He weighed nearly 5oz at birth but for the last 3 days he is stuck at 4oz. His 2 siblings are now at 9oz. He seems normal in everything except size and weight gain. We are trying him on Lactol to help top up but cannot understand why his weight neither gains or loses. Any thoughts. He is a toy breed so quite small.

I had a puppy like this who didn't gain anything for 11 days, had lost an ounce regained it and no more.  I had her put to sleep.  There seemed nothing amiss with her lungs and heart as far as stethoscope could ascertain, and she was hydrated, feeding from bitch regularly, and being supplemneted by me.  On the dupplementing alone she should have been gaining???

I prefered to PTS rather than rear a pup that may have a poor life expectancy/quality, and from a selfish perspective it was easier to do it then than later the older she got.

I hope this is just a temporary glitch and suggest you keep going for about another week or so.

I had a pup that did exactly that in my last litter.  He managed to maintain his birth weight but never put on any more, after 3 or 4 days I started to bottle feed him - so I know he was getting some - he still failed to thrive and died peacefullly in his sleep on day 7!  Sorry that I cannot offer better news.

I guessed that is the way it might go but we will persevere for a bit and see how it goes over the next couple of days. perhaps he is just a late starter.
:(

Hi star,  I have had several pups like this, and whilst I have lost some, I have reared more.  Puglet lost 1 0z of her birth weight, didnt gain anything for days, then came back up to 4 0z and stuck at that until she was 4 weeks old!  At 12 weeks she made 12 ozs :).  She had her 3rd birthday last week, and is the light of my life.  She may not be perfect, but she is very  happy and loved by everyone who knows her.  Fleur came to me at about 12 hours old, she was by our dog and the bitches owner was in a panic as his girl would not feed the pups.  Flora the bigger of the 2 looked fine, but when I collected them Fleur was cold, dehydrated and did not look viable.  However, I persevered, and although she mainatined about 5-6 oz for the first week of life, she really started thriving after day 8, and is now a happy, healthy "old" lady of 7, the Mother of 3 fabulous litters, and, as the breed goes, quite a big bitch.  In her case she had a very big worm burden, and the vet decided that early worming (at day 7) was essential - it was from this that she really took off.

Good luck with you litter.
bye
Gwen

Thanks Gwen
that has cheered me up, perhaps there is hope after all. The mum actually belongs to my 15 year old Hannah and she has been putting all her effort into keeping this puppy alive.
I will keep you posted
Sue

We had a similar pup last year.

Lost weight after birth and then gained nothing for 3 weeks, I kept him hydrated by using glucose, goats milk and water, dropped into his mouth. He was suckling of his mother, but it was the dehydration that was his problem.

I saw him last week and although he is a little small maybe, he is one very healthy lively 14 month old. Who is much loved by his new mum.

I'm afraid I'm of the opinion that whilst there is life there is hope unless there is a physical deformity such as cleft palate I will always give them a go.

Jayne

Hi Star, my sister had a puppy similar to yours in the litter her girl had earlier this year.  The puppy kept losing weight, although she seemed to be a greedy feeder.  However, we now think that although she was latching on to a teat we don't think she had any sucking power.  We were told (might have been someone on here) to gently simmer some liver for 5 minutes and then give the puppy two drops of the cooled cooking liquid from an eye dropper.  This seemed to work wonders and even at a few days old, she loved it!  We also then began to give puppy formula to her, but as she couldn't suck we just dropped it into her mouth - although it was extremely hard work and heart wrenching (as she seemed like she had been starved for days and probably had), she slowly started to gain weight.

She is a real fighter and although she was alot smaller than her littermates, she is finally catching them up (and has overtaken one) now.  She is a lively, lovable little puppy, and we hope she will be around for a long time!

Fiona

thanks for that folks.He has gained a quarter of an ounce since yesterday and still seems strong so we will keep trying with him.
Sue

Hi sue glad your pup still hanging on :-) Used to be able to buy 'Brands essence of beef' from chemist was wonderful for sick dogs and tiny pups,also it is good to put a little honey in with the puppy milk...organic if possible, it is full of nutrients and energy giving.Years ago kept many puppies alive with these :-)
Best of luck.

You can also use Nutridrops Friend of mine has used them with her Mini Wires to great effect. The link is just to let you know the details of the products

You can also use Nutridrops Friend of mine has used them with her Mini Wires to great effect.

hi star
get yourself a tub of natural yoghurt, and give it to your puppy every day( the tip of your CLEAN finger dipped in is plenty) the GOOD bacteria will fight of anything untoward.(i would also give it to the thriving puppies)
i have used it for years and have never lost any puppies!!!
natural yoghurt is also very good for adult dogs( i have 4 sbt's--they all have 1 teaspoon a day)

thanks, we are already using the nutridrops but will try some yoghurt. The pup is still much the same and  gained just under a quarter of an ounce overnight  but still lively but oooohh so weeny compared to the others. He is less than half the weight of his brothers.
Sue

Well pup is a week old now and has till only gained half an ounce. I bought a special feeder from vets and he guzzles the lactol down but is just not gaining weight. He still is very lively and strong for his size and does all the things his brothers do who are three times his weight. His coat is glossy and he does not look like a fading puppy. Do you think there is still a chance he may develop into a normal little dog?

