflicting info about this?

Here's my rule of thumb.

A Calcium tablet with vitamin D supplement (you need the correct ration of this so the calcium is absorbed) after whelping until weaning time, or a calcium injectable. Dosage should be recommeded by your vet. Even then the possibility of eclampsia exists, so it is a good idea to supplement a litter of 3 or more after three weeks of age to cut down the drain on the mother.


I also keep Oral Cal Plus on hand; also obtained at Revivalanimal.com

To hold eclampsia at bay, so it never comes at all… forget everything about giving tums, cottage cheese, cheese, icecream.. etc. It’s useless. The body needs the calcium to be delivered with the correct ratio of Vit D and Phosphorus or it doesn’t absorb it, it’s useless. Pet Cal has this correct ratio. Another thing that has it is, believe it or not.. a scrambled whole egg! Of course everyone knows not to start calcium until the litter is whelped.. no giving it to PG bitches… I do give some calsorb during whelping If things slow down on a larger litter, but never before whelping. Make it a general practice to scramble your bitch an egg every day, and depending on weight, give ½ to a whole pet tab per day. I gave it to a 8 lb bitch ½ in the morning ½ at night…this is the “daily dose” for about a 20 lb dog who was NOT nursing a litter…so just fine for ½ the size, but nursing a litter. I would grind up the pet tab in the food processor and put the powder in the egg when I scrambled it.

Also, check your dog food for Soybeans, soy protein, or anything related to soy in any way. For SOME reason that is not completely understood by me (many menopause supplements contain soy, or are soy based, so this seems to be a contradiction).. soy protein can interfere with the absorption of calcium in dogs. If your food has soy of any sort, change to a food that does not for the duration of the weaning of the litter.

than you so much. you have been very helpful

I have not been able to get the little one to latch on for the last 4 hrs. The big guy is up to 4.3oz from 4.2 oz thei sam. the little guys is holding at 2.8 oz. He is not crying like he is hungry. He is not lethargic and fights me when I try to latch him on. He squirms up close to mom and is content. I don't know if he has eaten or not. Any suggestions?

If he isn't crying or she's not pushing him away, he's content. However, check for hydration, by lifting the skin on his neck if it springs back into place he's hydrated, if not, get him to the vet for a Sub-Q. I Sub-Q tinies that aren't latching on well, it gives them another 24 hours to gather strength. Check his little belly to see if it's nice and round.

Remember her milk only lets down every 2 hours.

he isnt crying, she isnt pushing him away. he seems contant. i just expected a little weight gain. The skin recoils quickly. she does get just as anxious when I take him away as the big guy. I havent seen the big guy eat either but am not worried about him because he looks twice the size of the little one and I lost the smallest- a girl 2.0 oz during birth. I guess that makes me a worry wort.

i meant he seems content. I'm so tired from the birthing process that my typing leaves something to be desired.

Breeding is not easy. Your work starts when the whelp is over. You aren't a worry wort, but concerned. Just keep a close eye as you're doing.....watch for hydration. This next week is very crucial, so you'll get little sleep.

he took a couple of sips of esbilac, tried giving big boy a little too and he didnt want any either. they both seem to be very content. Mom drank the remaining milk when i poured it in a bowl for her. ohhh.. nothing like round the clock observation and waiting to see how things work out. mom has definately not lost interest in either of puppies so hopefully everything will work out. No matter how much reading and research you do, you never seem to learn it all. It's always easier to give someone else advise, but when it's your own babies it seems like you forget everything. thanks for all the advise.

I strongly suggest no Esbilac, it has trace minerals and is causing shunts in our pups. No Just Born it causes premature cataracs.

The closests thing to Mother's milk is Goat's milk. You can obtain it from Wall Mart. It's right next to the evaporated milk. Mix it with equal parts of distilled water and a bit of Karo Syrup, serve at room temp. Don't forget to burp.

