we have had a litter of 8 pups on monday and well. we noticed a weight drop after 2 days and Pheobe wasnt quite right so off to vets. she is ok just stressed and has no milk coming in anymore. I am now hand rearing and apart from being shattered all was going well until last night. they have stopped suckling. trip to vets and they are on anti-boitics in case of infection but doesnt hold out much hope. any suggestions to help my pups would be great. i have been told sugary water or rubbing karo syrup on gums helps with energy. i am dropping one small drop of milk in their mouths as often as i can just to get some fluid in them. they are on a heat pad and also have mum to clean them and keep them warm. All advice very welcome

Hi I'mhand rearing some puppies at the miniute too. What milk are you using? I was trying Royal Canin milk and Whelpi and the pups woudn't take the bottle. I swapped to Lactol and a Shirleys feeding bottle and they strived so i'd give that a try. 1 and a half tablespoons of GLUCOSE to 100ml of cooled boiled water to give them energy and to stop them getting dyhydrated. One small drop of milk is not enough for even the smallest of puppies. Keep them with the bitch and allow them to suckle as it may bring her milk back in. Good luck I was in your position and really was about to give up hope and a little thing like changing the milk and now they are doing ok

Do you have any Nutridrops in you whelping kit....available from hyperdrug or any vet chemist ...or some vets.  I also had puppy saver from fit and fertile.

I hand reared my last litter due to mum's illness and milk stopping . I used a boots newborn bottle and teat with Lactol once I got the hang of it and into a routine I enjoyed it.
You will find if you make up the milk in the morning  for most of the day and use it  re heat the baby bottle  in a bowl of hot water it makes life easier, test it for body temp on the inside of your arm .
Toilet the puppies before and after feeding remembering to wind the puppies after the bottle feed by gently rubbing thier backs or placing them on your shoulder and pat the back until they burb, I fed the puppies infront of mum outside  the whelp box then passed them to her for a suckle on the teat , this kept mum satisfied that  puppies were safe as she watched everthing I did then she took care of her babies afterwards as it very important for mum to wash and take care of her babies.

try putting a cushion on your knee hold the puppy in the palm of your hand with the head between your fingers letting the front paws pad into the air (same motion as if padding on mums belly to expell the milk)  and the back legs pushing against the cushion on your knee ,rub the bottle teat on the lips of the puppy and he should open his mouth then put the bottle in making sure the milk is in the teat with no air it will take a time for them to get used to the teat and they may want to push it out but persevere (gently) when they eventually get the taste of the milk they will be off drinking in no time.Sometime you need to pup a clean finger in to get them to open thier mouth then slide the bottle in.Some puppies take to it quicker than others.

Also you must use a steriliser with milton for the bottles and keep everything clean.
I bought a travel sterilising kit from tesco quite cheaply, did the job.

I also had fading puppy syndrome suggested to me but my puppies survived so dont give up quite yet.

good luck

Are you still putting them on mum to suck as well in case that helps her milk?
You say you are putting a drop of milk in as often as you can I worry that's not enough. The formula will tell you the amount needed according to weight and age.
I wish you luck x

ive been going tho hell to feeding pups now toping up still pups are 11 days now ,the 1st couple of feed took time but after that like took to it like a duck to water 1 out of 9 wasnt very fust but still took it just took awhile so id leave that 1 till last , mine were drinking about 1/2 to 1oucne at 2days old (large breed adult weight around 32-38kg) and now take around 2 if they havnt had much from mum ,they still suck from her and toilets them but now im haveing to make her get in im shatterd and carnt wait for them to be weaned dont get me wrong i love feeding them but i need some sleep ,i use a baby bottle and lactol milk, all the best with them xxx

> 1 and a half tablespoons of GLUCOSE to 100ml of cooled boiled water

That sounds very over the top for strength to me.  

I believe it is meant to be a 5% glucose solution to help with dehydration, to make this we use:

5 grams of glucose [Dextrose powder] per 100ml of boiled water and a few grains of salt substitute [brand name "Lo-Salt"] which contains potassium chloride and a few grains of common table salt.

I don't whether it is still recommended and, if it is, knows what the formula is but I seem to remember there was a 'recipe' using the juices from boiled/poached  liver as a remedy to use for pups with fading puppy syndrome.  Anyone any ideas?

There's a great post about fading puppy syndrome stored in the FAQ section of the forums really and the people that posted it have their number on there maybe have a look at that and give them a call?

Fingers crossed for you

Thankyou everyone for your replies. sorry i havent been on sooner been a bit busy. Pheobe's pups are now 11 days old and are taking from a syringe nicely. i couldnt get on with the bottle. we use welpi for the pups and vets did suggest royal canin milk but decided if it has to be used within the hour i didnt want to be making mikl up at 2 am ..lol so make up enough welpi in fridge for the night feeds and just warm up what i need. All pups are now gaining weight and even the tiny one i thought we would loose is still going strong. Glad i proved the vet wrong. i know its still early days and pups can still die but vets had said i will probably loose a few due to hand rearing and large litter. Pheobe is a good mum cleaning and letting pups suckle and snuggle up to her. Have bought a new bottle to try as they seem to be going off the tsyringe again and not suckling so well. hopefully this bottle is better than the other ones. it comes with teats alreay pricked so i hope its not to fas. i have tried pricking my own teats for the shirleys bottle but they suck like mad and nothing is happening...any suggestions as its a nice small bottle and easy to measure.

was only giving them a drop now and again say every 10 mins as that is what vets advised.