Hi i have a puppy in the litter that seems smaller than the rest which are thriving they are 2 weeks in tuesday this puppy has suddenly lost weight i have tried letting it nurse on the bitch by iteslf b 4 tge others it will pick up a few grams then it will seem it will have lost some weight again im thinking of supplementing with welpi milk its not crying or anything it feeds and is content and cuddles with its siblings afterwards but it feels light it came on all of a sudden this weight loss what can i do im distraught at the thought of losing the puppy if i supplement how often do i feed this alonside the bitch nursing appreciate any help here

Has the litter been vet checked for any holes in roof of mouth?

Hi yes they have been vet checked no cleft palates etc could bringing in to the vets it caught an infection im sure its near enough the time it dropped weight or it could just be a coincidence

Should i start the supplementing with milk

Although I would prefer a pup to get fed by mum I don't think you have any choice.  But always let the weak pup feed from mum first, so all you are doing is the top up.  Every 2 hours and make sure you are feeding slow enough so puppy doesn't choke.

Should add that if you are suspecting infection then you need antibiotics.  Usually they will give you liquid AB's for little 'uns.

Thanks jean sw it was the sudden drop of weight it looks like shes lost muscle tone aswell im going to vets just in case im so upset here with worry should i start tonight with supplementing her dont know what happened i have nothing to do rehydration with just now its late

If you are worried about dehydration it would not hurt to try a little warm water with a syringe.  If she takes that reasonably well you could try a small quantity of milk.  It would help to keep her strength up.  Get to the vets nice and early.  I wouldn't wait to phone.  I have been on their doorstep before opening in an emergency.  I don't ask, I just say I need a vet immediately, this is very urgent.  I don't try it on, I would never be insistent if it wasn't warranted, but I would consider a pup this young to be urgent.

Im just so stressed and upset i dont think i can sleep or eat or breathe i just latched it on to mum just now it was pushing to get to the milk bar lol strong suckles then i delibrately put it a bit away from her siblings in the whelping box to see if she can be string ebough to get back she staggered quickly to her siblings cuddled up to them and slept

I understand you are feeling helpless right now.  I know you won't sleep as you can't wait for morning and a vet.

I'm thinking of you.

{{{{  HUGS  }}}}

Thanks jean its so stressing that i cant even think straight to work out the instructions for welpu

What news today?

Hi been to vets shes been given synolux drops antibiotics and ive to top her up with the welpi she was given some rehydration fluids subcutaneously and she had her glucose levels checked which is ok she became very active at the vets and decided to kick and scream there lol

Thanks for the update Sophie.  It is welcome, as if people don't come back, you're always left wondering.

I am so glad that she has been started on the antibiotics, it should be onward and upwards now.  :-)

Thanks jean for the encouragement instead of bottle feeding ive just latched her on a teat on mum every 2 hours is this wise or should i also use the welpi aswell and is it normal for a puppy to just flop after a meal session it tucks itself in next to other puppies after feeds and just goes quiet

Pups will always lie in a pile for warmth.  If pups are cold they can't digest the milk.  If she is doing this then I would assume that she is satisfied.  She would be crying if she is hungry.  If she is suckling from a teat ok then I would be inclined to let this happen as there really is no substitute for mums milk.

Ive got the bottle feeding kit im keeping it on hand just in case but you have got to make the hole in tge nipple yourself and its proving difficult arrrrg cant get it right to get right flow any suggestions

We had 4 puppies from our last 2 litters not thrive as much as the others. They all had good strong sucks and spent hours feeding from the Mums, but looked like Skin and Bone compared to the others. The Puppies were bright , alert and active, but just didn't gain any weight. We did the usual worming etc, but still no change, so our Vet suggested Puppy Stim and within a week they'd gained 3/4 of a Kilo each, compared to the couple of 100gms they'd gained in the 2 previous weeks.

Hi tydound thats interesting where do u get the puppystim and can u get it a vets im willing to give anything a try did yours put on some weight then it loses a few again or were they steadily gainibg weight i wonder if theres such thing as fast metabolism in puppies

Sofie, if you GOOGLE puppystim, there's quite a bit on it :-)

There are also a few sites selling it :-)