Hi everyone,

Just after some advice and opinions. My litter is just 5 weeks today, and this morning some of the puppies have been squating loads and not really doing much, classic cystitis but i have never experienced this in a litter of puppies before and there is a few doing it. I have started today two that seems uncomfortable and squatting and doing almost nothing on AB's, which will hopefully get them sorted. There is 13 in the litter and my vet has said to just treat any which are showing signs.

What could of caused this?  This litter has been almost weaned now for a good week as mum just wouldnt tolerate them and the litter took alot out of her, they are all eating fantastically and no probs with appetite, i am thinking that maybe they are not drinking enough as my past litters have always still regularly fed on mum at this age. They are drinking but maybe not as much as they would from mum.

I am putting just 4 at a time on mum but her milk supply is very small now as they havent been feeding much so it has really slowed up so not sure their getting much but they having a go!

I have today added whelpi to the water which they seemed to like so hopefully that will also encourage them to drink more which in turn will help the urine infections. Poor little mites i feel really sorry for the ones squatting. They are eating and wanting mum and active in every other way. Should i be doing anything else??????

Thanks
Mandy

Yes, I had three bitches in one litter that had cystitis. I felt that they seemed to wee very close to the ground and also had a very woolly coat and that the wee was being soaked up back onto the coat and causing an infection. However, I just don't know what caused it but was glad that the AB's cleared it up. We have a condition in this breed called Ectopic Ureter and basically pups will have to be PTS as operations never seem to be very successful so you can imagine, when they were so wet most of the time my head was all over the place with worry in case that was what is was.

oh god....i hope it is just cystitis with mine, hope to see some improvement in a day or so once ab's kick in.

i have one male and one female that are uncomfortable :(

Ectopic Ureter is a female thing so I would say infection. Try not to worry.

Poor ruby this litter will have knocked it out of her. Have you tried goats milk in the water to encourage more drinking.

If you can add something enticing to their water, I feel that it might up they're liquid intake.

I see someone has mentioned goats milk, and it is usually something that is tolerated very well, and won't upset their digestive systems.

Worth a try, as I feel more drinking would help a great deal.

I've put honey in the water before to get a dog to drink.  its also a natural AB so helps their system as well and supports the AB's they need.

I'm thinking it might just simply be that due to over-concentrated urine due to the recent hot weather and maybe not drinking enough, they may just be a little sore down there. I would think that as others have said, to encourage them to drink more should help.

My daughter's pup had cystitis and she added some cranberry juice to the water which helped, but I don't know if it would be good for very young puppies.

I'd probably try some fresh Goat's milk, they'll love it, you can buy it fresh so no wastage and very unlikely to affect their tums.

Poor little mites, I hope they feel better soon.

(By the sounds of it, you'll need a holiday after they've all gone:)).

thanks everyone, i am trying to get them to drink more with whelpi and i will try to get some fresh goats milk today too.

One girl is sore down there and i am bathing her with warm water, just never had this before so am a bit flummexed as to what could have caused it, i do think that they are just not drinking enough.

As for a holiday itsadogslife NO chance, one is staying here so there will be no rest even when the others are in their new homes, but she is the whole point of this litter so i am very happy if not completely shattered!!! lol. :)

been and got some goats milk and it went down a storm! They loved it, so i am going to be giving them that for a while and see if things improve, there is 3 of them on ab's too and i will continue them and hope that everything settles once they begin to drink lots more.

Thanks for all the help and advice.

Glad you've found something they'll drink.

> been and got some goats milk and it went down a storm!

:-)  :-)  :-)

Whew!  At least getting them to drink lots will help the recovery.  So pleased for you.

Thanks Jean, they are peeing buckets now so i think goats milk was the answer, they are all very happy and playful babies :)

thats great mandy :) mine didnt drink much whelpi i think its to much like mums milk and they only want mums milk LOL but when i gave mine the goats milk omg they drank so much (only down side is the amount of news paper you have to clean up LOL) MY 3 got though 2litters of it aday ;) x

Just wondering how your babies are doing.  Are they starting to recover?.  hope so.

All doing well and drinking and peeing much more so alot more comfy now. Been out in the sunshine today and loved it :)

just come across this post, we also have a puppy bitch 6 weeks old same symptoms, took her to vets and had 2 lots of antibiotics, she too is now weeing a bit better,
noticed her squatting lots thursday morning, took her to vets that day and again friday morning as they wanted to check up on her to see how she was doing, by saturday shes def... weeing more than she was...
will see how she goes over the next couple days

she eats plenty & drinks plenty fluids