Pets and Else...

This was a sad day. 2 of the litters have not gone a day. The runt of the litter was dead just a couple of hours after birth. The other one, well we don’t know what happen. The minute he was still breathing then after that he was gone. What could have gone wrong?

1. It could be due to the rag that I placed in the whelping den. I suspect that the pup was covered with the rag and then suffocated. Lesson learned: do not place a small rag instead use a large one and then clip the sides so it will not fall off.

2. It could be the momma dog’s tits was not producing enough milk. Lesson learned: check if the tits are producing enough milk. Otherwise, manually fed the pup with formula milk. Consult your vet about this stuff.

Having a momma bitch about to deliver a puppy is an exciting and at the same time tiring activity. Most momma dogs deliver at dawn, and my momma bitch was not an exception. She started to labor at around 1 am and finished laying all the cute pups at 3 am. We were quite careful on her as this is her first time. The momma dog knows her stuff well, indeed she was able to clean her pup and ate the sac (where the pup is covered whole) and successfully cut the umbilical cords. One of the things that we as owners should do is to remove the pup out of the whelping box when the next litter is about to deliver. A small box or maybe a small basin covered with cloth should be prepared for this temporary change. Or if your whelping box is wide then you can just move the first litters on the side. The reason for this is oftentimes the momma dog is agitated and restless and may step on the little pups. We do not want to have a dead pup, do we? And so, at day 1 we have 3 new cute little pups welcome in the household.