So I've read lots of forums... But looking for advice please. .

My Bitch [small breed] had pups (1st litter) all fine. At 3 weeks she has a mild seizure and was treated with iv and calcium tablets for hypocalcemia overnight... Seemed much better,however teats were swollen and was told to keep an eye.obviously she had been away from them for 6 feeds. Started weening Nd introduced bottle feeds. Was told they could feed off her but take the load off by supporting with a few syringes per pup.

Took her back to vet this eve (pups 4weeks)as I thought they looked iffy... Swollen hot lumpy even, but mum seems OK. They have given anti inflamitory and a penacillin type AB. Told me to not let pups feed. However, time I got home the teats were almost balloons looked like they would pop. I decided to let her feed which did help. Also doin the hot n cold compress before and after feed. However, is it OK for them to balloon whilst she dries up. Or is it best to let them drain in this situation.

She also has a nipple that is slightly inverted. Pups struggle to latch to this even with prompting. This particular teat seems to have trouble going down.

All milk is white and in good supply from all teats. Mum is eating and drinking alot.

Should I remove her and not let her feed as vet suggested? I have to take her back for check up Friday  but the situation of the ballooned teats did not sit well

Oh dear.

>They have given anti inflamitory and a penacillin type AB. Told me to not let pups feed. However, time I got home the teats were almost balloons looked like they would pop. I decided to let her feed which did help.

So basically you went against vet advice?  Why would you do that??  There are reasons for the advice given.  If they have given her Metacam or a similar NSAID (anti-inflammatory) it can cause permanent damage to the puppies' kidneys if they then drink her milk - it causes renal tube defects.

I sincerely hope your puppies are ok.  If it's important to you that a dam continues to feed her puppies, make that known before a medication is prescribed and discuss your need/desire for that, with your vet.  If you want to do something other than what the vet has told you, discuss that with your vet and find out their reasoning for the advice given.

We weaned 'naturally'.   In other words by the end of week 3 going into week 4 we introduced the puppies to warm goats milk, holding each up off the floor, in my lap (excuse pun) teaching them how to lap the milk.   It was a messy job but it worked.   Once they could do that I moved onto mixing either the goats milk, or warm water with a good quality puppy food, to produce a porridge, gradually cutting back the amount of liquid.

All the time, they were still taking most of their nourishment from mum although over time, the more they had from me, the less they had from mum which meant she produced less milk, drying up gradually.   For us, this worked better than taking the puppies right off mum when weaning started.   They were fed and then put back to mum to be topped up.

If your bitch is reacting like that (ballooning teats?) and because of the meds she's on, you could always milk her yourself, but again the act of nursing or milking would cause her to maintain lactation which obviously you do not want.   I'm wondering if you should cut back on the protein she's having now?

Although I'd always get back to the treating vet, do you have a mentor (perhaps the stud dog's owner or the breeder of your bitch) you can take advice from - somebody who could come in and SEE what's going on there.  Not all vets have a first-hand knowledge of caring for a nursing bitch - just the ability to sort out a problem if things have gone wrong.

It does sound as if she's gone to eclampsia AND Mastitis which is quite a packet to have to deal with!!