I have a litter of 3 toy breed puppies 2 weeks old today. The 2 boys are growing well and are fat and chunky but the little girl is absolutely TINY. She has only gained 2 ounces since she was born. She is literally a quarter of the size of her brothers. She feeds regularly but milk comes out of her nose alot. They were born by c section as mum had primary inertia. I am at a loss as to what to do to help her. She has opened her eyes and is active and warm. She is just not growing. Her coat looks stary as well. They were checked at the Vets at 10 days old and he was not exactly sure what to do with her. He said it could be a problem with her soft palate, she definitely doesn't have a cleft palate. I wonder if the milk is not getting into her stomach properly and that is the reason for it coming out of her nose.
Any suggestions gratefully received.

Hiya, Im no expert but maybe she could have worms?Just a thought x

I have had exactly this situation. IMO these tinies haven't developed the neccessary anatomy and enzymes to digest food properly ......YET. I suspect she will turn the corner when her delayed development catches up and when onto meat.

My little 'fail to thrive' toy puppy caught up fairly well by 6 weeks and was perfectly viable (whether I'd ever keep and breed from one like her is another matter.)

To support my little one I did the usual things -supervising all feeds by bitch ensuring she's in pole position and getting the full let-down of milk and gave extra electrolytes.She had antibiotics when the inhalation of milk was a risk, together with clearing her airways when this occured.

The up-side is, being lighter and smaller, she will be the most active and will walk,bark and bite first :-)

Lastly search for the perfect owner for the precious little girl - she'll deserve it.

Give this little one time...I'm sure she'll be ok.

I did sell a tiny boxer pup many years ago, for a token sum, telling the owner he may not make full size....... well 1 year later...a strapping big boy was brought to visit :-)

Just seen Kiera09s post...please dont worm this tiny vulnerable baby just yet .....it's too soon and I doubt if she could cope with a setback..

It is dangerous to worm such a tiny baby at this age!!!

to the OP, good luck with the puppy. conditions that cause regurgitation can include megaoesophagus and vascular ring anomaly, so it may be worthwhile to get these checked for if the puppy continues to not thrive.

I am not experianced enough to know what could be causing the little mites problem, but may I suggest that after she has fed you use an aspirator (you get them in whelping packs) to clear out her little nose, I know that if they are inhalng milk it can cause all sorts of problems and that might just help her out a bit while she is catching up. Fingers crossed for the little one, I am sure she will do fine.

Cleft Palate would still be my main concern, one of my pups had this, was checked over at least a dozen times by 3 different vets because of milk coming out of his nose, not gaining weight etc.   they all said he DIDN'T have cleft palate.  I hand reared him, and when he reached 6 weeks old  We found he had a small hole in the soft palate, obviously when he was tiny it was just too small to see.

Thats exactly what i was thinking Sharon a cleft palate....it does only take a tiny hole and being so small it would be hard to see (it was hard checking mine and they are a large breed) so must be even more tricky on a toy breed. Good luck with your baby, I'm sure she will turn out well. I had a small bitch and dog in my litter and once they had started weaning have caught up pretty much now (they are 5 weeks old tomorrow)

The Vet did say that it could be a problem with her soft palate, but that she is just too tiny to be sure. I really appreciate the replies and hope that she continues to make some progress (even if it is at a snails pace) she is such a little fighter.

keep your fingers crossed, she may be just a slow starter. I have had some pups that had milk keep coming down there nose, the milk used to come out so fast they could not keep up, then they got tired, they were the smallest of the litter.

Denese