Help, Trying to save a 3 wk old pups life

[cowgirlc]

Hello everyone, before I start let me say I will get to the story of how all this came about later....right now I need help keeping trying to save this pup. Puppy is a shepherd, three weeks old today, comes from a litter of nine pups. The mom is nursing all but this pup as this pups is so very tiny compared to all the rest. She is a female pup and appears to be a little weak. I have seperated her from the litter and have her confined near me wrapped in warm blankets. As of today I have begun to feed her warm goats milk by bottle every 2 hours, taking a warm wash cloth and stimulating her genital area after feeding. She is suckkling the bottle ever so slowly a little at a time but she is suckkling.. He eyes are not quite open yet and breathing seems to be ok as far as I can tell. I cannot take her to an emergency vet at this time, so I hope that I am doing all the things that I can.

Is there anything else I should be looking for or doing to help bring this little girls strength up and help her to eat more.

Again, I will get to the story later, just need help saving the pup at this time

Thank you

[onyx'girl]

not a breeder, but can you give her alone time with mom so she doesn't have to compete for food? Is mom pushing her away?

[cowgirlc]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

not a breeder, but can you give her alone time with mom so she doesn't have to compete for food? Is mom pushing her away?

Thank you for the response, I actually have tried that, pulling the other pups out so the little one could have mom all to herself, but it seems that mom won't sit still for the little one to eat when the rest are not around, and mom keeps picking the little one up and just carrying her around in her mouth as if she does not know what to do with her

[onyx'girl]

What about leaving the pups with mom, too so she isn't so concerned...but supervising the feeding? Maybe mom knows something is up with the one that isn't thriving?
I feel for you, it must be very heartbreaking!

[msvette2u]

The puppy will likely not make it.
Back when doing a/c I had a preg. Papillion type dog who ended up giving birth to 3 puppies. She pushed one away and would not nurse it.
It turned out the puppy had a cleft palate (check to see if that's going on with this pup) and ended up also with hydrocephalus. I had to euth. him a month after he was born.
I mean...you can try but don't get too upset if the puppy has a birth defect and simply isn't going to make it.

[Betty]

Here is a formula for bottlefeeding and some tips. Remember to burp!
Leerburg | Bottle Feeding Puppies

[dawnandjr]

Is this a 3 week old...or 3 day old??? 3 weeks can eat on their own...3 days there might be some birth defect you are not seeing. I would supervise the pup nursing on mom every two hours. AT 3 days old, they cannot keep themselves warm. You should have the pup up against your bare skin and covered, or under a heat lamp or on a heating pad. If you go with the heat lamp or heating pad, you need to allow the pup enough room to move away from the heat source if necessary. NEVER EVER EVER feed a cold pup.

[Betty]

I'm reading it as 3 weeks as she said the eyes weren't quite open and I'm thinking if she is weak to suck on a bottle she may not eat on her own yet.

Leerburg | Treating a Sick Newborn Puppy

The above article has a few tips also. Especially on how to check for hydration.

[carmspack]

I am so sorry to say that sometimes things are just not right and the pup fails to thrive , cannot compete. There may be something internally wrong, an organ not developed . The mother may know this and be rejecting the pup . sorry . This is the hard part of being a breeder . It never gets easier.

Carmen

[cowgirlc]

Originally Posted by dawnandjr

Is this a 3 week old...or 3 day old??? 3 weeks can eat on their own...3 days there might be some birth defect you are not seeing. I would supervise the pup nursing on mom every two hours. AT 3 days old, they cannot keep themselves warm. You should have the pup up against your bare skin and covered, or under a heat lamp or on a heating pad. If you go with the heat lamp or heating pad, you need to allow the pup enough room to move away from the heat source if necessary. NEVER EVER EVER feed a cold pup.

She is 3 weeks old, born on Dec 17, 2011, all the other pups eyes are open and they are skooting around as normal, this pup is not crawling but does turn herself around and makes small sounds, eyes are just slightly open, just had a feeding and she drank about a teaspoon and a half, after rubbing her tummy and gentitals she made her first bowel movement. Please tell me that is a good sign.

I am hoping she makes it but if she does not I want to make sure I tried to do what I can do for her.