I delivered a litter for a friend the other day. All whelped fairly fine and without too much problems. The last born is not feeding as he should. He is smaller by far than the others and was born with a crank tail. He is a lovely little thing and was given a clean bill of health by the vet the day after he was born. My friend has spoken to the vet and he said just carry on doing as you are. The pup will feed if you hold him on but struggles to find it himself. The mother is taking him away from the litter to be by herself with him. I have suggested hand feeding to build up his strength and monitor how much he is actually eating. Any other suggestions?

Supervision for every feed is what I would be doing not hand feeding ;) it's part of the duties of a breeder ;)

Put him on the nipple (back ones are best) and make sure he gets all he needs that way, hold him there if he needs it, the others being bigger will push him off otherwise, once they have a routine you'll be able to wake him up before the others and get him going before they wake, that way he'll get the antibodies he needs to help him thrive and the time to get the food he needs to help him grow ;)

IMHO little ones like this need their mums milk, not hand feeding - it's designed for them and is the perfect food for their immature digestion.

To ensure he's getting enough and spot problems early, I would be weighing all the pups at the same time every day and recording each pup's weight on a chart.  This way you can see what kind of growth they are making and whether they are each putting on weight steadily :)

He may catch up, he may not, as long as he grows steadily I'd be happy ;)

i agree with dill, putting puppy on the back teats and making sure he is on before all the others, supervision and weighing puppies is very important as dill said, if puppy is generally feeding well once on and has been checked by the vet then i am sure he will pick up x

Thank you. They are up every couple of hours making sure he feeds and are weighing them regularly. He is not losing weight but does not seem to be putting it on like the others. The more worrying thing is that mum keeps taking him away from the others and staying with him. They turned around last night to find mum sitting there with the poor lad in her mouth. She turns her back on the others and concentrates on the weak one. Any thoughts on why she would be doing this? I know if a pup is not right sometimes mum will push it out but she seems to be doing the opposite with this one.

When mum takes the weak pup away does she only hold it in her mouth, or does she try and snuggle with it?

Does the pup make any sort of noises? like grunting or screams alot, and is his breathing like the other pups?
Does his breathing sound 'crackerly'?
Get your friend to check inside the pups mouth, if she is not sure what she is looking at, then compare it to the fitter pups, are there any abnormal holes, in the roof of the mouth? They can be very very tiny holes so can sometimes be hard to see.

Your friend is doing all the right things in keep an eye on him, but I would take him to the vet to have him checked over to put her mind at rest.

She took it on the sofa to snuggle with it the other day, also turned her back on the others to snuggle with it but she wants to take him everywhere with her. I checked all pups for abnormalities on the pallets when born and couldnt find anything. The only one with an abnormality is this pup but its his tail. He seemed to be breathing fine when I left. I will ask her to double check it. Thank you all for replying.

He may not put on weight like the others but if he is putting on weight steadily that is what matters ;) this is why weighing all the pups every day is so important, it's easy to spot when a problem is developing.

What sort of whelping box does the mother have?   Is it open at the top or covered over?  Is it in a quiet place where she can feel secure?

If it's an open-topped whelping box then really it needs to be covered over ;)  I use a large fleece throw on mine and use bulldog clips to fasten it with a bit hanging down the front to make a den.  I can still see the pups but the bitch feels safe and calm in there with her pups.  This may be all that is needed and will certainly do no harm ;)

yes good point Dill, I too made a sort of den with my last litter, had a fleece over the whelping box so mum felt calm and settled, I have my whelping box in a room off my lounge, which is not a walk way so mum does not get desterved but I can still see in to check on her and the pups, and she can come and go as she pleases, coming into the lounge, kitchen etc when she feels she wants too.

i would also do supervised feeding, much better than hand feeding, though i must say i would not put him on first i would take a big strong puppy and put on a back teat, then when the big pup has got the milk flowing well remove and put on another teat, then put the small puppy on the teat the other one was on and then he wont have to work at getting the milk flowing which he may find harder than the rest if he is so much smaller. Good luck with the babies :)

Thank you all for your help. He is half the weight of the othes, such a small little dot : ). But he seems to be a fighter and with luck he will catch up eventually.

I had one like this, had to hold him on for his feeds, as the bigger pups used to push him off. it doesn't take long for him to thrive. Put him on the fullest teat usally by the back, the milk flows easier. You soon will not know the diffrence!

Denese

I can testify to this working really well! I too have 2 smaller pups in a litter of 9. An experienced breeder told me to try this trick, and although the bigger pups probably get a little cheesed off, when the milk is flowing, the smaller weaker pups don't have to work so hard to get a full tum. Has worked for me, will remember this for future litters!!

hows the little doing bullmastifflove ? i do hope all is well x

He is doing really well. He has started feeding on his own now but the vet has advised substituting with a small feed or two a day.

thats great new :D xx

Just a quick update on the lil boy. He has had to be pts today. Poor lil thing couldnt go to the toilet and it has turned out he wasnt developed properly inside. His owners did all they could for him.

RIP lil Crank, taken so young yet loved so much.
Run free little one, free from pain xxx

Awww...Im really sorry to hear this. Poor lil mite. RIP, little man. xxx

o no im so sorry to hear this :( R.I.P little chap play lots over rainbow bridge xxxxx