Sick Puppies

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm afraid I have some bad news about my foster dog Gypsy and her pups.

The day before yesterday we lost a puppy. I was asleep, but when I woke up my mom told me that the pup had been crying all day and that not long before I woke up she died. We have no idea what happened to her.

Last night we noticed that one of the pups was breathing weird, it seemed like she was unable to catch her breath, she was wheezing and gasping. So I convinced my mom to call the emergency vet. They said that there was not much we could do and that the pup would most likely die, but to bring the rest in for a check up the next day. Well, this morning the poor dear was still alive, so we brought them all to the vet. The vet said it was "puppy strangle" a bacterial infection of the lymph nodes, and it's contagious. They drained her swollen nodes on her neck and gave us antibiotics for her. The told us to keep her separate from the others, and keep an eye on them in case they developed it. She might not survive. Gypsy hasn't been nursing her much, and she doesn't seem to be able to nurse well anyway, she likes to keep her head up, I think it helps her breath, so I've been bottle feeding her goat's milk. The vet said the best thing for her is her mother's milk, but since she's not nursing I figured I've got to get something in her. The vet told me to put a warm compress on her neck every two hours and give her antibiotics twice a day. Does anybody know anything else I can do? I want to make her as comfortable as posable. It just breaks my heart to hear struggling and gasping for breath. I can only hope and pray for the best.

On the good side, we got them all their first dose of wormer while we were there. Also, since we are fostering her for the humane society, it coast us nothing! That's great because we would really have had a hard time affording it.

Both the vet and her tech mentioned how big they were, and that they will probably end up being bigger than their mother. I guess it was a big dog she bred with. It's a good thing their were no problems with her delivery!

Well, anyway, that's what's going on with Gypsy and her family. Thanks to anyone who bothered to read all that rambling!

[Guest Anonymous]

i dont know anything about..this condition but i do know that GOD cares for all of his creatures and he does answer prayers.pray for the little puppy-i will too. GOD BLESS !!

[Guest Anonymous]

[url]http://www.pressenter.com/~dvmvis/canstrangles.htm[/url] has a good article on strangles and there are lots more if you go to [url]http://www.dogpile.com[/url] and put in puppy strangles you will find pages of information.
Sometimes no matter what you do you lose pups. Its one of the very hardest thing about being the caretaker of a dam and litter when you love dogs like you do.
I feel diseases like this can be natures way of weeding out the pups with weak immune systems - not pleasant but needed to keep the dog gene pool healthy.

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks for the links!

Gypsy won't feed her, so I've moved her to my room and have been giving her goats milk about every 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Is that enough? Too much? I'm worred because she hasn't pooed. She's peeing alright but no poo. What should I do?

[Guest Anonymous]

Are you stimulating her to help her go - a warm wet paper towel or facecloth needs to be rubbed over the bottom of a young pup to get it to go. Might be as the pup is sick you need to stimulate it to help the reflex even if it is 3 weeks or more old.
pups need a certain amount of calories per pound per day which you divide up into several feedings (between 3-4 feedings with pups 2 weeks or older)
age in weeks calories per pound times fed
1 60 4
2 70 3
3 80 3
4 90 3
from The Dog Owners Home Veterinary Handbook by Carlsen and Giffen
with a toy breed I feed more frequently than the book lists
figure 60-70 calories per ounce for goat milk
so if the pup is 4 weeks and weighs 1 pound you feed 1 1/2 ounces divided up into 3 feedings
I also add some liquid vitamins to one nursing bottle a day of the goats milk.
I never have had a pup act overfed on goats milk even when I let them have all they will take per meal. I measure it now because I have had some get roly poly which is not great for pups.
Make sure you keep the pup warm too with space to get away from the heat which can be a heating pad or hot water filled bottle.



[quote]
On 2002-04-26 04:19, Meer wrote:
Thanks for the links!

Gypsy won't feed her, so I've moved her to my room and have been giving her goats milk about every 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Is that enough? Too much? I'm worred because she hasn't pooed. She's peeing alright but no poo. What should I do?
[/quote]