The
pup was the fifth born and it took nearly an hour and a half to move into the
birth canal which in itself is not unusual.
It weighed 7.4 ounces which was small compared to the 13 & 14 ounces
that the others weighed at birth. It was
a large litter which would contribute to some of that. Research says some pups have weighed less
than half of that and still have very successful and long live.
Usually
mom’s milk doesn’t come in until birth but this can vary a little and but nursing
stimulates more milk. According to Dr.
Laura, “If all puppies are nursing, this stimulates the release of Oxytocin and
then milk production is at its best as long as the puppies are still nursing.
There are some dogs that do not have sufficient milk available for their
puppies and in this case, you will have to alternate the puppies so that they
all get the amount of milk that they need”.
This presented a problem, the pup known as “lit Bit” needed milk and
needed it now. After talking to the Vet,
it was suggested that “moms milk” would be best if possible in every case and
that is the direction we would take.
Taking
all the other pups off of mom for a private feeding helped “lit Bit”, but we had to
do it every hour. While we regularly
checked the weight, it was starting to drop, mom was just slow to get all of
the nutrients that were needed and especially for one special pup. From 7.4 to 7 ounces then 6.8 and 6.4 was
drastic and this wasn’t helping but when we reached 6.0 a miracle occurred here
on the farm. Our other female went into
labor and her milk was already in before the birthing occurred and right after
the last pup was born, “Lit Bit” may get a new mom with all the nutrients that
are needed but we still have a large concern and decision…
According
to the Daily Puppy,
Mother
dogs aren't always able to produce enough milk, and if yours senses that she
can't feed her litter, she may reject some or all of them.
What
to do now? Will both moms reject “lit
Bit” and then we are into hand feeding around the clock or would one or both
moms reject the whole litter and then we would be feeding all 16 pups? As fate and faith have it, “lit Bit” got a
new mom and after they were placed on the teat, it went right to work. After a lick on the head and a sniff from the
new mom, “Lit Bit” was going to town.
After a good feeding, “Lit Bit” was placed back into “old mom’s” cradle and
she also welcomed it in, but after he lick on the head and belly.
So
after a night of no sleep and several very trying days of stress “lit Bit” was steady
gaining .10’s of ounces and was a very active little pup. Many people will assume “lit Bit” is a runt,
however, I have seen a runt from a litter long ago and this may not be true. It was a pup that was born from Dutchess and
Clancy and he was named after mom.
Dutchess’s pup started nearly the same was and we also had to do special
feedings but today, “Dutch” is as big or bigger than Clancy and just as
beautiful.
I
am truly sorry that I was a little late on the post, however “Lit Bit” is doing
well and gaining weight and lucky enough to have two two moms…
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