This very last litter of mine (Bichon breed) is now 6.5 weeks old.  The largest of the litter (weighing now about 1.5 Kg) has been showing signs of abdominal pain for the past four days.  This is most noticeable in a reduction of energy and the reluctance to walk.  She eats, still nurses from her mother together with her 3 sisters, has no diarrhea, no vomiting, no fever, no respiratory problems.  I took her immediately to my well-trusted vet, he did an ex-ray to eliminate any possibility of foreign objects having been ingested, he checked her over thoroughly and gave her two injections, one a pain reliever, the other I'm not sure what.  We came home, and she was immediately more or less her "old self" again, running and playing with her sisters.  The next day she was, to my mind, "normal".  But the following day (yesterday) she exhibited the same behavior as before.  I took her to the vet yesterday afternoon, and he took blood, gave her a shot of a long-lasting antibiotic and a shot of pain reliever, and we came home.  Almost immediately the puppy's behavior returned to normal.  The vet called me to say that the inflammation parameters in the blood showed a definite rise, which meant an infection of some sort, he felt a general infection, and not an infection of a specific organ or area. Despite the improvement yesterday, this morning, to my dismay, we were back again to square one. She didn't want to get up, didn't want to walk.  So we went to the vet again (at 7.30h, two hours ago), and he has given her a different antibiotic (injection), and I am to call him at 5 o'clock this afternoon to let him know how she is doing.  Again, as soon as we were home, she began playing outdoors with her sisters.   Apparently the pain medication takes effect almost immediately.  Of course, my vet has checked her heart, her tummy and her neurological reactions (turning her back feet upside down to see if she corrects - she does correct) and basically everything else.  This afternoon I am to bring a stool sample from all the puppies, which is no problem, as I saved them all this morning.  They were all perfect in consistency.  The puppies and the mother have been properly wormed at the proper intervals.  They have eaten only one food (Acana Puppy Small Breed), there have been no additions or changes.  As soon as the pain recedes, she is her normal self again!  Does anyone have any ideas?  I've never had this in all my years of breeding.  I can't think what could be causing this.  I thought of colic, but my vet said that colic would not cause a rise in the inflammation parameters. Thanks for any advice or experience.

It sounds like she needs more than just one-off antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. I'm not sure why your vet hasn't given you a course of AB tablets rather than just one-off injections, if he suspects an infection?

Thanks for your response.  My little one is much better right now, but I don't know if it is going to last.  I'll be speaking with my vet at 5 p.m. today, and I'm going to ask him about longer term antibiotics.  I have the feeling that he hopes to be able to treat the rather undefined problem as conservatively as possible and only embark on a longer treatment if proved necessary, but I will clear that with him today.  And I suppose it could be a virus instead of bacteria, which would make antibiotics ineffective.  Perhaps if it becomes obvious that the antibiotic is working, then he will prescribe a longer treatment.  I'll be asking him.

By watching her, I've determined that she is not "ill".  When her tummy doesn't hurt, she plays and eats and poops and is her own little self.  Apparently it is only when she feels discomfort that she stops being active and just lies there.