I have a small litter, all pups are thriving, except for the smallest who is not putting on weight. Lost first 2 days, stayed same today. Pup is warm. Gave puppystim yesterday and today. Feeding every 2 hours from mum day and night. Sucking ok. Started supplementing by sponge feeding today, still feeding from mum. Am supplementing with the puppy lifeline colostrum as per instructions. I also have royal Canin baby dog milk, should I use that instead? I also have nutridrops but not used that.

Any advice welcome as I haven't had to do this before. Just want to know best way to proceed and with what.

How long can you give puppy stim for?

Thank you.

If you have a small litter and mum has enough milk, then the problem isn't a supply issue - it's something to do with that individual puppy.  Supplementing with Royal Canin or any other milk substitute, isn't going to help unless you tube feed.  Tube feeding gets the milk where it needs to be immediately and without any energy expenditure from the puppy.  Sucking on a bottle and sucking on mum all expend energy so you're not really achieving anything by supplementing.

If you don't want to tube feed, then ensuring the puppy is always on the most productive nipples (usually near the rear legs) is the best option.  If there is only a small litter you shouldn't need to worry about other puppies knocking the puppy off the nipple but if you think it would benefit, take the other pups away in a warming box and let the small pup have private nursing sessions with mum. 

Sponge feeding isn't a good idea because sponges are not hygienic and harbour bacteria and also because they can result in droplets spurting out and getting inhaled and aspiration pneumonia.  Stick to bottles or tube feeding.

But really, sometimes there is something wrong with a puppy internally, which means the puppy won't thrive and will pass away.  This is sad but very common and no amount of effort in terms of how you feed, what you feed or when you feed, is going to make any difference if that's the cause...

However, it is pretty normal for puppies to lose weight in the first 24 hours after birth.  48 hours might be pushing it, but if the puppy has now remained the same for a day, that is a huge improvement and hopefully it was just a blip at the start of life and you will start to see weight gain now.

Nothing to add to onetwothreefour's reply.

Keep puppy plugged in every time yoru near, and if there is no abnormaility stopping pup from thriving it should start to gain weight.  If things are still slipping backwatd by a week, you will have to resign yourself to the fact the pup is not viable.

As a breeder your aim is to produce sound healthy pups who wil; have a good quality of life, trying too hard to rear a poorly pup may simply prolong suffering, and heartbreak for yourself, or worse pass it on to new owners.

Thank you both for your responses. I am aware of all that you have mentioned. The pup is strong and sucking well, it was just smaller than the others when born and with losing weight the first two days it has dropped in size considerably. It is finding mum and latching on well. It didn't lose weight overnight and every feed was supervised to ensure it was sucking. It looks better now as been supplementing today, in addition to feeding from mum..

What I really want to know is:

Should I be supplement feeding with the Colostrum mix or the RC Baby Dog Milk? What is best on day 4? The Colostrum mix says give 4ml (according to weight of pup) whereas the RC milk says between 5ml and 20ml (depending on size of adult dog), so that varies considerably. How much?
How many days can I give the Puppy stim for as the instructions do not specify?

Thank you.

Its worth also checking the roof of the mouth for holes abnormalities such as cleft.  If hes not increasing in weight best to check with vet.

> Supplementing with Royal Canin or any other milk substitute, isn't going to help unless you tube feed.

Already answered that.

I wouldn't bother with the colostrum - the only colostrum which is any use to a puppy, is a bitch's colostrum and colostrum in those rubbish supplements, is bovine...

Pups can only absorb colostrum for at most a day or so after birth, if that so any supplementing should be pupy fiormula, but to be avoided if possible.

If pup is suckling well and the litter is smal then if normal it should start gaining, even if behind the others.