Does anyone have any experience of hand rearing? Having a little difficulty particularly with a very small puppy not getting a look in and on vets advice am trying to supplement with bottle and whelpi. My bitch is being drained by the larger puppies but none of the puppies are remotely interested in the bottle and, to be honest, the teat seems to be very hard work for a tiny little mouth. Has anyone had any success with supplementary feeding?

And thanks to everyone for their advice on Sunday, particularly Westielover. It may have looked like I'd left the country but I was in constant phone contact and Holly's breeder, who lives a mile away, was on standby. I was gutted that I missed it and came back as soon as I could. Nevertheless Lucy and Holly did extremely well and Holly and all the puppies except the little one are doing well.

hi you might be better with a syringe as I brought a pup up from 1 week which had a clef palete and the breeder decided to put the pup down which i didn't agree so me and my friend got up every 2 hours and feed this pup and 4 years along the line she is going strong as a pet so try and continue trying. Its hard work but worth it in the end

I have hand reared two litters of Bordeaux.
I would say ask your vet to show you how to tube feed and feed using this method. Bottle feeding can result in milk inhalation and pneumonia :-(.

Thanks for that. I got the milk and the bottle from the vet this afternoon but I'll go straight back tomorrow and ask about then buy a syringe or tube. She's a strong little thing despite not seeming to thrive like the others so we're hoping and praying she'll make it.

Hi, just interested to know, how many did your bitch have in the end. I followed the story on sunday - your daughter was very brave. Did everything go ok?

Holly had four boys and two girls which is unfortunately a rather large litter for a Bichon. The two girls are the smallest weighing 3oz and 4 1/4 oz and there's quite a small boy weighing 4 1/2 oz. The other boys are all about 7oz and much, much bigger. I haev the three smaller ones latched on at the minute while the three bigger ones are asleep in a box right next to Holly so she can see them. Hopefully they'll get a chance to get what they want before the others. Holly is really tired so I'm straight back to the vets at nine.

(Don't worry Corso girl I'm 36, was involved with Holly, her siblings and her dams other litters from birth and I am also the responsible owner of horses and rabbits)

Sorry Andi20 well you are young at 36 oh i remember being 36 once !!!

I think this is a young person and should not tube feed as if you are not very careful you can kill your pup, she just needs to get a teat for a new born baby and just put into pups mouth and drip milk in and it will suck,or is this mum we are talking to now?

Hi, if you saw the original posts you would have known that Andi is the childs mother :D Hence why I thought it safe to tube. I hope so any way as I am only 34 and have tube fed litters!!! lol

I've heard that there's someone on the net, who specialises in hand rearing pups. Sorry, I've scoured all my info, and can't find a name/number, but this lady should bw well knowen in dog circles (I think she specialises in rearing orphaned/abandoned pup).
Someone may know who I'm twittering on about

liberty

Have you considered actually using a larger teat? I use one for new born babies with a fast flow they seem to be able to get a better seal round it!

Jesse

put the smaller puppy on the back boobs ---with one of the other pups, keep the others away until the little ones had its fill, then release the others, this way the smaller one will get the easiest end to deal with,

I agree with Dizzy, its even more important for the small, weak ones to get mothers milk rather than a substitute.

We're putting the three smallest on at the back and hand feeding the three largest. The smallest girl put 1/2 an ounce on yesterday and is now 3 1/2 oz so she's going in the right direction. Gave the bottle up as a bad job and got some syringes from the vet which are working ok although it's a slow job because I'm very conscious that I don't drown them.

Andi
Using a syringe is better than a bottle but there is still a risk of milk inhalation. Also it is a very slow process with a syringe considering new borns should be fed every 2 hours :-(
Still would advise you to tube feed. You need to be shown how by your vet but if shown correctly you will know when the tube is in the correct place :-)
Tubing gets the milk directly into the stomach and because it gets there quicker the milk is still at the right temp 38 to 40 degrees. Whereas by the time you have bottle/syringed the milk has gone cold.

Hi

Will speak to the vet in the morning about tubes as it is very slow with the syringe. Don't know about using SMA?? We are using Welpi and Holly is being supplemented with Lactol (reminiscent of when the kids were little all this formula making!). The good news is that they are all putting on weight daily and the little girl is now 4.25 ounces (an increase of 41% of her body weight since Wednesday evening) and Fat Sam is a whopping 9 ounces. The others are all doing well too but I'm not risking any continued development with complacency (the sun lounger-cum-bed remains next to the whelping area for 24 hour supervision!) and we will be perservering for the next few days. Holly is now also producing a lot of milk so the little ones are getting as much of that as they want.

andi within a few days theyll all be getting plenty, -----but for a while id make sure the smaller ones still get put on the back boobs, the bigger ones can fight with the front ones,

Thanks Dizzy, someone adised that the other day so that's what we've been doing. Thanks to everyone for the advice.

Just checked back and it was you Dizzy! Thank you!

:D :D :D :D --youll remember what sleep is soon :)

I'd stick with the Whelpi if I were you. I prefer it for hand rearing to Lactol :-)

Hi

Puppies are getting Whelpi and mother is getting Lactol. I'm on coffee instead of the red wine. Can't be having anything which may help to induce sleep!

I have bottle fed my puppies and I use a babies bottle and SMA baby milk, the gold one for new borns. If you heat a needle and then stick it through the teat hole it will make the millk flow better. My puppies used to love their bottles.

Just in case you need some help this is Heather Ridley's number she is the lady that takes in pups to hand rear them 01945 450475 hope that will help

Oh boy I remember those days of setting the alarm and falling off the chair because I did not sleep from one alarm to the next. Being saved from going insane from my mother in law who came in for a couple of days just to give me a break.
I hate to bottle feed, but we reared sucessfully a tiny, tiny puppy. Who was just a few ounces at birth with a strong suckle. He then went down hill two days later and stopped suckling. In fact when I look at it, although he was suckling off his mother I dont think he was really getting anything.
So we got a syringe and just put drops on his tongue of whelpi. I also gave him nutridrops. Available on the net. These are high vitamin drops. One drop a day I think it was.
I really thought he would die as the others leapt ahead and were huge. They then bullied him off the nipple, how he still managed to live I dont know.
I thought I would have to keep him either longer than normal. I took him to the vets for three health checks but by the time he was 5 weeks I could see him catching up with the others. Then by 7 weeks he was only a pound behind the fattest boy. I was amazed. I had him health checked a final time before leaving our place and we were told he was very healthy. He is now living on a farm as happy as could be with owners that adore him. Because he had so much love and care he is the most adorable dog you could wish for with a nature thats beautiful.
So chin up and I wish you luck. It is worth while. Because I know I have sent out a dog that is giving its owners all the joy in the world.