Just had a litter of 2 puppies, but have some questions and was hoping to get some advice + answers if possible!
Milk supply seems to have run dry after 2 days somehow (only 1 teat is producing milk)... could this be a temporary thing or what could be happening? Not eating much kibble, so I've been giving her more chicken breast, homemade broth, wet food etc.
Because of #1, we've been using a milk replacer (esbilac) and nursing the recommended amount, but their stomach seems a bit more bloated than before... should I try giving less per feeding?
The mother dog had 2x brownish liquid/sticky discharge today on the 3rd day after giving birth... is this normal? Pretty sure there are no placentas or such left inside since she gave birth at the vet and they took care of everything, but she doesn't seem to be eating much (her kibble) except when I give her chicken, dried meat snacks etc so a bit worried. She's taking care of the pups 24/7 and not showing any signs of distress from what I can tell.
As a precaution, are there certain things I should be looking out for in the puppies if something is wrong? From what I've searched, apparently they'll squeal/whine if something is wrong, but is that true in all cases? Hoping to catch onto anything quickly if anything does come up.
Brief details - pomeranian, 2 puppies, room temp 29 celsius + heating pad in one section which the pups go to sometimes
Sorry for all the questions, but tried to keep them as short as possible >_
@themrsbeth Why don't you have a mentor? If you're purposefully breeding these dogs you should have someone in your breed community to help you with these things. Ethical breeders are more than happy to help other ethical breeders.
Speak to your vet. Don't listen to backyard French Bulldog breeders on reddit.
@ilykmtns Hey. Sorry I should have clarified~ it's just this one time since my girlfriend wanted to expand the doggo fam a bit. Mother dog had to get a c-section due to how big the pups were + flipped/turned the wrong way (
- xray for reference) and got spayed at the same time since we don't plan to have more after the vet recommended it since she knew our situation.
I'm very thankful for any knowledge atm, but I realize our vet is the best option since they know the situation as well along with everything else. They were closed by the time some of these things happened and didn't seem like an emergency so came by here to ask about it in the meantime until morning >_
@themrsbeth Best wishes for mom and puppies...and you!
After all dust has settled please give an update- this sub often has questions from people wanting to breed their family dog, and it'd be good to have the perspective of someone who's been through it...we often say, "what if she needs a c-section? What if she has no milk? Do you have money for multiple cascading vet bills? Can you take time off work to watch the puppies 24 hours a day", etc. etc.
People usually think that won't happen to them or it's not really necessary.
It looks like there was nothing to worry about aside from the milk drying up a bit which the vet said it could be temporary~ did an earlier than expected check-up today for the pups just in case and they're healthy so far!
I'm on the more cautious/paranoid side while gf is a bit more carefree haha so I made sure to inquire 2 vets before the whole thing (normal hours + a 24hr one for emergencies) and took a remote job position for the next few months within the company to be there for them and they're so cuteeee.
Even with that, I keep having new questions pop up every day which nag at me so I've been doing a lot of googling and cross-referencing to make sure it's the right info and all that, but still been kind of rough on some stuff. Super grateful for everyone who's given advice and making sure to note it all down!
Oh gosh~ I can't imagine having 12, but 2 is definitely better (for us).
Thanks again for the encouragement and I'll try to make an update once they've grown up a bit more!
@themrsbeth That's even worse. Dogs shouldn't be bred unless they've been genetically and health tested. There are all kinds of genetic disorders that can be passed on to the pups including hip dysplasia, cardiac issues, thyroid issues, luxating patellas, and eye problems. Highly recommend getting the mother dog tested for all of these as it will be an indicator of what the puppies may or may not develop. Hip dysplasia itself is an extremely expensive disease that can result in total hip replacements which can be upwards of $8k PER hip.
Not to mention if you are keeping the puppies, please look into Littermate Syndrome. It is a debilitating behavioral problem that can and has caused maiming to both people and dogs. Since these are Pomeranians the destruction wouldn't be as devastating as a larger breed but if you do not address it as soon as possible as in 8-12 weeks of age, you could have massive issues.
@ilykmtns We got her from a decent breeder (I believe) back in BC Canada, but had to relocate to Korea for work so I hope most of those issues don't occur. Didn't realize she needed tests to be run before the process~ there probably won't be a next time, but if the situation comes up again in the faraway future, will definitely do that.
On that topic, should I have gotten a copy of the certificates and stuff for our dog? It's been a few years... they showed us the certificates when we picked her up and stayed awhile to see the litter + parents, but didn't give us a copy or anything.
I had heard of it, but just looked it up to do some research and it definitely seems like it could be a huge issue. We'll consult the vet and follow the recommended steps to hopefully avoid it from happening!
Thank you once again for the knowledge and sorry for the late reply~ was a very hectic day after vet + work and everything!
@themrsbeth 1- u need to get the mom to eat a lot and she needs a lot of water , my female eats kibble mixed with puppy orijen or acana wet food , they need to eat to produce milk , rotate the puppies to all the nipples cus if you don’t you are going to get mastitis .
2- do not give milk replacer , they need the mothers milk specially the colostrum the first couple of days that’s really important for the puppies
3- discharge is fine and could keep on happening for about a month or two . DO NOT LEAVE THE PUPPIES WITH MOTHER UNATTENDED.
4- if they cry either they are hungry , cold , hot . Or bloated . If they sleep most of the time they are okay.
Bonus-. Dont feed them too much and make sure you make them burp them . We have a whelping box with a heating lamp and also an incubator for our French bulldogs , it regulates the temperature better .
Trying out a few more things to get her to eat more since she isn't eating much of her favorite foods as well.
One of us is always home 24/7 to keep an eye on them and have a camera setup when we need to do chores around the house as well.
Ordered a heat lamp a week ago, but the damn thing is taking awhile >_> so will get that setup once it arrives for sure since that seemed to be the consensus over the heat pad. Did consider an incubator, but the vet said it's probably overkill so we ended up not purchasing one.
Will contact the vet in a few more hours when they open and take them in for an early check-up if they recommend it just in case.
@themrsbeth Milk production is based off of supply and demand. By you supplementing the pups they aren't suckling on her enough. Milk production can also be delayed due to the c section. Get a kitchen scale and weigh your pups morning and night to track their growth. Bottle feeding can cause aspiration pneumonia so you need to be extremely careful when doing so. If you absolutely have to supplement them contact your vet and have them teach you how to tube feed, it's much safer. Puppies are unable to regulate their body temperature so it's imperative that you keep them warm. Do NOT bottle feed them if they are chilled, a pup that isn't warm enough cannot properly digest milk.
@drsharles We started bottle feeding after seeing the milk had stopped completely, but one came back so we've scaled it back now after consulting the vet to see if things change. Only supplementing a bit here and there after constantly checking the status of the mother every few hours.
The baby scale finally arrived this morning, so we've started to keep track of their weight and hopefully it stays on the right track and looks like I should definitely ask them about tube feeding~ only asked regarding bottle feeding earlier today >_
@themrsbeth No heat lamp! Just a heating pad with a thick towel or blanket over it set at 85-90 F. Put it towards the middle of the whelping box so Mom, who is hot enough, doesn’t have to lay on it and puppies will gravitate towards the heat if cold and can move off it if too warm
@themrsbeth A mother's temp always runs a bit higher after she whelps so don't worry about her being too warm unless she's visibly having issues. It's far more important to keep the pups warm enough. Myra Saavant Harris has a recipe for mothers pudding that is helpful with milk production and as a last effort the vet can rx a med that's very helpful with milk production. Also make sure she's eating and drinking enough, it takes lots of calories for her to make milk.
