Intro and runt concerns
 

Hello All,
What a blessing to have found a community this evening! Hopefully, someone is still awake and can calm my nerves. My precious 3 year old Yorkie gave birth to a litter of SEVEN puppies Friday evening. We truly were only expecting four or five and were blown away when 5, 6 and 7 made their debut. Her delivery went without incident and she is a phenomenal mom. She is attentive to everyone and welcomes my intervention. My worry is that I have a little male runt. He is at least a 1/3 smaller than the rest of the brood. They are all very small (I suppose due to the large litter number). He seems energetic and does find the nipple to nurse. His little belly just doesn't seem to be as full as his littermates. He is just so terribly small and fragile looking compared to the others. I have removed several of the more vigorous eaters to allow him less competition but I am still concerned. They all see the vet in the morning but I just can't leave him without checking hourly that he is eating and content. Any other advice or experiences with runts would be so helpful and reassuring.

Thank You

Sorry, I know nothing about this subject, but you should post in the Breeder section, you'll get faster results.


Hope all goes well.

Wow, 7 babies. Glad to see you are off to the vet this am. I hope some of our breeders have some good words of advice for you as I am of no help with breeding/birthing topics.

Seven babies is alot for any mom, much less a little Yorkie. You are right to be concerned about a tiny little puppy not getting enough "groceries". :)

You are on the right track by letting him have some time with mom without the greedier puppies taking all the milk, this should be done several times a day. The only problem is that puppies nurse almost constantly at first and only take little bits in at a time. Puppies should be weighed at least twice a day for the first week or so to make sure they are gaining weight. (use a postal scale or food scale that weighs in grams. 30 grams = 1 ounce). If they are all gaining weight you can just make sure momma is getting enough food & fluids to produce enough milk for her babies. Feed momma high quality dry food and add food with plenty of calcium since nursing that many babies will be a drain on her. Cottage cheese, yogurt, whelping pudding (do a search for the recipe on here) are all good. I supplement momma's diet with my goat's milk formula. 1 can of goat's milk (baking aisle in Wal-Mart or grocery store), 1 can of water, 1 tablespoon Karo syrup, pince salt substitute and 1-2 tablespoons vanilla yogurt. Give 1/4 cup 3 times a day.

If any of the puppies are not gaining weight you should supplement them also with a bottle. I use the same goat's milk formula without the yogurt or just a tiny bit of yogurt in their formula. The puppies seem to take to this formula much better than the artifical commercial formulas and goat's milk is much closer to momma's milk.

Good luck, please contact me if you have any questions and I'll see if I can help.

Teresa

7 babies are alot. We just had a member whose little momma gave birth to 8 last week. Sounds like you are doing the right things from what you posted. You might want to try and nurse him some from a bottle. What time is their appt. at the vet(I see you are up here now) or have they already gone? Are you giving your little momma some extra calcium? She is going to need it. You got your hands full and please keep us updated.

Welcome!:) It sounds like you are going to be very, very busy. This is the link to the breeder's section. Some of them don't come here and you may get more answers to your questions there.

Breeder Talk - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community

Thank you to everyone. The vet called and had an emergency and won't be able to see my little ones until 2pm EST. For lack of knowing exactly what to do, I just checked on my little runt every hour or so through the night. I removed all waking pups just to give him some private time with mom a couple of times through the night. I was encouraged to see him support his own little head when nursing. I also gave the Mom some bits of cheese (not enough to constipate) just in hopes of getting a little more calcium in her. I also made her an egg omlet for added protein. My little runts fur does not feel as smooth and silky as the others but mom seems to be cleaning and caring for him just as attentively as she does the others??? My family doesn't know it yet but I think I am so attached to my little man and so proud of his gusto that I will simply have to keep him myself. Have to love and underdog!!! I will let you know what vet advises and the weight of my little fellow. I will make the formula and take all advice given with much appreciation. I did re-post in the breeder section as well.

:pI hope things go well with the vet this afternoon!
Congrats on the puppies!
Make sure to give us some updates and maybe a few pictures

Congratulations on all your new bundle of joys. Can't wait to see some pictures.