hi all, my bitch gave birth earlier today to 7 lovely bundles, but 2nd born pup is quite a bit smaller than the rest.
All the others have grasped latching on, but this little one hasn't regardless of all the things i've tried. He was born 5 hours ago and as far as i am aware, hasn't yet suckled, but is still very lively. Any suggestions as i don't really want to substitute unless i really have to, but i am worried that he is going without, thanks.

Sometimes they just take a while to get the hang of it, hopefully that's all it is ;)

Wait till a stronger pup gets going on a teat - preferably a hind leg teat ;) then put little-un on that teat, milk it down so there's milk on the teat for him to taste, tickle the side of his mouth with the teat and he should open it and latch on, you may have to support him there at first.  If he's having trouble getting the idea, open his mouth and put the milky teat in his mouth and stroke his chin and throat, he should soon get the idea when he tastes the milk ;) but as he's little you may have to support him and make sure the bigger ones don't knock him off ;)

You could actually milk one or two of the more productive teats and give it to him with an eye dropper if all else fails, just to get him started, as it's colostrum he'll be getting and it's full of antibodies ;)

Have you checked for cleft palate inside his mouth with a torch? 

hi yes have checked them all for cleft palates, all ok, he just seems very reluctant to even open his mouth. I have tried expressing and opening his mouth to attach to the teat with the other pups out of the way, but its as if he's not interested. I'm just wondering how long i leave it before i have to feed him the substitiute if i can't get him to attach. I have some welpi on standby but would prefer for him to get the hang of the teat. I shall try again stroking his throat as i didn't do that and see if that stimulates him, thanks a lot. x

How's he doing?  

Hoping he was just tired and/or had had a sneaky feed while you weren't looking.

thanks Dill but i think puppy is fading fast. I contacted vets earlier this afternoon and they suggested hand feeding, but we couldn't even get him to take that. Its as if he hasn't got a suckling or swallowing reflex, then he went downhill at tea-time, another trip to the vets who couldn't find anything obviously wrong and said to carry on hand feeding. But he's pretty lifeless now, and don't think there's that much longer left. We've done all we can for him but i'm not sure he was ready for this world.
We're just keeping him comfortable and warm, we keep trying with the milk, but we know in our heart of hearts he's not going to come through this. We were going to keep him as well.
Thanks for your earlier advice, didn't know what else to do as vets were a bit useless
xx

have you tried dropping the milk into his little mouth with a dropper, one of our puppies was really lifeless and wouldnt feed from mum or us ,so i used a dropper every hour and she picked up overnight and went on to be a really healthy little pup?

really hoping your boy pulls through.

Have you tried giving him some nutridrops

Sorry to hear this :(

Was going to suggest the eye dropper too.

Have you tried GLUCOSE?  either made up with a little water or even rubbed inside the mouth and then followed by eye dropping milk?  the glucose will give a boost without even needing to digest it ;)   I'd give a few mils every 15 mins for a few hours and see if pup picks up?

Keeping everything crossed

Nutridrops.

Was also thinking of those, but there may not be time to buy them.  Most chemists and supermarkets stock glucose ;)

so sorry to hear this , i hope he did/as picked up ? xx

hi all thanks for all your kind advice, but the little one passed late last night. We tried everything we could to try and get something into him, but he just couldn't swallow. I'm not sure if something was amiss somewhere as he starting bleeding through his mouth and nose during the last hour of his short life, but at leaast he didn't have to suffer for too long. He obvioulsy wasn't meant to be this time round. The other 6 are all very healthy and strong, so i hope this continues.
Thank you all again xx

So sorry I had one in a past litter

Linda

Sorry to hear this - my little pup last week was exactly the same and i syringed in food to no avail.
It's horrible and you really question yourself - just a sad bit about breeding I think

sorry to hear this ....xx

really sorry, RIP little one.

ahh sorry about your litte one

So sorry to hear your sad news.

So sorry to hear this :(   You're right tho, sometimes they just aren't meant to be.  You did all you could, no-one could have done any more.

It's the down-side of breeding a litter.

Try to enjoy the other six, fingers crossed they remain lusty, and are driving you nuts in 7 weeks time with their antics.

{{{HUGS}}}

Dill

Poor thing, sleep tight baby xx

I had one with the same thing in my older bitches first litter, she had nine (a huge litter for the breed). I think it was part and parcel of having so many babies, she also had a mummified pup too.

We had the little boy PTS after two days of trying everything, although he seemed lively from birth he just wouldnt/couldnt suckle. My mentor suggested everything and the vet was at a loss as to what to do. It was just one of those 'things' I guess.

Always a shame to lose a pup though :-(