Really...the vet told me to feed the esbilac and not the goat's milk.

There's an article I posted, I just can't remember where. I'll do a search. Per my reproduction vet......who is also a canine nutritionist.....no Esbilac or Just Born......Goat's Milk is the closest thing to mother's milk

Here's the link

http://laanimalwatch.blogspot.com/20...-contains.html

Thank you!!!! I will be taking mr unopened Esbilac powder back and head out to the grocery store tomorrow. I just reweighed little man and he is 2.9 oz at 24hrs old...we will see what he weighs again in the morning.

You'll find that the weight gain will be a bit better.

Two years ago this coming October, I had to hand raise a litter (no, momma is still alive, but was very ill). I took the pups in for a quick vet check. I had them on Just Born and they were losing weight. I usually keep a diary of each litter; weight, temps, how much they are eating and what I'm feeding. He took a look at my book and began yelling at me....I'd never been yelled at by a vet, it's usually me doing the yelling. At that time I was informed of all this info and to put them on the Goat's Milk. Within two days they were gaining by leaps and bounds...sleeping well, just doing great. I use it today on my pups when I begin weaning them with Gerber's Rice Cereal.

How many weeks do you atrat weaning your pups, typically? What is your formula for mixing the goat's milk with rice cereal and do you feed it in a bottle or a bowl?

In the past, I used the canned goat's milk with my Rottweilers, and when I mentioned this to the vet today when asking about the yorkies, I was told it didnt have enough nutrition. My rotts always did well. Mom just always had more pups than she could feed. Thank God I only have one tiny this time. The big guy does very well and eats from mom- he eats like a pig. I am defiantely swapping back to the goat's milk.

My repro vet bred Poodles.....and very involved and up on canine nutrition.

I begin offerring at about 4 weeks....not expecting much but, introducing it to them. Take mom out of the whelping area for about an hour, what they don't eat mom will take care of. She'll lick them up too.

I make a soupy type of gruel.....not thick...

There's also a whelping pudding recipe, that's posted as a sticky in this section. I give it to my nursing moms and my pups when I begin weaning in earnest.

Mardelin,
just wanted to say thanks for everything. Little man has gained from 2.7oz to 3.3 oz in the 2 days since his birth and my big guy has gone from 3.8oz to 4.4oz. They seem to be doing well. I bought the goat's milk but have not had to supplement them since talking with you. I've been fighting mom's diarrhea and vomiting- had to take her to the vet for sub Q fluids today and she is finally eating something. She hasn't thrown up or had diarrhea in 5 hrs which is such a relief. Now if I can just get her to drink without being hand fed water.

Glad the pups are gaining now.

Did your girl get a POP shot after she whelped the pups? Did the vet give her anything for her diarreah and vomiting.

The hand feeding and getting a yorkie to drink after a whelp is not unusual. They are at times not willing to leave their pups alone for a second. This usually subsides about 3 days after.

Yes she got a POP shot. We have been at the vet evryday for the last 3 days getting IV fluids and IV abx for an unknown infection, All labs, xrays and exam were normal but spiked a temp 104.5 and no eating or drinking. The vomiting and diarrhea stopped after 2 days, but she got unsteady on her feet and just wont eat, otherwise she has been acting normal. The efevr is gone, the vomiting and diarrhea is gone, she is acting herself and the vet has no idea what was wrong other than an infection. She saw a couple of specialist and they are stumped too. Thabks again.

A bit of information. I had a girl go down on me a week after she whelped a litter. Ultra sounds, blood tests revealed nothing. Was on high dosages of antibiotics and IVs. She stablized after a week...and kept on antibiotics for a month. When she was finally able to be spayed, after her coagulation levels were with in normal limits, we did. Her spay was done with every precaution, cauturization, etc. What was found as that her horn was ripped, causing the infection. Thank goodness that because she was 5, it was already decided that this was going to be her last litter. If I'd had bred her again, she'd have died.