Hi, can't believe it my 3 week old puppies are ill again! They started with sneezing and snuffling last night. Took them to vet early this morning and they have some form of chest/upper respiratory infection. One is worse than  the others and he has white muscus coming down his nose and is having trouble breathing. They are on Synulox liquid twice daily and the worse one has had synulox injection. I am using olbas oil on cloths nearby and have tried bowls of boiling water near to the whelping box. Can't help but think that they may have picked this up at the vets from a previous visit as none of my other dogs are showing any symptoms. Would be extremely grateful if anyone has any advice. Many thanks.

sorry to hear the little ones are sick! my friend had a litter in november, and her pups came down with something similar, snuffly noses, sneezing, 2 of them ahd gunge out of their noses. they were put on synulox drops, and she also used steaming bowls of water with olbas oil in it. she made sure to keep them warm, and cleaned their noses every half hour or so. they all recovered after few days. vet wasnt sure what exactly it was, and none of her 3 adult dogs showed any signs. fingers crossed for you!

Can I ask where the whelping box is?

Hi Linda the whelping box is in my dining room away from the radiator.

thanks for your response suz1985 - hope mine recover too. I only bred this litter because i wanted to keep one - dont think i'll do it again!

Sounds like extremely hard work this puppy rearing!

Hoping all goes well.

sound to me kennel cough in the young puppies,

I have had this once, they all plled through, there was a draft getting to mine, where from we didn't know so we moved the box to different position  hope all goes well

Linda

im so sorry to hear this tracey :( poor little babys ...sending love to them and wishing a fast recovery xx

Have you let people visit ie family or friends ? I am unbelievably strict over people and bugs  I have hand gel all over the house, I clean the box with parvoivrocide which kills everything including flu bugs, I wash the door handles down with it and swill dog area and a bucket full goes on the front step throughout the day so no one is treading anything in.
I hope they are well soon this job is hard enough without sickly babies.

Roni

Hi, yes i have let my kids friends and my friends visit although i made them wash their hands with antibac and use the hand gel. Have been disinfecting the box with dettol and have bought some formula h to start using on my yard and floors and i'll probably use it on my step.  Seen top vet today and he said he thinks its just in their noses and not so much on their lungs. He thinks that they'll pull though but one is still struggling and its hard to get the synulox down them cause i'm worried about it going down the wrong hole. Thanks for everyones advice.

I also use Parvocide and soak a mat for shoes and also spray anyone coming in as well as the whelping box.  Antibac only sorts out bacterial infection not viruses.......

Just put the Synulox onto the tongue drop my drop and let the pup swallow it.  Also hold the struggling pup over a bowl of steaming water so that he has to inhale it.  It really is the best thing for clearing the pipes! :)

yes I soak an old cheap mat I put on the front step and keep it soaked throughout the day . I do think you would be better to send for a bottle of parvovirocide from hyperdrug . I think its brilliant stuff and smells nice too, as you have a while to go yet.

there are a lot of cold bugs doing the rounds at the moment and if you children are at school they could possibly bring something in.I remember when my boy was at school they were sick with one cold after another .

Although its good for the litter to see people at this point I would keep them out for a few more weeks.

Hi, My puppies all have an upper respiratory infection and are on synulox drops. Two are worse than the others and i'm having a little trouble weaning them. So firstly i was wondering how long roughly it might take for them to get better? they have had it for 8 days now. Any advice on upper respiratory infections would be appreciated and also weaning with an upper respiratory infection. Sorry if all this seems a little dis-jointed but i've had a lot of trouble with my pups and my brain is all over the place! PS they don't have any secondary infection at the mo and their temperature is normal they are bunged up, crying and sometimes shivering.

hi tracey you are going thro the mill with these little darlings :( ..... the very 1st litter i had the pups when on synlox because of them getting a chill :( it coursed them to get to be snuffly and they had the runs :( but the synlox was only given for 7days and they was ok ...pups were only 8days old when starting with this so when it came to weaning all had cleared up ....i wish i could help more sorry !!

how long do they have to take meds for ?.....im wondering if this is a virus also and thats why its taking along time to clear up ? im no vet just wondering thats all hun !!

also when we are ill we dont want to eat much so maybe this is the case with pups ? just keep tring your doing your best for them ,it may take longer with the poorlyer 2 but 1s their better thay will start to eat ...good luck tracey xx

Hi, i have just been through this with my pugs, a upper respitory infection at about 4-5 weeks. I took advice and got through it. Basically what i did was run a two hour ritual as when they are snotty they cant smell the food and if they feed from mum they cant stay latched on without being able to breath properly.

