Fading or Sick Puppy?
You plan for your litter, lovingly care for your mama during her pregnancy, and are so excited and relieved when the litter safely arrives. When a puppy, or several puppies, suddenly start fading, would you know what to do? Virus, bacteria, or other underlying problems can cause newborn puppies to very quickly fade and decline. Getting to the bottom of the issue and figuring out what is going on isn’t always easy. Playing detective and figuring things out needs to happen quickly.
There are a few key things
to look for when a puppy
is showing signs of illness.
Are they unwilling or unable to latch on and nurse? Are they cold? Do they have a wet bottom? Do they have diarrhea? Are they vomiting?
The first thing to always do with a fading puppy is to make sure they are warm and hydrated. If they won’t nurse, you need to give them glucose to give them a little energy, and if they are dehydrated you need to give them sub Q fluids right away.
We highly recommend
keeping Nutrimate or Fortical
on hand for each litter.
When a puppy won’t nurse, but isn’t dehydrated, give them a little glucose and see how they respond. It may just give them the energy they need and they will begin nursing on their own again. If they are dehydrated as well, give the sub Q fluids or get the puppies to your vet so that they can do so. If you do not know how to give sub Q fluids, we highly encourage you to find someone to show you. Another tip is to give each puppy liver broth. It provides important nourishment and can give strength to the puppies.
If there are other signs of illness such as diarrhea, vomiting, or wet bottoms, you likely have a virus or bacterial issue going on and may need to do more than just offer glucose and fluids to turn things around. In this case, giving fresh frozen plasma may also help, and you may also need to give them Cerenia or Zolfran for nausea. For the fresh frozen plasma (FFP) protocol from Jean Dodds, the link is provided at the end of this journal entry.
You need to be very careful
about giving newborn puppies
any medications.
Their systems and microbiome is delicate and sensitive. Every medication you give can cause other issues to develop, so use medications only at the recommendation of a veterinarian knowledgeable and experienced with the neonate.
The fading newborn puppy is something we never want to see, but it does happen. When it is just one or two puppies in the litter having a problem, you can typically assume that it is just an isolated occurrence for those puppies due to their little bodies not being as prepared to handle the stresses of life. If you have an entire litter showing signs of problems, you should assume there is a virus or bacteria or disease situation that you need to get to the bottom of as quickly as possible.
The help of a good veterinarian
is critical.
Call them immediately and get their advice. The longer you let a fading puppy go without the proper intervention, the more likely you will lose that puppy.