Small newborn

[ionut7]

I’ve been posting here a bit recently about an accidental dog pregnancy and thankfully with some help it’s all been going well and I’m now dealing with 4 puppies lol

They’re only about 5 days old (born Monday afternoon) and either way they’re all going to the vet tomorrow but I just want to put my mind at ease, is it normal for one to not be growing much? The other 3 have all noticeably grown and the little fat one is literally twice the size of the one I’m worried about. He definitely does struggle to latch on unlike the other 3 but clearly it’s not like he’s NOT eating at all since he hasn’t starved to death and every hour and a half I try to get him to get some formula down but idk I’m just worried about the size difference since all the others have grown. Has anyone else experienced something like this and if so did everything turn out ok? I’m not even close to a dog expert so I’m not sure if maybe he’s just the runt and it’s a normal difference in size or if I should be worried so is super appreciate any advice. Thanks!

 

[fish14]

@ionut7 It could absolutely be an issue and a vet is the next step to determine if he has cleft pallet or something preventing a good latch. You should be weighing them all a few times a day. Failing to gain weight or losing it is an emergency.

 

[sqs1]

@ionut7 Is he growing at all? The advice people have given is all correct, but it may be possible that he’s healthy and just growing at a slower rate. They all grow at different rates and sometimes I’ve had one not grow much for a couple days (but still eating and not acting lethargic or anything abnormal) and then all of a sudden put on a bunch of weight over 24 hours.

My last litter of toy poodles (mom 7 lbs and dad 6.5 lbs) I had a little runt that came out so tiny. She latched immediately and sucked well but always grew slower than her 3 brothers. At 8 weeks when they left my home, she was 2.5 lbs and her brothers were all a pound or more bigger than her. She is now 6 months old and over 7 lbs.

I’ve also had a runt that didn’t latch well for the first week to two weeks, so during the day time I spent a lot of time helping her eat separate from the other puppies so they couldn’t push her off. She grew and was strong enough to eat on her own pretty soon.

 

[saara]

@ionut7 Weigh them daily, there should be constant growth.

I have a 3 week old litter now. The largest was 8.5oz at birth and the smallest was 4 oz. The smallest has been gaining about 1ozper day and the largest 1.75 oz per day. As long as they are gaining, it's OK. A year from now they will probably be close in size.

Keep them warm and try to give the Tiny one more feedings.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@ionut7 You should be weighing them twice daily, morning and night. There is information online telling you how much percentage of their weight they should be gaining each day, not sure if it's dependent on breed, so just look up for your breed specifically.

 

[tjbenz]

@ionut7 Congratulations!

Some little babies require a little more help than others. Unfortunately they can fade extremely quick unless you notice it straight away but if you continue to monitor closely and weight them often you should be able to do this.

I just recently had two lil bubs that required some additional bottle feeds to get enough food as they were smaller and easily pushed off a nipple by their big brothers and sisters but weeks gone and they both are now two of our biggest pups.

 

[tjbenz]

And always if you’re unsure, worried or whatever, just go straight to the vet. Good luck!

 

[devaofprayze]

@ionut7 Puppies can have stunted growth as a symptom of some underlying issue. Some are little when born because they didn’t have a great attachment site but if he’s not gaining much from his birth weight and the others are growing there could be reason to worry about him. Good supportive care like making sure he has good nutrition is important, sounds like you’re doing that already. Hope he catches up to the others soon!

 

[antcart]

@ionut7 It’s definitely not a good sign when the growth of one falls noticeably behind the others. A vet check is a good idea but sometimes these ones just don’t do unfortunately

 

[brotherinchristjesus89]

@ionut7 All good advice here so far so I'll add something I have yet to see posted;

I once had a puppy that was continuously congested. He had trouble latching because of that. Had to get him in a steamy bathroom to clear him up a bit and then bottle feed. When he got a little bit bigger I could use one of those snot bulbs they use on infants, but by that point he was doing a lot better. You might be able to hear the congestion - I could BARELY hear it, I really only discovered it because I checked on pups while mom was sleeping for a while and she didn't have the chance to clear the dried snot off his nostril. Lungs actually sounded perfect. The clogged nose just made it so he couldn't latch. No one else in that litter had any illness.

If that's the case, vet check definitely. For that particular puppy my vet didn't offer anything because he was still growing fairly normal with bottle feedings. But I had a kitten in a similar situation that was anorexic and was getting all sorts of shit for it (kitten turned out fine too)

Good luck with the runt!