I have a litter of 7 born by Caesarian. First pup born had a rocky time but came out crying, feeding etc but was very weak. He has struggled since and we almost lost him twice but he was a fighter so we hung in there. 3 weeks on others are growing like weeds but he looks like a pup 2 weeks younger. His weight gain is only on average 1/2 oz per day despite 2/3 hourly bottle feeds which he takes well.Others are gaining 2/3 oz per day but he doesn't seem to have strength to get what he needs from Mum.We tube fed up till a week ago then put him on bottle. He is very 'nasal' and has been seen by vet who has given him Synulox drops. No signs of cleft palate. The real issue is that within  five/ten mins of a feed he sneezes loads out through nose which is then a bit curd like.It sprays so much it sometimes ends up on other pups. Tried him with puppy mousse but at the moment is not so keen to try lapping. When he is due for his bottle he is frantic for it.
Vet doesn't know what else to suggest but wonder if anyone had any thoughts. Thanks

We have a puppy very similar. He was born the second biggest but in his third week started to lose weight and after close monitoring started to gain it again but at a much slower rate than the other three. We never noticed milk coming out of his nose and he was never sick. When weaning he started to get quite snotty and was seeing the vet almost every week whilst on Synulox. He went to the vets because the drugs hadnt made any difference and they put a scope up his nose to find some Fluff stuck up there!

Now he is continuing on the antibiotics and is also on Loxicon anti-inflammatories. Every time he goes to the vets they check him for a cleft palate and when they scoped him they flushed through his nasal passage and throat so we know there's nothing wrong in there. But on Monday he went back to the vets because he is still snotting and is Raw fed so you can occasionally see pink meat in the snot.

They have xrayed for PRAA http://www.vetsurgerycentral.com/gi_praa.htm and he doesn't have that either. I would have a look at that next :)

I too would enquire about PRAA. I had a puppy suspected with this. Barium xrays, scans etc all done and it was highly likely it was that from what the specialists who all saw it said. the chance of survival was low even with an operation and weeks in the vets and if she did survive the chance of a good healthy life was also low so at 7 weeks she was pts.  broke my heart but it was the right thing to do for her.
However I would note that it wasn't noticeable until she was around 4 weeks and properly weaning where she would regurgitate her food not all but some so did make weight gain. I was hand feeding her with her almost upright and slush to get nutrition into her until we figured out what actually was going on.

Thank you
Just had quick chat with vet and he did say that there are several possible vascular band anomalys. At the moment my concern is he is very frail and the risk of anaesthetic to a tiny body :-(
He hasn't started solids yet , just his milk

my pup didn't have anaesthetic to have this done. they did it with her wide awake. due to her age they didn't want to risk it.

Just been speaking to Vet. A vascular ring anomaly is a possibility but she didn't think an X-ray would show much without barium and thought pup too young. Did your baby have just a plain X-ray?
Other options are referral to specialist hospital but felt prognosis slim. Having said that when she saw how 'well' he seems she is reluctant to give up.She has gone away to do more research :-(

She did have a barium at 6 weeks old. I then had to make a tough decision after the xrays and scans were sent to different specialists.  I couldn't put her through any operation with prognosis not a good one and weeks and weeks of the critical period in a vets and spending  £5k with even if she made the operation a good quality of life. I spend a £1k on scans and diagnostics to get that far as it was.

Thanks Sue
Am awaiting Vet to call me later. I just feel I need a diagnosis rather than say goodbye and wondering if I could have saved him.I am thinking maybe I will have a referral and at least see what they suggest.

Hi just read all the responses .. I have a litter of pups
And one of them was very nasally and had milk coming from her nose, first vet gave her sinulox and said she had a chest infection and it doesn't sound good.. but
I bottle fed her and kept her warm.. aweek
later I returned to the vet as it was the same ,
I was expecting the worse, but she said it's
not on the chest it's in her nasal passages, another week m
Of synulox .. it can put them off food or milk, but luckily it didn't..  it's all cleared up now, she's smaller than the rest
But is doingbwell... I had to drop a little syringe of milk on her tongue with a couple of drops every now
and then to keep her mouth moist .. but it worked, she eats her Gruel more than the rest.. hope your pup improves x

thank you
It was weird really. Vets were at a loss and talked about all sorts of things including referral, but then I put royal canin down for the others and he went crazy for it. In last few days he has gained 4/5 oz per day whereas before it was only 1/2 oz or so. He has had a couple of courses of synulox too. 100% better though I am still seeing a small amount of 'green snot 'come from nostrils but compared to a week ago when loads of milk would come out. Still not sure whats going on. though he is physically thriving he is mega small compared others but at least I still have him for now. he will drink water from the bowl

Could it be cricopharyngeal achalasia ? Just a suggestion as my friend had a pup in her litter with this and he presented signs sounding much the same as your pup.

Interesting to read all this - the only time we had milk from nostrils was with our ill-fated litter where the necessary C.Section was delayed by the vet etc.   Once the locum arrived that morning, did a C.Section and managed to get them out, 5 of the original 9 survivors, one of them was doing this which I noticed when we got them and mum home.   The staff had been bottling the litter which for me, was daft given the circumstances and clearly with this puppy, milk had gone down into the lungs.   Despite doing all I knew how to do when I realised what was going on, he didn't make it.   Tragic because he was such a pretty colour - black head and tail set on and the rest all WHITE which would have eventually had black ticking and could have been very eye catching in the ring, if good enough overall which we never knew about.   I was shattered enough almost losing mum, without that.   I think basically after their traumatic birth, all those puppies really needed was a good rest once home in the warm - they were just too weak and probably all that was needed was glucose and water via a dropper.   Happily the remaining 4 left, which must have been basically so strong to have survived at all, thrived.

I have just googled it. At first I thought 'maybe'
"Symptoms of Cricopharyngeal achalasia are usually seen in a puppy at the time of weaning. When eating a puppy will show repeated attempts to swallow the food until eventually it is swallowed. The puppy may also regurgitate or the food and in some cases, food might possibly lodge into the airway."
In his case though the problem improved with solids. he is still a little bit 'nasal' but is growing like a weed though still much smaller than his siblings. I will just monitor the next few weeks

I sincerely hope this is not what I have experienced. My first Lowchen was a dog puppy who I was told had brought back an occasional teaspoonful of milk when he was being weaned. He did grow normally, but as he approached 4 months he started to regurgitate his food - sometimes hours after he had eaten, when it looked like poop. A total of six vets were consulted, he had barium x-rays, but no one ever managed to find out what was wrong with him. I now wonder if an upright feeding chair might have helped, but this was in the 80's and these ideas were not common then. He was pts when he started to show signs of vitamin deficiency, causing him to fit.

Thank you Carol, i too hope its not that. I will be keeping him here until I am sure what it might be. Have heard of megaoesophagus but vet doesn't think its that