Hi, My bitch had her puppies last night, 1 very big boy 9oz and one dinky girl 4oz.  Breed can have anything up to 8 .  Has anyone had this sort of discrepancy before, new one to me only ever had a variation of 2 oz.  Just wondered if anyone could shed any light on it,  could she have re absorbed some. if so how has the dinky one managed to hang in ther.  Anyway she is doing well, with lots of teats going and little competition, I am hopeful she will make it.
Thanks

In my first litter I had a pup that was only 6 ounces (first born actually) which was quite a shock, the other 3 were 12, 13 and 14 ounces, she gained well but obviously was smaller than her siblings right up to leaving home. 

At 11 months old she was same size and actually a better bitch than the one I kept.

According to the book of the bitch my breed are 10 - 12 ounces at birth on average.

In practise my own bitches have generally had pup 9 ounces to a  Pound in weight with the odd smaller or bigger.

Assuming all else seems normal I would just make sure she gets extra time at the milk bar, pop her on every time you pass the whelping box.

As for why, it could be overcrowding in the womb, less efficient placenta etc.

thanks for that Brainless, can't be overcrowding, as I say unless she reabsorbed some, your most likely right and it was a dodgy placenta,  will never know, wish I had her scanned now, then might have had more of an idea, hind sight is a wonderful thing. thanks for replying,

> can't be overcrowding

It can still be overcrowding if two embryos implanted close together.  The litter I had was only four which is not a large litter for my breed.

http://www.zwartebellenhoeve.nl/nestanna/degeboorte.html

this is the only time i have seen it.
this didnt result to well, but i hope for the best.

i know it is very different, but all my guinea pig runts have survived, i just had a litter today, the runt is teh smallest i have seen, high hopes it is teh liveliest.

hope the pup is well

Oh gottcha,

Our litter back in June, we had 7 pups but the biggest one was 12.8oz and a teeny weeny one of 4.8oz too, the little boy was still slightly smaller when he left, but definitely catching up.....the rest were in between 9.5-10.5oz

I had a litter nearly 5 weeks ago now and was worried because I had oneweighing 140g the others were all alot bigger but he is doing fantasticand was the first to do anything, eyes opened 1st, walked around sat, eat food etc he is thriving so good luck with yours.

Linda

Many years ago I had a litter of Goldens were one only weighed 5 ozs. She turned out a lot bigger than her sister that I kept and was a very strong bitch.

Sorry to say the 4 oz one didn't make it, now fingers x'd for the boy.

Thanks for your comments

so sorry to hear it ,im sure your boy will do fine ,fingers crossed for you all (((hugs))) x

> Sorry to say the 4 oz one didn't make it, now fingers x'd for the boy.

Sorry about your little one. In a similar situation to you one time, my vet put our bitch on Synulox as it would go through the milk and protect the survivors. Also it would counteract any residual infection from any reabsorbed/stillborn pups and so protect the bitch.
Good luck with your boy.