I have a litter of 9 born 2 weeks ago. All a good weight other than one little girl who weighed 220g at birth (half the size of siblings). The first 12 hours after birth she would not feed from mum so I bottle fed her. After 12 hours she picked up and has been able to feed from mum since.
I regularly put her on a back full teat (after one of the bigger pups has got the milk flowing). She has gained weight most days and now weighs 518g which is still half the weight of her siblings. She seems well in herself, her eyes are open and she moves around and is no different to the other pups other than her weight, she feels so bony in comparison to her big, chunky siblings.
After she started feeding from mum, it has been almost impossible to get her to take the bottle.

I guess why I’m posting is to find out if others have had a similar thing? Did it end well? Did they improve when weaning started?

I don’t usually start weaning until 3 weeks, should I start earlier to try to help her?

I’ve obviously checked her over and had a very good look in her mouth and no signs of cleft palate.

Usually there is something internally wrong when a pup is born much smaller than the others and also fails to thrive or put weight on. 

And usually it is best just to let them go than to struggle with ever increasing life preserving measures... via the vet if necessary.

That is sort of my thoughts, but at the same time she is not having any extra feeds or help really, and seems well in herself. I think if I was still having to bottle feed I would have given up by now.

If there aren't any other problems with her, other than being smaller than the rest, loads of people have raised little pups like that successfully and all has been well - it doesn't alway mean there's a problem.  And often they catch up in terms of weight at a later date (in their new homes).

> <br />I don’t usually start weaning until 3 weeks, should I start earlier to try to help her?

I'm a huge believer in "mum's milk is best."  I wean a lot later than most, with no problems at all.

> I'm a huge believer in "mum's milk is best."

Me too.   If this puppy has a problem that's not apparent yet, I'd leave her on mum for now at least.   With a smaller puppy, I'd attach them ahead of the others but not on a back teat - on a middle teat.   Sometimes the big full back teats with my breed, are too much for a small puppy to cope with.   We didn't begin weaning until well into the third week, going on the 4th.

I've said it before so sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I had a pup half the size of its litermates. We went to the vets 4 times, saw 3 different vets, I topped up with bottles, she seemed perfectly normal according to everyone, she was just small. The vets all said to keep going as we were. A friend took her on knowing she might not be normal (I certainly wasn't going to sell her). She grew to a pretty normal size eventually (smaller than littermates but within normal range) but started showing neurological problems, first with leg coordination, later more. Had every test possible including MRI scans, still nothing obvious found. The only conclusion anyone came to was that her nervous system had never developed properly. She died aged 17 months and I swear I will never again rear a pup that much smaller than the siblings.

Oh, sorry to hear about your experience Goldmali.
Well yesterday I decided to mix some puppy milk with a small amount of mousse so that it was thick enough for me to cup in my hand to see if she would lap at it- she did, in fact she went crazy for it. She’s put on 50g overnight which is the biggest gain she’s ever had. I figured I didn’t have much to lose by offering it, mums milk has been keeping her alive but not helping her thrive.

On the other hand.in my first litter of 4 the firstborn pup was only half the size of the next smallest at only 6oz, with others being 12, 13 and 14oz.

She was 3/4 the size of others by 4 weeks.

By 8 weeks she was 8lb to the others 10+.

At a year old she was normal size, and the best of the bunch, and had come back for re-homing, and lived to 14 in her new home.

I have found that small pups really do pick up once eating weaning foid, and have started.pups as young as when eyes open if weight gain levelling off.

In a big litter like this I'd certainly be offering weaning foods, if they are ready they will quickly take to it and eat increasing amounts, as well as Mum's milk.

Thanks brainless, lovely to hear a positive story! She has put on another 55g overnight, so the weaning food is obviously helping! She looks less bony already!

On the other hand.in my first litter of 4 the firstborn pup was only half the size of the next smallest at only 6oz, with others being 12, 13 and 14oz.

She was 3/4 the size of others by 4 weeks.

By 8 weeks she was 8lb to the others 10+.

That's the difference Brainless, my pup was still only half the size of the others at 12 weeks when she left for her new home. It was a small litter of only 6 (my average litter size has been 8 to 10 or more).

I haven't posted on here for ages but still read and this thread rang a lot of bells - in my FTCh Cocker's much-anticipated last litter she produced 6 healthy, chunky pups... and one teeny tiny little scrap. She was 164g at birth - the next smallest pup was 328g, exactly twice her weight. My immediate thought was cleft palate but there was nothing obvious amiss, she was just very tiny. When the vet came out the next day to dock the litter he checked her over, listened to her heart and lungs etc. and couldn't find anything wrong, but I decided not to have her docked along with the others.

I was pretty sure she wasn't going to thrive and I contemplated starting to supplement her, but to cut a long story short, I didn't need to. She fought her way in to the prime feeding position every time right from the get-go, held her own with her siblings and gained weight steadily day on day. When I started weaning them she was still literally half the size of the others, but she was in proportion, took to the food straight away and kept gaining weight. She was the first one to get up on her feet, the first one to try to climb out of the whelping box (and always the last one to go back in again!). At 8 weeks she was still approximately half the size of the other pups, but she was sturdy and in proportion.

She was an absolute little character - I could have sold her 10 times over - but she wasn't for sale. I'd had her checked multiple times and although the vet wasn't making any guarantees they basically told me that she was 'normal, just small'. I gave her to my parents who were aware that there may be something going on that we hadn't yet seen, but I'm happy to report that over 5 years later she is still 'normal, just small'* and is a fully-qualified SARDA search-and-rescue dog.

*she's about 9.5kg to her mother's 14kg

Thank you for that lovely story.

Well I am pleased to say that weaning is what has been successful for my pup. Yes she’s still the smallest but she is now only slightly smaller than the other smallest in the litter (who is a normal size) she’s no longer ribby and has a nice covering over her. She is absolutely thriving and I am so relieved!

What great news