Hi,

Lara's pups were born on Sunday,by section, and she still does'nt have much milk. The pups have only put on between an ounce and an ounce and a half and I am getting concerned. Should I supplement them until Lara's milk comes in? If so what type of bottle is the best and is Whelpi better than evaporated milk?

Very grateful for any advice offered.

Ive not got a personal experience on this but if the pups arnt crying and there putting on weight then i wouldnt suppliment them as mums milk even though it only seems a small amount is doing wat it should :)

Thanks for getting back so quickly. The pups are noisy when they are suckling and I wondered whether this was significant.

The trouble is, if you supplement the milk WON'T come in as it is supply and demand -the bitch will produce as much milk as the pups need, so the mroe they suckle, the more milk she will get. I don't know what breed it is (and you can't tell of course :) ) so don't know what weight gain would be normal, but ANY gain is a good sign  and if they don't cry all the time and do suckle then hopefully all is well.

Thanks. Maybe I am in panic mode as things seemed to go all wrong at the weekend and my last litter were little piglets. I am probably comparing and shouldn't:rolleyes:

i think the being noisy while feeding is normal as my litter is now 5 days old they make a right racket while feeding but as soon as they finished they all quieten down and go to sleep, as has already been said as long as they are not crying all of the time and are gaining weight they should be ok ( i have been told that weight gain all depends on the breed, the smaller the breed the less they gain and vice versa)

I bitch I bred had a litter at Christmas.  She had to have a C-section too and see had very little milk to start with, it took about a week to come down fully, but once it came there was plenty to go around! The problem with the section is there is not the usual amount of hormones etc which are normally produced in natural birth to trigger things such as this. 
I agree that as long as they are putting on weight and seem to be content then just wait a while and see how things go. 
Of course, if you are concerned then speak to your vet. :)

The vet can give your bitch an injection of Prolactin to get her milk flowing.

Hi, sometimes after a section it can take a bitch a couple of days for her hormones to settle and produce. If you are worried that the pups are not getting that feed then by all means get them some Whelpi to supplement for a day or two.

But you must make the pups suckle for a long time on their mum's teats first, without this she will not produce milk and the message will not get to her brain that she needs to produce.

So let them suckle for a long time, then give them a drop of Whelpi one at a time, mum's milk will be fine in a day or two, and as already said previously full milk will not come in for a couple of weeks.

Pups will generally cry and be very unsettled if not being fed enough though.

Hi,

Thanks to everyone for their advice.

So far I haven't supplemented the pups and am letting them feed from Lara. They have put on about 3 ounces since Sunday,my breed is about 23Kg when grown. I guess that at least they are going in the right direction, all be it slowly. Apart from their weight they are doing fine with their pigmentation starting to change and their little coats have thickening up nicely.

I was at the vet yesterday for a post op check and her woulnd is fine, the vet said that her milk should come with the pups suckling, just as you have all advised.

I think for the time being I will play a waiting game  
Thanks again

Just a thought really but if the bitch is on dry food maybe she needs to drink a little more or have her food moistened? ;)

Hope by now the milk's coming in and all pups are contented :)

good thought.  Dill
when my bitch was feeding i soaked her food.
with chicken of beef stock.

if they are gaining weight and making all the other puppy
noises im sure they will be ok.

they are such a worry :-)
if in doubt keep in touch with vet :-)

Donna

Thanks. I am adding some tinned meat to her complete and giving her plenty to drink in order to,hopefully,bring her milk in.

The pups have put on another ounce and seem to be contented enough! I am really reluctant to start feeding them as I am always anxious about milk going into their little lungs so hopefully they will plod along until I can start to wean them. Maybe I am taking bad because her last litter were such piglets and piled the weight on

This all seemed such a good idea at the time!!!!:-)

Thanks again

If the pups are putting on the weight the way that you say they are the mothers milk must be fine.  Quite often I can't express any milk from my bitches but the pups definitely do so I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.  Good luck!