Healthy vs "Soft" puppies
 

I think this comes under Yorkie Health so I am asking here. I just lost a tiny baby 10 day old girl but I have another one who feels soft to the touch. She is not related to the one who died and she is 3 weeks 2 days old.

If you are familiar with new born babies, you know that when you pick them up they feel "tough," strong. But after a few hours or a couple of days, sometimes you get one that feels "soft," mushy to the touch. They start out feeling strong in your hand and become mushy to the touch.

These "mushy" babies usually die for me. I want to know what other breeders do for these babies. I know one breeder says, "Leave them alone. If they die, they die." It's just not in me to do nothing. I have found that the vets can only do so much for them and there isn't much they can do that I can't. Plus I am constantly with the baby while they have a business to tend to.

I have saved a few but lost more than I have saved. What does everyone say? Should I step in and bottle feed these babies? Should I even try? I will no matter what the consensus is but I want to know what everyone else would do.

Thanks, Sylvia

Yes, by all means, do what you can for those babies. Yorkies are not a breed where you can let nature take its course. If you don't intervene, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak and suffering for the babies.

My experience has been that newborns usually plump by the third day. It's kind of hard to tell before that because they usually have some vigor due to pre-natal nutrition. If you have any tiny ones, though, they will get pushed aside and not get a good chance to nurse.

I keep a tight eye on my newborns and don't hesitate to intervene if one is lagging behind the others. I use canned goat's milk (diluted with equal parts water) and add some karo to it. I feed with a dropper as this seems easiest to do without causing aspiration.

I have a baby that is now 3 weeks old and is just 5.5 ounces. I started hand feeding her on the third day as she wasn't getting enough from her Mom. It was an around-the-clock thing for two weeks. In the last few days, she has picked up enough so that I'm only giving her just a little a couple of times a day to make sure she's got a full belly. Her weight gain has been very slow but she's definitely making good progress.

In general, I think that early recognition of a baby not thriving and intervention will help you get better results. Around-the-clock feedings and keeping them warm are crucial.

Best of luck to you and your babies.