Hi everyone,

I'm finding really difficult to get the littlest boy latched on.  I move the two bigger pups out of the way so he has room to get on, but it's very difficult, even when i hold the teat, for him to open his mouth and latch on.  On the odd occasion when we have been successful, his sucking strength isn't good and as soon as the other two come over, they push him out of the way.  How long do i withhold the extra formula milk as an added extra before i put him in danger.  He is so small, i weighed him on conventional scales when he was born and it said 3oz, today on the digital ones it read 2 5/8oz.  There's not a lot of him,  you can see his ribs and i'm worried that he's not getting enough.  He's not had a bottle since yesterday at 1am.  The other two are way stronger and plumper, although they only weigh 4 and 4 1/2oz

Leanne
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if he has been weighed on different scales go by the digital ones now ,keep putting him on or the best way is let 1 of the bigger ones to start sucking and then unplug them and put the little on so the milk is coming though and hold him there till he gets the hang of it the more you can get him to suck the faster he will know what to do and soon be knocking the bigger ones off ;) if your doing this and he dont gain any weight then top him up AFTER hes had a feed from mum ,the only way of knowing how hes doing is to weigh 2 times aday at the same time with the same scales ,im sure its not going to take him long to get the hang of it, i know i have a large breed but ive still have had smaller pups with same problems and this is how its best to be done with any breed big or small.
good luck with him, it takes alot out of you doesnt it xx

How you checked that he hasn't got a cleft palate? Sometimes there can be just a small hole in the roof of the mouth and it will make it very difficult for such a pup to latch on.  You definitely need the digital scales all the time as with such small pups, even the smallest amount matters. In fact, if your digital scales has the option of weighing in grams as well (mine do and they are only cheap ones from Argos), use that as it will be far more accurate, showing minor differences. It's such very small amounts but losing 5 g or gaining 5 g is a world of difference.

Yeah it does have grams, i'll switch to that. I'll weigh them again when she next goes for a wee.  The vet checked them over yesterday for cleft palettes and hernia's etc, listened to their heartbeats, no problems at all.  She was very pleased with them, and commented on how strong and lively they are.

Make sure you get the pup on a teat at least every hour and hold it in place.

i would also put my hand beside the little one as a sort of barrier against the bigger stronger pups. This is what I did with my smaller ones and also every hour make sure pup is on and also each time I popped my head in so pup is pretty much on the whole time. It is very tiring but it will pay off.

Let the big ones get a good teat started then take them off and put little one on the started teat.  Keep the others away until he's had his fill - they can make up afterwards. :)

yes agree with the others, I had a small puppy in a big breed litter with 8 other pups he would have struggled, but I made sure to always wake him and get him to suckle, protecting him for a while, even after he got stronger to make sure I was giving him drinking time...it paid off by the time he was 7 weeks old he was the same size as the smaller pups - you had to look hard to tell which pup he was.  I think he'd got pushed up against her ribs as he was the last one born.

Hi everyone, thanks for the advice. The pup is now latching on and sucking quite well.  He has however lost 2g since yesterday whereas the other two have gained 3g and 4g.  The other two look and feel really plump but he is skinny and kind of resembles a scrawny baby bird, you can see the poor little devils ribs.

id be worried if hes latching on and still looseing weight tbh..i think you are going to have to top him up after hes fed from mum ,hes not getting anough milk if hes looseing :( are you putting 1 of the biger pups on to start the milk flow and then letting the little 1 feed from that nipple? xx

yeah i am doing that, the biggest one has a go for a couple mins, then i remove her, much to her disgust and pop him on instead.  Megan doesn't make easy tho cause she curls up like a cat to sleep so i have to try and make her stretch out.  I don't think Meg has much milk yet, when does it come in fully?

I topped up the little one with puppy colostrum, now he is 2days old should i switch to welpi.  The instructions that i got frm the vet say to feed him 1/4 tsp every 2hrs, but if i'm only topping up what would you give him?

Thanks everyone, i know i sound like i haven't a clue what i'm doing, but i'm second guessing myself every step of the way cause these little pups are so important to me, i love them to bits, and as yet i don't know if my instincts are right or not.

Leanne
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id now change to whelpi has hes 2days old now this is the bit im not sure how much to give when toping up after mum has mine are large breed ,when hes drinking from mum does he look like hes getting milk? is he paddleing with him front legs ( pushing them in and out )on mums body? and if u touch him can you get him off easy? if u can hes not sucklying very well and will get very tired very quickly ,but still let him do this before toping up.
megs milk will come in the more pups suckly from her and she only has 3 so she will only make enough for 3 so dont worry to much because the other 2 are gaining so she is doing a good job ,hope that helps but sorry i dont know how much to give him xx

when he is suckling can you see his little belly filling up?

> when he is suckling can you see his little belly filling up?

yeah, i gave him a top up with welpi and to be honest, he looks a little too full now.  He was guzzling it, i only gave him 3ml