looking for advice on hand rearing puppies  , my friends bitch went into labour and delivered 4 puppies she was scanned at having 3,last pup born at 1pm called vets few hours later he said to give her time, 5 th one born with alot of help born with out bag and stuck eventually pulled it out went back to vets to get the bitch checked he said there was def 1 possibly 2 to leave her over nigjt no oxytocin give as this pup was not in canal , i stayed up with my friend and her litttle bitch to see if she could deliver this pup but nothing the bitch was okay all night settled down with her 5 babies, next morning my friend checked on bitch she had black gunk coming from vulva, dioreah,and vomiting all at same time, got to vets asap he did a c section removed her uterous and hysterectomy this was yesterday he said she had a  massive infection ,we did ask for a c section the previous day but were told there was no need as the bitch was not in any distress she woud be okay to leave over night if we were worried to call him ,,we got her back today but were told not to let pups anywhere near her, my friend is feeding the puppies every 2 hours on lactol, is there anything else she can do to make sure these little babies put on weight and get stronger,

she has been told about goats milk, honey,yoghurt,raw eggs as this mixture had more calories than lactol  would this help??

Sorry only just seen this!  Contact Heather Ridley  01945 450475.  She's the expert in this field.

could she put pups onto mother or is that a no no because of infection could it be passed onto pups?

yes i second that about heather ridley she is great and gave me the best advise she knows her stuff !!!!
tell your friend good look and i hope all goes very well for her ,bless her shes going to be very tired ,i hope she will be getting lots of help ,even if its just in the day so she can rest x x x

Just wanted to say good luck with the pups and I hope you get the help and advice
you need from Heather or someone else who can tell you what would be best for the pups.
My friend went through the same thing exactly a week ago with her bitch. 

My friend has a bitch at the moment who although she has had litters before is being a nightmare about feeding them and he doesn't know if she isn't producing enough milk and so therefore has been feeding them himself because the puppies are crying  because they are so hungry. He is feeding goats milk and the puppies are coming on fine.

Hope all goes well, what a nightmare, welpi is also a fab substitute milk.

Hi dipdipdaisy,
Sorry to hear of the dreadfull time your friend has had. There will be lots of help on here, of people who have gone through the same thing. It's lucky she has a friend like you, keep her chin up, positive thinking, she will get so tired.
Yet again! another vet who is not experienced in Welping or Welping advice. There is a book on amazon called "Puppy intensive Care" A Breeders guide to care of Newborn Puppies. It is cheaper on Amazon and will come in approx. 24hrs. There may been some help in there for day to day care.
I wish you could hold vets acountable for there actions, I have a complaint going on at the moment. I know they will pass the book, but! it might result in better care next time. If I decide to give them a second chance.

Denese

Hi,

Firstly tell your friend not to worry, lactol, whelpi will give the pups all that they need, I hand reared on a vets supply of whelpi for the first week and then afterwards made my own fully pasturised goats milk and egg yolk supplement (which I personally prefer) and all were very happy, stocky pups, the pups will be absolutely fine on any of these milk substitutes.

It is very hard work, but worth every minute when you see the pups running around and playing in a few weeks time. :-)

Good luck and I hope that the DAM is soon fully recovered and able to wash and clean her pups very soon.

Hi, don't forget that if the pups are not with their mother, your friend will have to wee and poo them herself after every feed.

friend went back to vets today to get the bitch looked at , and was told that she could have fed the pups now. i think he,s making it up as he goes along , he really aint that good at whelping & breeding,we checked to see if mums milk was still there yes after a  few squeezes it came out put we put the smallest on and boy did it sook lol, so we trying this for  a while and see how we get on and feed them in between ourselves..many thanks for all your help and advice we reeally appreciate it

I get the distinct impression a lot of vets are rubbish about whelpings! Great if she is ok to feed them now, it's much the best thing for the puppies. Weigh them each day and that will reassure you that they are getting enough.

A Friend had a situation of a bitch being treated for a phantom with drugs to dry up the milk and turned out she was in whelp.

there was no milk for five days but the pups suckled and suckled and bitch cared for them and the milk came in so that those hand rearing were gradually able to stop feeding them as the milk came in and increased.

Hi...glad to hear that things are looking up. I had a small bitch that had to have a c-section (a bit different to your situation) but it was the same after with the pups, with having to hand rear them for a while. The mums milk didnt come in so i had to feed them and latch them on and after a day or so it came in and they were fine with mum. Just keep latching them on and hopefully the milk will come and mum will take over. A friend recently recommended Nutro-Lac, as my chi welped a few days ago and may have needed a c-section (luckily popped them out herself :) ) but its goats milk for pups and it seems really good. Mum enjoys a drink of it and you can soak the pups food in it when you wean them.
All the best :)

Hope all goes well and you can get mum to nurse her own pups, better for them and you! Keep us updated x

Lucky she didn't abort!!