My medium breed girl had 6 puppies yesterday, I am a bit worried as her back teats are huge (filled with milk) but she has virtually not teat on them for pups to grab hold of, so they are not using them.  I have tried getting the bigger, greedier pup to suckle from them but he is having none of it. I am worried that she may end up with mastitis if they don't get used as they are already feeling very full and hard and she pulls away if I touch them. 

Also 2 of the pups are quite small one weighed 211g at birth and has lost 18g, the other weighed 223 and has lost 12g, as opposed to one pup who weighed 245g and has put on 18g!  Never had pups lose weight before they have always put on straight away or stayed the same.  I keep trying to put the smaller ones on but the smaller one is just not interested, I have checked for cleft palate but it looks fine.

Do you have any nutridrops for the smaller pup, perhaps just needs some assistance if you can bottle feed or tube feed so it can gain some strength to feed on its own. As for the small nipple i dont really know but it may turn bad if not used so be careful

Thanks, what is the best thing to supplement feed with?  I will give the vets a call and see what they have in. 

Rang the vets and they told me to bring them all in, so we have been and was given Royal Canin Babydog Milk, but he didn't seem to think they were a problem, just to use it if needed to supplement the pups. 

Mums teats are cause for concern though as there is actually 3 with no nipple on them, but still producing milk, he said that we need to hope that as the pups get bigger they will start to use them anyway, but told me all the signs of mastitis, so that hopefully if it starts we can catch it early.  He didn't want to prescribe antibiotics yet as he said she may need it later on and as it is a 21 day course he would rather wait and see if she can manage for longer without the need.

My girl doesn't have proper nipples on her back teats but with me helping to get puppies mouths around them they usually managed to latch on and suckle anyway. Good luck!

Thanks, we have been constantly putting the stronger pups on and they have had a go, allbeit not for long, but she seems much more comfortable now.