Advice is really needed please help/ surrogate mother question
 

I am a new user. I had posted this morning around 2 on someones thread because I did not know how to start one. I just figured it out. I have a question that hopefully someone will read and refer me to the right direction. My baby girl gave birth on Wed. to 4 pups. All pups are great. My girls [COLOR=green ! important][COLOR=green ! important]health[/COLOR][/COLOR] started going down hill 2 days later. Rushed her to emergency. First thought infection, but ruled out with blood and fever results looking good. next day I followed up with vet, blood drawn and she was very anemic. The next morning did a follow up blood work and [COLOR=green ! important][COLOR=green ! important]anemia[/COLOR][/COLOR] was worse, we rushed her to Ny animal hospital for transfusion. She received the blood was better, but a few hours later got worse. No One has a clue as to what is going on. Signs show infection yet blood work does not confirm it. After ll that fluid accumulated outside chest cavity. checking that out they saw her heart was enlarged. They did an ech which confirmed heart problems on the right side. Fluid was drawn out to relieve pressure. I have been hand feeding pups ever since. Pps are with her at the hospital, because doctors feel its best for them to try to nurse as much as they ca off her. Problem is she is not producing enough milk. They have now said that two of the pups may be showing signed of aspiration because little bubbles come out their nose when that are hand fed. They said that it is a common problem with being hand fed. They also stated their main concern is my girl who is not doing well at all but just a bit stable. Please keep in mind this is just a quick run down of what I have been going through these past few days. There are details in between that I just can't get into writing right now. My focus is of course on my baby.... MY GIRL... She is another daughter to me and I can not handle her going away like this. She does not deserve this. Not in this way... OK..the doctors scared me enough with the fact that the pups may deteriorate also because of being hand fed and not getting the antibodies from mom. I had a though cross my head from a show I had watched on discovery about mothers who will often have a litter the same age and allow pups to feed off them. Is this the best thing I can do to research right now to help my pups survival rather than give up concern for them and only worry about mom? That is basically what the hospital will do if I keep them there. They have basically scared me to the point saying if I take them it will be worse. Will someone be able to tell me if they had pups drink from another mom? If so ... will anyone be willing to help me out and allow my pups to nurse for a day or two so that they can better survive? I live in NJ. Clifton, NJ. Please as much as I told myself not to post anything critical here just not to have people jumping to different conclusion and turning this into a judgment matter. Before anyone asks, she is 4 . always was healthy never showed signs of [COLOR=green ! important][COLOR=green ! important]heart [COLOR=green ! important]problems[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]http://kona.kontera.com/javascript/l...rey_loader.gif
. This is her 2nd litter and yes I have her first litter pup. She went through all necessary medical attention and was deemed heathy to get pregnant. The hospital said there would have been no signs for this to have been prevented. It's just something unfortunate that happens. She is currently in ICU. PLEASE only advice. If I am not responding please know that it is because I am with my girl. I will always appear to be on because I leave my computer on. It doesn't mean that I am in front of the computer reading replies. Though I will try my best to rad and see if anyone has some advise. I just want to make sure that I spend time with my baby at the hospital.. Thanks in advance. Please excuse any spelling errors or confusing statements. I haven't slept in days and it's hard enough to stop crying and stressing over my little baby.

Yes if you can find a mom with milk and who'd had babies they will "normally" accept other pups. I have done this before as I am sure others have as well.

I pray your baby comes around and they get her better! I am so sorry.

Do you know anyone who may have a mom that is weaning her pups by chance?

There is an organization that has surrigate mothers. I'm not sure what it is called. However, I do know of once person that has used it. Now if you have someone that has a dam with a litter that is close enough in age to yours, there should be no problem in her accepting your pups.

Are you bottle feeding. Last year I hand raised a litter. The way I nurse is attaching a pet preemie nipple to a syringe........you can control the flow of milk better by just pushing a small amount of milk into the nipple at a time and allowing them to suck slowly before filling it again.......less air into their tummies and less chance to aspirate.

No I do not know anyone.

I have been bottle feeding them since birth. I also had them try and drink what they could get off mom. They are really good at eating. A little too good is the problem. They are very eager to drink which causes this issue. They are at the hospital because the doctors feel its better for them to be with my baby. The thing is they are mainly concerned with her...which is great...but the pups are healthy and I don't want them to be ignored and give them any reason to die. The doctors were telling me that bottle feeding them without the moms milk will eventually cause them toie. It confused me because I thought that pups could survive through those situations under extreme care. Especially these because I don't have any problems with them accepting a bottle.

where can I get a pet preemie nipple?

Yes, the puppies do need the colustrum from the mother but if that were a few days ago, then it is likely already too late. The puppies need that within the first few hours of birth, then she stops producing it and it turns to milk. If they nursed the first two days ok, then they should be ok transitioning on to the bottle. That is if I understand your story right.



If I have totally misunderstood your story I am sorry.

Ok, you said they did nurse some the first few hours, right. Even a little bit of colostrum would have been better than none at all. I know of a couple of cases where the puppies were saved after the momma died givign birth and those puppies did not get their colostrum. There are some people on here with great formula recipes and I think your puppies do have a fighting chance if they are still strong. Sorry to hear about your momma, I hope she gets better!

Yes they fed as soon as they were born. I don't exactly know how much they got out of her because she was not producing much. But they never stood screaming. I regardless the next day saw her weak and decided to help her by feeding them also. That way they were not totally depending on her and she would gain a little strength. At that time I did not know why she was really weak. I thought it was normal because she had just given birth. I rushed her into emergency at 5 am when I heard her seizing while the pups were feeding. After that I seperated them from her. A day later I put them in one by one. After that he was rushed to emergency for a transfusion . She was extremely anemic. The pups were being fed by me the whole time through . Every 2 hours. Like I said I haven't slept. But after being admitted to the hospital on NYC. The doctors thought it best for th to be with her and they would also feed them. This was Friday until present. Fr what they are saying is that they are supposedly there to keep trying to get the antibodies from her. They do know that they were already 3 days when she was admitted. According to th they still get it ..

Ok, I thought you were saying that they felt that the puppies had not gotten any colostrum and had little hope for them, but it does sound like they do have a good fighting chance. Sending hugs and prayers.

I think, me personally, I'd want to bring the babies home and give them the 24/7 care at home, if they are not being fed by mom. But thats just me. Do you know what they are feeding the pups and how often?

Still hoping things are better soon!!!

I'm so sorry for what your going through! Sending prayers and good healing vibes your way! I had a Chi that died due to complications of her c-section. Her puppy never nursed offher but I had a Chi that just gave birth a couple days before and she accepted her right in. So if you can find a surroget by all means go for it! I hope all gets better and again praying for you and your babies!

Hi Everyone
Thank You fr your thoughts, prayers, concern and kind words. I just got back from seeing my baby. She's been up and down, I had a little scare this morning, but as of now she has improved. I am hoping and praying to have my baby back home soon with me. She was so excited to see me. Well, as excited as she could get in her weak state. She made her way to me so that I can carry her. I was just so happy. The doctors were so amazed at how she struggled to get up so quickly as soon as she saw me. The little ones are doing fine also. I gave those doctors a piece of my mind about making sure the puppies were thriving otherwise I would take them home with me. They really wanted them to stay with her, so they started charting their weights. I gave them the weights I charted from birth to the day they went in there care, so they could compare. Today we noticed their first weight gain which is great. Thanks again everyone, I am praying for her to come home soon. I just can't wait.

Sounds like good news. I hope she continujes to improve. One of my mothers got sick and lost her milk, but the puppies kept trying to nurse and her milk came back once she was feeling better.