Sorry new here so hope this post makes sense - We have a small breed dog who has a litter of nearly (on sunday) 4 week old pups. We have had to take the mother to the vets today as she has developed very sore and inflamed nipples. The vet has given her an injection of Synulox and Meloxidyl and we have been told to take the pups away from her which we have. I am hoping to put her back with the pups once she is feeling better but am not sure if this will be possible. We have begun to bottle feed the pups Welpi which they are impressed with, this is our first litter so we are a bit unsure what is the best option. Any help would be much appreciated.

With them being nearly 4 weeks can you start to wean them onto puppy porridge/puppy meat/minced meat etc? Just a thought? What breed are they please? You can PM me as you're not allowed to say on forum...;-)

Hi, well, it should be possible to put Mom back in with them...if they have no teeth yet, then obviously they're not ready for solids...I don't think anyways, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!!!

How long they will be away from Mom will be the crucial period...I would ask the Vet when will the drugs have passed beyond the stage of the risk of being passed onto them via her milk...if you understand that? Not sure I do and I have written it!!!

Continue with the bottle feeding, it may only be a few days? Mom obviously hasn't suffered from over eager pups teeth as they haven't any yet! Maybe you could get some puppy porridge anyway and see if they will 'lap' it up a bit....it might be enough to gently start them them weaning?? HTH?? not a lot of advice really is it?? Sorry! I'm sure someone with more experience of your breed will be along and able to help more! The main thing is that they are bottle feeding, they're healthy, they're happy and they have someone who cares and is seeking advice,  looking after them!

When I had a litter of peke pups at about the same age, mum tweaked her back and had to have metacam. Obviously she couldnt be with them all the time but fortunately I had started to wean the pups. I use to let her in with them, but put my daughters leotard on her so that they could not suckle.It kept them interacting together and the pups couldnt suckle. It worked for me, just a thought.

That reminds me!!!
When the girls are in season and need to be kept safe I use a baby grow(usually prem or first born size) cut off the feet ends and sew up, put it on the girls 'backwards' so the poppers do up along the back, usually put a 'pad' in to keep it from getting soiled, and hey presto! willy proof! :-) and also pup proof!

Thankyou we did ask the vet about putting her back with the pups and we was he very blunt and said his priority was Chaos (the mother) and that we would have to try and hand rear the pups. he was a locum vet as the normal vet is away for Easter. I am sort of assuming it will take 24 to 36 hours for the injections to clear out of her system as he has given us synulox and meloxidyl to start tomorrow night if she is still inflammed. We obviously won't let the pups back if we give her the medication. Thankyou once again for you help.

> and hey presto! willy proof! :-)

You have a wonderful way with words!!  :-)

I try to amuse...especially the nice and lurvely peeps on here! :-p :-o

Hi mittens my girls pups are only 3weeks and 3days and i started weaning them 6days ago as mums milk is dryin up i give 4 small meals aday ,dry kibble socked with lots of water blended well and its nice and runny they woof (no pun lol) it down , mum still goes in to them to clean them but want say for long if they start sucking and pups teeth have only just started coming thro !! im sure your pups could lap the milk now instead of bottle ??? just a thought :) xx

That made me laff too.....I wonder if that outfit may also work instead of the 'headache' routine on the OH!!!!

Hi.
I dont know anything about the meloxidyl but my girl is on synulox for mastitis and has been for  a week now and the vet said the pups would be fine to stay with mom, which they have been. Hopefully your pups will be able to get back to mom once shes not so sore.

mel.

if it does ill be geting 1 lol .....;)

Have spoken to the vets who says if we put mum back the mastitis will spread to the other teats. So not really sure what to do the pups are ok with the welpi maybe will try to get some puppy porridge to mix with it. Thankyou for your help.

Sorry can't offer more help hun xxx 'Cept if u wanna give me a baby to rear for you???!!! ;-) (ermm poopy baby, defo NOT a human one!!):-)

Its been 4 years since my pups but just to reassure you that 4 weeks of age is preferable to them being younger. They are at weaning stage and mine use to lap at welpi,and I think at this stage they would also lick at the jelly on butchers tripe. If you can get them lapping then that is a big step forward. I use to be paranoid, liquidised everything just in case there may have been a tiny lump! Then they progressed to raw mince and never looked back. Also do there nails need a trim? My girl was quite stressed away from the pups, the leotard was a plus because she would lie outside the dog pen to try and suckle them through the bars!

Weeeellllll can you find one big enough...or is that way too pervy to mention??!

yes who stocks size 14 babygro's? Actually I would expect the inserted 'pad' to stop soiling to be the real clincher LOL

ROFL...what ever you do DON'T google it...it has way to many horrible connotations!!! :-p

quite true- I am also trying very very hard not to visualise that outfit!

all i keep seeing is george doors in his LOL

hahaha!!!

I had a bitch who had bad mastitis at 10 days, she had very strong antibiotics but we did not remove the pups. 

The very sensible vet told me the pups would avoid the infected gland, which they did.

At four weeks I would simply wean, and not bottle feed.

Well the pups are doing ok with the bottle, but I am going to let mum feed them today and see how how they go. She is feeding well and wants to be with her babies.
Does anyone know if you can buy Pedigree porridge in the shops or is it an online item only as we are now going to push the weaning quicker than we would have done.
Hopefully when we see our normal vet on Tuesday he will be nicer than the Locum and offer helpful advice. Thankyou once again for your help.

I prefer to use puppy kibble (since once they get going thats what I use anyway). When I wean my pups I soak the kibble in lactol (warm) and blitz it with the blender.

Far cheaper than special puppy porridges and just as easy to make.

Try them on scrambled egg too, they always go nuts for it lol :-D

Hi mittens ,i use puppy kibble that mums on ,i soak it with cool boiled water then add a small amont of puppy meat blend it and the pups go mad for it , its no different to the pedigree porridge and alot cheaper ,plus your not having to change the food again so their less lightly to get upset tums :)