Sorry to come on here as a newbie, but a bit of an emergency going on!!

A woman locally has a bitch, who has had a litter by c-section, and can't get the puppies to take the formula.
Anyone know the best solution to this - would another bitch (lactating) be the best solution?

thanks

Jayne

(ps not owner of champ dog but a norty JRT and a daxi-x !!)

sorry i have no help to offer, how come the bitch cant suckle them? i've heard of a few c sections and the bitch is normally happy to have the pups back asap. hope she gets sorted

claire

I agree with Claire....having a c-section should not affect a bitch being able to feed her puppies in fact it is very important to encourage the puppies to suckle as this will help to bring in her milk. It can be a bit slow to come in after a c-section but it will come. Trying to give them formula is counter productive.

Get the pups onto a teat every hour at least, the milk can be a bit slow coming in and pups a bit slow to feed due to anaesthetic.

Hi, and thanks for your advice; the bitch has had to have a full emergency hysterectomy and the vet has told Enid not to let the puppies go to her for two weeks.
There is a tiny pup, and 3 bigger ones, I have suggested that they encourage the little one to suckle and see how it goes, I would think that would bring the milk on, and make the bitch feel happier?
What do other peeps reckon?
Jayne

Hi, i do feel sorry for your friend and i'm by no means an experienced breeder but again i'd have said the bitch would be ok with the pups and after 2 weeks if she hasn't suckled the puppies then milk will be dryingup anyway (please correct me if i'm wrong) i've heard of bitches again having an emergency spay and still having the pups back, and with my own experience of having my bitch speyed she was a little groggy but right as rain - milk works on a supply and demand basis but even if the pups can just get the first milk from mum and then be bottle fed it would be better for them.

Again please please correct me if i have said anything wrong on here :)

claire

Has she asked why she shouldnt put the pups with them. It might be the medication the bitch has been given that will harm the pups. So really before you can go against the vets advice you really need to confirm what medication she has been given.
HTH
Lea :)

My bitch had a c-section and emergency spaying at the same time, my vet made sure mum was put on AB's that were safe for the pups to feed, you need to find out why the vet has said no to mum feeding.

again this is the beauty of Champdogs, peoples experiences and scenarios can really help and i didn't even think about medication being harmful to puppies - sorry x

Over the years I have had a number of c-sections (including one when the bitch was also neutered at the same time).  Puppies were introduced to mum immediately and I have never experienced any problems.  All the bitches were on ABs and pain relief (usually Rimadyl or equivalent) for seven days.  Would be interesting to know the Vet's reasons for keeping the pups away from mum who has just had the trauma of major surgery and now has the added trauma of no puppies to nurse!

That seems very odd advice, as both times mine have had C sectons they were spayed.  You can see photo of the C section site here: http://www.barbelka.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ppups.html

Is the Vet a breeder themselves?  I can see no reason unless the bitch is so ill (rather than just recovering from the section).  Certainly puppies to survive need the first milk that contains all the antibodies they will need.  The bitch won't produce milk if they pups are kept away from her.

We had a Pom have this done and the vet never said not to allow the pups to feed from her, they grew up fine.