New Babies - One not doing so well.

[GTmum]

We had the pleasure of witnessing the birth of 4 beautiful boxer babies on the 19th Dec. Our boxers (Gypsy & Tyler) had 2 girls and 2 boys.

They are now coming up to 3 weeks old and one of the girls is lagging behind (weight, motor skills etc). Our vet suggested to wait and see how she goes but I'd prefer to do something about it now. We were thinking about supplementing her feeds off mum with some bottle feeds. Any suggestions on what to use or what else we could do? Much appreciated

PS. We will be keeping one of the boys - he is a lightly brindled with white blaze, collar and stockings. Just adorable! I will post photos as soon as I can grab hold of the digital camera.

 

[shy the boxer]

My pup was kinda going the same way.. she wasnt growing well from the start.. but the vet put her on some high calorie and high energy vitamins and im glad to report that she is doing fine..

the reason why she wasnt doing well is because her mother decided she wasnt gonna let them feed off her after 3 weeks. So the vet took care of her.. but again i can say is growing great!

 

[GTmum]

Our little girl is only 1.1kg, whereas the other puppies range from 1.8-2kg. A big difference when sitting side by side! I just don't want her to get further and further behind because of her size. Maybe I should check out another vet?:confused:

 

[muttersley]

I would supplement her feed with a bitch milk supplement. We had to syringe feed Belle from 10 days old. When they get to 3 weeks, start introducing them to some solid food.

 

[Marimat]

Hi

700 to 900 grams (23 to 30 ounces for the non metric people) is a hell of a long way behind at 3 weeks of age.

I'd be tending to think something more than failure to thrive is at hand here, especially as there are only 4 puppies and competition should be minimal or non existent.

Has this puppy always been lagging behind? It's difficult to think she has just gotten this far behind in a few days - if she has obviously something else is wrong.

Does the bitch have a lot of milk? If so, don't supplement the girl that is falling behind. Supplement the others and keep them full so she gets a good go at the dam. Take the others away if you have to and hold that puppy on. The best supplement I have used is goats milk. It's is very similar in composition to bitch's milk and doesn't have the gastrointestinal irritation potential of cows milk. Personally I never use commercial substitutes.

Is she pooing? If yes, what's it like? Unassisted, colour, form, frequency?

Is she vomiting? When, how often, if yes is it pure undigested milk?

Has the vet checked her for an elongated soft palate? These are a problem in brachycephalic breeds. They stop the puppy from being able to suck efficiently - I doubt she has one though as she has gotten to 3 weeks and a problem would of been noticed earlier.

The puppy definitely needs more than a wait and see attitude from the vet though :-(

MC

 

[GTmum]

This pup was not the smallest at birth but tended not to put on as much weight day by day as the others and so has lagged a little (which is why we didn't worry up until now.) Her weight has stagnated in the last few days which made us think something may be wrong so we took them all to the vet. The vet has given her a general health checkup which said all was ok and to just wait and see how she goes maybe giving her a head start at feeding time. But that was all he suggested.

She is a happy little puppy - playing with the others and feeding when they do (she tends to get knocked out of the way though, as she is so much smaller.) She is as vocal as the other puppies but her motor skills (ie walking) are noticeably weaker. She seems to try and run instead of walk - could this be a balance problem?

She has put on 100grams overnight which is an improvement at least. Any other hints/tips are much appreciated.

 

[crazyboys]

We also had one puppy fall way behind the others to the point they did not think he would make it. We bottle fed him a formula from the pet store and he ended up being just wonderful. He is now 20 - 40 pounds larger than his brothers and sister.

Jody

 

[Debbie Magon]

GT Mum, Just keep on making sure she gets the lions share of mothers milk. Matts advice is correct.

By 3 weeks I am introducing the pups to some runny baby food. Bland , like baby rice , so its gentle on their tumms.
She will probably pick up as soon as you start weaning them
Make sure mother dog is getting plenty of good food/liquids and rest so she can make good quality milk.

I have never had a huge size difference in a litter, but have seen others with an exceptionally small "runt"

Who has grown up quite adequate in size and completely normal in nature etc.

Good Luck.

 

[GTmum]

Thanks for all the info. It has all been really helpful.

I started the little girl on bottle feeds to supplement mums milk 2 days ago. I am currently giving her 3 bottles a day of 60ml each. She has picked up both in weight and motor skills immensely since doing this. Weight has increased 200g in 2 days! And now she is up walking without falling over all the time.

I also started the pups yesterday on solids - mushy baby food. They absolutely loved it! My little girl gets first serve at mum and the solids.

Hopefully with this little bit of help she will come in line with her brothers and sister. All the others are doing really well.

They are barking and woo-wooing already! Scaring themselves with how loud they are able to do it!

Once again, thanks for all your help.