668 – Pro Tips on Raising Orphaned Puppies
Pro Tips on Raising Orphaned Puppies
Dr. Marty Greer joins host Laura Reeves to discuss how to raise orphaned puppies. How to help dams not reject their puppies, increase milk production and deal with mastitis are all covered.
Pro tip number one is avoid having orphaned puppies, Greer notes. Increasing the dam’s calcium intake, using Adaptil collars and saving placental fluid after a Csection are on Greer’s list of ways to encourage the dam’s maternal instinct to kick in.
Pro tip number two is helping dams increase their milk production.
“I don’t know what there is magical about a Bratwurst, if it’s the fat, if it’s the salt, and I’m sure there’s other things as well, but that’s what I’ve had great success with. It helps them to eat better. It helps them to lactate better. The things that people use on the human side for lactation nurses are oatmeal and vegetables like sweet potatoes. So those are some things that you can do and they’ll eat those sometimes when they won’t eat their regular dog food.
“But whatever you have to do to get them to eat, jump through hoops to make it happen. Because if she is eating and drinking, then you don’t have to feed the puppies nearly as much. So you feed the machine that feeds the puppies.
“Now the other things that help. Are fenugreek and that is in the Oxy Mama product that Revival has for improving lactation. And then Reglan which is metoclopramide, a prescription drug that you can get from your veterinary clinic. And one of the side effects is that it improves lactation.
“So fenugreek and reglan make milk and oxytocin lets the milk be released from the glands so they work complementary to each other neither one replaces the other.”
Pro tip number three regards mastitis.
“I don’t wean puppies unless the bitch is really, really sick or there’s a giant necrotic opening in a gland. I will typically let the bitch still nurse her puppies because the amount of antibiotic coming through the milk is infinitesimally small.
“First of all, let’s talk about preventing mastitis. That means bathe her with a Chlorhexidine shampoo 3 or 4 days before she has puppies. So she goes into this clean. Don’t let her go out in the mud or herd your sheep into the trailer when she’s got newborns. And put her on a probiotic because that’s going to all reduce the risk of her developing mastitis.
“If she ends up with mastitis, make sure she gets enough fluids. She needs to be on an appropriate antibiotic and I put them on pain medication to bring down the fever, to reduce the inflammation and that again is safe for the bitch to take and still have the puppies nurse. There’s not enough that gets into the milk, but it’s going to hurt the puppies.
“It’s not just milk, it’s maternal skills as well. She’s licking the puppies, she’s stimulating the puppies, she’s treating the puppies the way puppies need to be treated. No amount of human hand-raising can substitute for that. I know we do our best but it’s still always best for a bitch to be with her puppies than it is to be separated if there’s any possibility of making that happen.”
516 — Singleton Puppies: Whelping and Raising Strategies
Singleton Puppies: Whelping and Raising Strategies
For Valentine’s Day, Susan Patterson, moderator of the fabulous Canine, Fertility, Reproduction and Neonatal Issues Facebook group (invite required) and host Laura Reeves team up to talk about the dreaded Singleton… puppy that is. Susan and Laura discuss proper progesterone timing to help avoid a singleton litter in the first place, planning and managing a c-section if needed.
One is the Lonliest Number…
Singleton puppies present unique challenges for whelping and raising successfully. In large breed dogs, frequently the single puppy in utero does not release sufficient hormones to trigger the dam to start labor.
“This is again where progesterone timing, knowing your ovulation date, is important,” Susan said. “What most people fail to account for is placentas have an expiration date. You can’t go past that date or you will lose your puppy, there’s just no ifs, ands, or buts, and possibly your bitch. So knowing when the bitch is due is critical.
“Once you know when she’s due, you can be watching for labor to commence. I would strongly suggest you plan a C-section as a back-up, knowing you’re probably going to use it, but plan it as a backup. Give your bitch the chance to whelp naturally and then pull the trigger.
“The other thing, especially a day before you think you’re gonna have to pull the trigger, you’re gonna wanna be monitoring heartbeats. You don’t want your Singleton puppy to go into distress. If (the heartbeat) drops below 180 or 170 (bpm) I start getting really concerned.”
Management is job #1
Without the interaction of littermates, the singleton can overeat, under-exercise and may well need additional guidance to understand proper dog interactions.
Susan and Laura discuss monitoring the bitch for mastitis and the puppy to avoid gaining too much weight too quickly.
“The first thing I would do, is the minute she comes out of anesthesia is I would put her on sunflower lecithin,” Susan noted. “What the sunflower lecithin does, is it makes the milk less sticky, thins it down slightly, so that it passes through the memory glands much easier … it’s basically one teaspoon of sunflower lecithin for every 20 pounds of dog.
“A swimmer puppy is, it’s not just a condition of obesity, but that is definitely a contributing factor. So what you wanna do is you wanna have in your whelping box lots of hills and valleys. You wanna use pool noodles, rolled up bathroom rugs, anything to make that puppy work for dinner.”
Socializing singletons in other litters if possible and absolutely with safe adult dogs enables them to learn the critical life skill of appropriate interaction with other dogs as well as people.
Tune in for more of this great conversation.