My bitch had her 1st litter last Friday - .  Last 2 were slightly smaller though.  Saturday night 1 became listless - gave her some lactol and kept her snuggled up to me and took her to vet on Sunday.  She was very slightly chesty and dehydrated.  Had a shot of antibiotics and rehydration therapy and is much improved.  Vet suggested I give her Welpi every couple of hours as well as putting her to mum etc.  I have been doing this and although she does appear stronger, she is not really putting on much weight.  Mum had CHV at mating and 10 days prior to delivery.  Is there any more that I can do as I am really anxious not to lose this puppy especially after getting her this far.

I am not experienced in this field, but I have been told to keep a box of 'lifeline of puppies' in my cupboard when planning a litter.  It has worked for several breeders that I have spoken to, just a thought I am sure others will give you more advice then I can

If she is drinking the whelpi and also suckling, if her mum is washing and cleaning her too, then relax a little.  Stop weighing her and worrying, if you pick her up and she feels solid leave her be, some pups don't put on extra weight all at once, some pups stay lighter than their litter mates, obviously if she is loosing weight and feels lighter than get her back to the vet immediately, she has had antibiotics and rehydration therapy, she should now be fine as long as she is feeding. :-)

Thanks Carrington - I'll try to relax - it's hard though when the others are all growing at an alarming rate! I try and get her on the best nipple first and try and protect her from the other whilst she feeds - not much more I can do really.

Don't know if this info will help at all.  My first litter of Goldens produced 8 puppies but 3 were quite small. One of them was only 5ozs at birth and we were extremely worried.  I was told to supplement to ensure that she was getting enough but that proved very difficult as she wouldn't take anything other than Mums milk. She did come on but remained much smaller than all the others throughout.  When I next saw her at 12 months old she was huge (not fat) but was so tall she was larger than her Mum, (and she is a very substantial bitch). Hope it helps to ease your worries a bit!

I hope all is well with the little one, is her chest rattly when you listen to it ? If so I would take her straight back to the vets and ask for a steriod injection. Don't wish to worry you but occasionally they can get fluid in their little lungs which can lead to pneumonia, having said that if she is feeding well but not putting on the weight as the others are, she may well be a slow doer. She will then catch up with the others eventually.

Good luck and fingers crossed for this little one. x

Personally I wouldn't be supplemanting a smaller pup with milk replacer I would be putting her on the best (back leg) teats when she was due for a feed, just before the others get going and maybe in between ;) that way she'll get the most milk from mum (the best stuff ;) ) I would weigh once daily and keep a record of all weights of all pups.  As long as she is gaining well consistently and is contented and lusty I'd be happy ;)  All pups will gain weight differently but as long as they gain weight steadily they'll be fine.  Plotting the weights on a chart can be very revealing and a smaller pup who doesn't seem to be gaining as much as bigger pups can often be revealed to be gaining much better than you think ;)

Hope this helps
Dill

I had one slow pup who was the smallest in weight also a poor feeder , as well as putting him on the back teats seperate to the others  I gave  nutri-drops which were very good . He turned out to be the biggest pup in the litter when it was time to leave for thier new homes.

Pup seems to be a bit stronger today - not so easily knocked off her nipple.  Mum not very co-operative when trying to just feed her - a little patience from us all and I'm sure we'll be fine - I have been very encouraged by your posts - thank you.