My girl had her litter 4 days ago by c-section and her milk still hasn't come in.  So far we have lost 3 of the pups and I'm doing everything possible to help the remaining 5, the pups are dehydrated so the vet gave them some saline under the skin this morning, plus I am bottle feeding every 2 hours.  Does anybody have any tips in getting the bitches milk in.

Thanks
Sharon

Sharon, Really sorry to hear this. Hopefully someone will have some tips.

I just had the same trouble but only had one to hand feed. 

Positive thoughts.  

All I can suggest is you keep putting them on to suck them top them up after they have been on until the milk does come in.  I know it is hard work.

So sorry to hear you are having problems :-(
My best advice to you would be to accept that mom may not now produce the much needed milk. I do not like bottle feeding and find tube feeding a much better method - personal preferance.
Has there been any explanation for the pups deaths? How were the pups before they passed? Did they loose their desire to suckli, go floppy, cold in the mouth and give a high pitched whine? If any of these symptoms it could be that they had "Fading Puppy" This can also cause the pups not to thrieve - put weight on. If it is Fading Puppy you need to act quick as I am sorry to say but there is a high chance the whole litter could be affected. Please do a search on here for Fading Puppy and you will find information on treatment that "some" vets may not be aware of.
Hopefully it is not Fading Puppy but if it is you need to know the signs in order for early treatment. Also with tube feeding you can ensure pups get necessary fluids in them directly without them dehydrating.
Hope things get better

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/39665.html.
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Oh Sharon, Have just read this. I am so sorry about the loss of your pups, how are the others doing. I am afraid I cant give any advice, just moral support.  When I had my pups 14 weeks ago mums milk never came in and I hand feed the pups right up till weaning, although mum suckled, topped and tailed and did everything for the pups. This was her third litter so she knew what to do.   I fed them Lactol, and they thrived on it. I hope everything goes ok for you. How is Daisy?

Kay

Hi Kay..........well we've lost 3, the other 5 are being hand reared, 3ml welpi every 2 hours I'm exhausted, OH is exhausted too.....good job he's on holiday now.  Tonight we've finally got one pup back to birth weight which I am soooo pleased about, two others are around 10grms away from birth weight too, the other two had lost the most and have put some back on...........so all these feeds we are getting somewhere!

Daisy seems fine in herself, just gets a bit stressed when we start feeding them she insists on sitting on them, almost protecting them from us! She too is doing the topping and tailing and even lets them suckle from her.   My vet is certain that the problem is purely lack of milk and nothing else, so we're trying Daisy on a Holistic Lactation mix, high potency, I'm at the stage where I'll try anything offered at the moment.

I'll e-mail to let you know how things go.

Sharon

Hi Sharon, forgive me if I'm wrong here but isn't this the second of your litters born just a few days apart. Is there a reason why the first bitch Rosie couldn't foster them, or at least some of them (with some kind of identification to separate them). I suppose you are still hoping the milk will come in, and the fostering probably has to be all or nothing, but I wondered if it were possible for the bitches to 'share' the pups as it were. I don't have any experience of anything like this, I was just wondering :)

Dawn R.

Yes I do have two litters, but Rosie is prone to eclampsia and with each litter when they reach 2 weeks old I have to start weaning them as her calcium levels hit rock bottom, so I can't put any more strain on her, otherwise it would have been ideal!  We are now hand rearing the remaining 5, all gained weight yesterday, so I'm keeping everything crossed that it continues this way.

We have bought a holistic lactation mix, which 'may' help bring Daisy's milk in. but in the meantime we continue with the bottle feeding :-(  yes it's hard work, but looking at the pups now, definitely worth it!