New Born Puppies Problems

Dogs, though carnivorous, usually show no signs of cannibalism towards their puppies. However, if the litter's father is at home, keep him apart from them to prevent any damage. Males have no fatherly instincts. You should leave the mother to recover from the delivery trauma, and try that she gets use to nursing her puppies, which does not excludes some watching in case she has some sensibility in one of her mammas, and will refuse to let her puppies use it. Probably, her gland is an infection focus called mastitis, which will require antibiotic treatment to diminish inflammation, and destroy the bacteria. Generally, small size breeds have litters of small size, but there are also exceptions, cause some females can suffer from a calcium deficiency. This originates an infection known by these names: milk fever, eclampsia and puerperal tetania, that can be developed in any period, but most probably between two weeks and a month after delivery, when milk production reaches its peak. One of the calcium functions is to help in muscular contractions, and if muscles are affected, she will start to stagger, will have fever, and if not cure she will start to convulse and collapse. Eclampsia may have fatal consequences, and once infection has been diagnosed, needs a quick treatment. A calcium shot by a veterinarian could be very efficient. There is a great demand of calcium from the mother, due to the osseous system development of the fetuses during pregnancy, and then due to the production of milk. Even if she totally recovers, it would be necessary to take away from her, at least one of the puppies, to be fed by us, or to be raised by another female with a smaller litter. Female dogs producing milk as a result of a pseudo pregnancy are ideal.

 Average number of puppies per litter