Fingers crossed that he will Star.

This is the stage at which I was asking myself if I would be willing to keep my pup myself if it survived, as ddoing so badly it could have hidden health problems later, and I could not in all fairness pass them on to a new owner.

So being a coward I opted for put to sleep before the eyes were open, as I don't hink I could have been able to do it at several weeks of age if it then became apparent there was a serious problem.

Another few days should tell you, though this is just how my pup was the food was going in, it just didn't seem to do any good.

Thanks
I wondered if by Monday if there was no changeI should perhaps let the vet look at him although he is so small there is not much to look at. :(

Its a hard decision, but I look at Puglet, who is resting on my should as I type this, and know I made the right decison for me.  She is very far from perfect, but I adore her, and more importantly she is happy, confident and loves life.  I have to face the fact it will possibly not be a long life, but as long as she is free from pain and active and bright, she has a good quality of life.  And she did not gain weight until she was 4 weeks old, so dont give up hope!
bye
Gwen

thanks Gwen
I think 'where there is life'... When you say Puglet did not gain for 4 weeks, was it literally no wieght gain or just slow?

Hi Star,  Puglet weighed just under 4 oz born, and dropped within 12 hours to 3 oz.  She then went back up to almost 4 0z in her first week, and just stayed at 4 oz, whcih she weighed at 4 weeks - she was the wierdest looking little thing you ever saw!  However, she seemed to have a real grasp on life and was very determined!

When I started her on solids (at 4 weeks, can you imagine how small!  I had to use tiny foil dishes (I think they are made for sweets or tiny puddings) and as she had a big head and small body, had to keep hold of her rear end, to stop her tipping up head first into her puppy porridge and drowning!
bye
Gwen

I would, though son't expect the vet can tell you a lot, any likely developemntal problems will take more time to show up as the body matures.  Weaning will be then next hurdle that could make or break, it is just can you put yourself through that and then have to admit defeat, as obviouslyit is not normal for a pup to not gain and grow, there could be groth hormone Issues, absorbtion issues, Liver shunt etc.

Star what a shame after all your efforts :-( did you try honey? maybe as brainless says he has hidden health problems, or may not absorb food properly. I would certainly try for a bit longer. I have reared tiny puppies that have gone on to make up the weight later. Yes I would get it checked out by the vet :-D  good luck!

I certainly wouldn't give up hope.  My last litter consisted of a singleton pup who was born by C-section as she was so big.  She was 8 1/4 oz at birth on a Saturday and I am more used to puppies being between 4 and 5 oz at birth - they are Griffon Bruxellois.  She then started to lose weight and by Thursday, when she was 5 days old, she was 1 1/4 ozs less than she had been at birth.  But she looked healthy, her coat gleamed and she was lively like your pup.  All of a sudden she started to grow and hasn't looked back since - she is now 18 weeks old and is absolutely gorgeous.  Good luck with him.  As he has now gained half an ounce I would hope he is now on the way up.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

If it is any consolation, my son weighed just over six pounds at birth, he went down to five pounds and by 6 months only weighed 9lbs!  I was back and forward to the hospital every day and felt dreadful as my baby had been labelled "failure to thrive".  He underwent every investigation going and was referred to the best paediatric team in the country who couldn't find anything to pinpoint.  At six months he was a scrap but was able to pull himself along the floor comando style.  The moment he did this, he put on 1lb in the first week, 2 in the second and quickly gained weight from then on, with no explanation at all.

He is now 10 and the second largest in his class.  He's tall, strong and muscular with a very athletic build and in the 95th percentile on growth charts, rather than the bottom 5 percent!

Sadly I made the decsion to have him PTS today. He was still not getting anywhere and I could not bear the thought of him suffering when his eyes and ears were open. The Vet examined him and said he was very wheezy and thuoght that something was badly wrong for him not to have thrived despite all our efforts. He is at rest now but I feel so awful.Thanks to everyone who offered their help.
Sue :(

:(
So sorry Sue
You did all you could - and although it was a horrible decision it was undoubtedly the best thing to do for your pup.
{{{hugs}}}

sorry Star.. :-(  you obviously gave of your best and naturally got attached to the poor little mite in the process as one does . It's always worth a try whatever the outcome :-)

You did your best for him, Sue - it's such a shame that it just wouldn't be enough.    But as responsible breeders, sometimes we do have to make such decisions.

Margot