Every two hours i held them over a bowl of steaming water for 2 minutes until their noses were really runny then i used a sucker to clear the nostrils and then swung them from above my head down through my knees wiping any more fluid away from their nostrils. Then latched them straight on to mum. it was more important that they fed than whether it be mum or food. I still offered food. They weaned late at about 5-5.5 weeks and are now eating fine.

It went from pup to pup each having a bad day each and crying. After a week they were fine but the ritual was worth every bit of effort as it ensured they could breath throught their noses long enough for a feed to keep their strength up.

P.s when steaming i put my head next to theirs and breathed in to ensure the steam wasnt too hot and swing smoothly and hold onto them tightly!!!

thats great addvice wiltshireone im going to save this for myself ...you never know :):) xx

Thanks Joanne and wiltshireone. You mentioned using a sucker Wiltshireone - I might be being thick but what is a sucker and where might i get one from?  I'll start the two hour ritual. Have been steaming with olbas oil and that seems to work and will try the swinging too. I pressume that when swinging the pups need to be facing downwards - sorry but lack of sleep and much stress is causing disfunction! Did you do the ritual throughout the night as well? Sorry for all the questions but i'm desparate. Don't really want to go back to the vet again as that is where they picked it up from becides he said theres not much else he can do. Many thanks.

i think u can get them from boots ?? but if not look on line if u put whelping kits into google thay will come up ...many shops on there will sell that too .xx

Hi whitelilly, Is it round with a pointy end, think it might be a bulb syringe?

yes i think so ...the bit u squeese is large and then goes small at the end ..not sure what its called im going to get my book and look for right name for u xx

thanks so much

Hi Tracy, i dont know your breed but mine have very small nostrils. A pipette did the trick - boots or pharmacy will have one. The swinging was face down. As the pups are a little older i did it till about 11pm and from 7am so not through the night as long as they fed well at the last one.
Make sure you finish the antibiotic course too (i am probably stating the obvious) but they seem to pass it back to each other.

my thoughts are with you as i found it a real struggle when mine had it as they go down hill so fast when they dont eat and the crying goes straight to your heart!

Good luck but i found the steam and swinging gave them some welcome temporary relief, enough to feed which is the important thing. Don't worry about the weaning too much, just get them better first ...bless em

Bulb aspirator
hope this helps :) xx

thanks white lilly and wiltshireone, i've got a bulb aspirator in my kit. The pups' nostrils are very small also. They're are on the second course of antibiotics and not looking good to be honest. The problem is that although they are blocked up, it dosent seem to come down even when steamed. It was doing up until today but now the worst one is just totally exhausted. I know that its just in his nose and not on his chest but to be honest i cant bear to see him suffering and if he dosent turn a corner soon, i will have to have him put to sleep.  He hasnt grown since they started with this - he keep gaining an ounce then losing it (but at least he hasnt lost loads!). Its his worst day today. One thing i have done which i hope works is that i've been to boots and got a olbas oil vapouriser and put it in the whelping box and worst pup seems to be drawn to it so maybe it will work for him. Its not anywhere near as strong as neat olbas oil and i dont suppose i should put it in the whelping box, but i'll do anything to help them, cant bear to see them suffering.

AWWW tracey im heart broken for u :( im hoping and wishing them lots of healing and love ...((((hugs)))) for u too u xxxx

Oh Tracey please dont do anything too hasty....you are tired, the pup is tired but if it is just in his nose and not his chest perhaps move him to the bathroom and fill the bath with steaming water and leave him there for a few hours and drop some milk into his mouth or some honey and water for energy. You will both turn the corner i am sure.
Is there someone that can give you a break? I know when mine had it i just kept watching them thinking every 5 minutes they were getting worse or better when sometime time and rest is what they need.

I feel for you i really do :(

Thanks Joanne its much appreciated hope all goes well for you and your litter too.

Think your right wiltshireone. Will try putting him in the bathroom with shower on. Wish someone would give me a break to be honest - husband and kids all gone off to our caravan on east coast for weekend (cant be bad!) so its just little ole me on my own! Dont worry i wont do anything hastie.

once he has been steamed in the bathroom for an hour - leave the room for an hour is my advice so the pup can get some rest as well as you. Staring at him and wishing him well won't change things and i remember the sheer panic you are going through. I am sure it affected my judgement as my husband just kept saying there was no change and i saw it getting better or worsening all the time!!!

Mind, my 5 year old did say to my childminder "mum only ever thinks of those puppies"!!!! Poor sole, jealous of a litter of pups!!!

> I pressume that when swinging the pups need to be facing downwards -

With pup in the palm of your hand - ensure head and spine are WELL SUPPORTED.

Thanks everyone been steaming and swinging and pups seem better today x

Thats good news Tracey, long may it continue!!
Wendy

so pleased, it worked for me and it helped to see i was actually doing something that was bringing relief until the antibiotics kicked in ! x

so glad their doing better hun :):) xx