Well the puppies have diarrhea! This started a couple days ago. Since Ronnie and I are still having to stimulate them to eliminate, we are very aware of the state of their poop. It started in just one or two pups, and we separated them from the others but gradually more and more began having the runs. In addition to worrying about them, it is also a big mess and a time-consuming chore as you might guess. We found it was easier to just take each puppy to the sink, and after stimulating them we could wash them gently if needed (and it was often needed).
We dosed all the puppies with Benebac, which is a probiotic designed for newborn puppies. It seemed to help for a day or so, then the diarrhea started again. The pups are staying well hydrated, which is great since dehydration is the major risk when neonates have diarrhea. I was planning to consult our vet anyway, and then today the red collar boy started getting weaker and having more trouble nursing. So off to the vet we went.
She said he looked pretty good, and didn't need to be hospitalized but did need some meds and to be supplemented until he was nursing again. So we went home with Clavamox (antibiotic) and some feeding tubes.
Tube feeding is not very nice, but if a newborn animal can't or won't nurse (either on mom or a bottle) then it's the best and safest way to get nutrition into the baby. A small, soft tube is put down the puppy's throat into the stomach. Obviously, great care must be taken to be sure the tube doesn't go into the lungs. I was a vet tech (a long time ago) and have tube fed baby animals before, but it's been a long time so I got a refresher course from Dr Barnett.
Thank goodness, after starting the Clavamox and tube feeding him a couple of times, the red collar boy started getting much stronger and was able to nurse. The bad news was that the diarrhea appeared in all 12 puppies, so everyone was getting Clavamox twice a day! That proved to be a 2 person job for sure, since it's hard to hold a struggling puppy and squirt a little liquid medicine in its mouth. Fortunately, the dose is very small, just a couple of drops for pups this size so it went quickly.
Precious red collar boy, I'm so glad he recovered.
Our kitchen has been taken over by puppy stuff - scale for weighing them on the island and formula, supplements, medications etc. on the counter along with small towels to dry the pups after their baths.
As with many of these posts covering the first few weeks of the puppies' lives, I am writing this a few weeks later and post-dating it. From this perspective, it's gratifying to know we caught the diarrhea fairly early and were able to give an effective treatment. But oh my, what an exhausting couple of weeks!!! I am NOT one of those people who can function for a long time on just 3 or 4 hours sleep.
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