Puppies now 4 weeks 1 day

[Pippa Wheater]

Update on puppies and mum

Well a very eventful week really.

Started weaning on Monday and it went really well. Shame it didn't stay that way !!

I have fussy puppies well what did I expect as mum is a fussy so and so with food.

Wednesday I had a lovely lady and gentleman come to look at pups as interested in a girl. All was going well and they stayed an hour or so. Bronte fed her pups and then took herself off into the garden. She spent ages out there and wouldn't come in when called.

When she eventually came in, in her own time of course she's a setter. she had a glazed look about her, feed her and she didn't want her food. which hasn't been her since she has been pregnant.

She then went up to lay on my bed but was struggling to lay down I shooed her back down stair and prompting got of the bed and then peed on my rug. I then knew something wasn't right as she hadn't done that since she was a puppy. Felt her teats and one was extremely hard and swollen, Rang the vet and they told me to bring her down before afternoon surgery. Well that was an hour away and i have never seen an animal go down so quickly as she could hardly stand up by the time we got there,

Vet took her temperature and said she had a temperature on top of a temperature bless her and wanted to keep her in and put her on a drip and antibiotics. drip so they could flush out as much of the bacteria which now had entered her blood stream. It was horrible leaving her.

Now the fun started as pups now had to rely on me to feed them. That was going to be fun ??

Oh how they cried for mum looking for her and at first when feed them it was like a comedy show puppies everywhere.

Eventually found it was easier to get the large flat feeding bowl and putting puppy formula milk in this rather than individually. Weaning them on to a porridge like puppy food was like I had given then poison ! !

Very late night Wednesday and an early morning Thursday. Good news from vets Bronte responding very well and if continues then she will come home late on  Thursday. Oh it was like a different job when she came out what a relief.

She got home and immediately fed pups but then later when they were due a feed she refused to feed them I had to feed the formula and the porridge like puppy food, They too it no worries I didn't feed the individually as had been doing that and it was working, so put it in a big flat feeding bowl and let them at it, fantastic results didn't eat it all but they had just had milk. 

Still a little concern for Bronte this morning as she is back panting a lot and teat still hard and swollen and very painful to touch.

Does anyone have any ideas about releasing this milk in this swollen teat. Is warm/hot compress the best. Any help would be appreciated.

I have got more pictures of growing pups and will post them later once I have sorted Bronte.

[Angela Roberts]

I have had a bitch with mastitis.  If you notice it when it is first getting warm and red you can use cold cabbage or spinach leaves, it is supposed to work wonders. I know some people keep it in the fridge just in case they need it when they have a lactating bitch. However my bitch was really very poorly. She had antibiotics and metacam for the pain and as a anti inflammatory. Her teat actually split open but from that minute she was back to normal in herself, the pain and poison was gone. Her pups were much younger and she didn't clean them for a whole day or eat anything, just lay on a duvet with her head on a pillow and I syringed milky water with glucose into her mouth for her to drink. The little sweetheart let them carry on feeding.  I hope your bitch feels better soon

 

[Angela Roberts]

I will add as soon as I saw the swollen and hot teat my vets said come in right away, they didn't say wait until a certain time. You need to get on top of those sort of things quickly. We have had cattle all our lives and they will die if not treated very promptly.

[Pippa Wheater]

Angela when I rang it was 3.40 anyway, Had to wait 10 minutes till my kids had got in from school then got sorted and went down so I was there at 4.15  

[sue morgan]

I keep a cabbage in the fridge from the day they whelp.............IT WORKS 

[Chantal McIlveen-Wright]

Pippa what about Bronte today? how are things developing?  a big cuddle to her