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Chronicle of Early Puppyhood

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Lethergy after pups weaned

Q:  I have a female Lab (Hannah) who had pups June 4th.  The pups were weaned at 6 weeks, and her milk is pretty much dried up.  I expected the bag lady look with the hair loss, but she seems really lethargic and depressed.  She's eating OK, and I'm keeping her inside because of the heat here in Alabama right now. Is this normal, eight weeks after her delivery, or should I consider another cause?  By the way, she had seven pups.  All were healthy and she had no problems delivering.

Thanks

Melissa  

A: Your dog's symptoms could be normal for post-weaning and are common in the heat. However, there is some risk of uterine infection with the signs you are seeing and it is always better to check for this. I really think it would be best to let your vet check her out.

Mike Richards, DVM  7/31/99  

Diarrhea, mother eating placentas

Q: My dog gave birth to nine puppies on 4/5.  During the birth she ate at least seven of the placentas, and then had watery diarrhea tinged with blood for several days, which was treated first with Pepto Bismol, and then 1 tablespoon Kaopectate twice a day, and 1 tsp. psysillim powder twice a day (to absorb water from the stool).  I have discontined the Kaopectate.

     She is now having two-three bowels movements per day, not watery or tinged with blood, but they are huge and unformed, the consistency of just cooked chocolate pudding being poured into serving dishes. It "feels" to me like, if I were to discontinue the psyllium seed, it would quickly move back to being watery and then bloody.  She also has a lot of flatulence, a lifetime first for this dog.

     She is eating approximately 10 cups of Purina One dog food per day, although I have to flavor this with a " gravy" of Hill's Prescription diet Canine P/D dissolved in hot water.  (While she was feeling rotten, she became finicky.)  She also gets maternal vitamins with calcium 2x a day.

     Is this bowel situation normal postpartum?   Does this ongoing soft stool indicate she is not getting all the nourishment from her food (that it is passing through too quickly)?

I would be grateful for any reassurances or suggestions you may have.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Helen G  

A: Helen-

It is not unusual for a bitch to develop diarrhea if she eats a lot of the placentas. Unfortunately, this occurs at a time when the digestive tract has to perform maximal duty in order to absorb enough nutrients for the puppies, so it sometimes has a more lasting effect than it might under other circumstances.

Voluminous stools are not unusual in bitches trying to provide milk to a large litter of puppies. During this time it is very hard for a dog to eat enough calories to meet the demands being placed on her. Everything that is easily digested in the food is extracted and stuff that is harder to digest passes on through. Since these dogs are eating A LOT, there is a lot of stool.

To try to combat this problem, it is a good idea to feed a calorie dense food. For this reason, a lot of vets recommend using a puppy food or food made specifically for lactating bitches.  Hill's p/d is an example of a calorie dense diet. There are others, such as Eukanuba, Science Diet Growth, Purina Puppy Chow, etc.  An alternative method of getting more calories into a smaller volume of food is simply to add oil to the diet. Fat is a very calorie dense food so a couple of tablespoonfuls of oil adds a lot of calories. It might help a lot to change foods to one that has more calories per cup. Don't change instantly though!  Take at least 3 to 5 days to mix the foods, starting with small amounts of the new food and adding more each day. (if you add oil, you can just start that since it doesn't change the overall diet much).

It is OK to use an antidiarrhea medication like Immodium AD to help with this problem, too. At least we have not had any problems with doing that.  Your vet can give you a proper dose for your size dog. Because of the  increased nutritional needs I favor this approach over using fiber additives for lactating bitches.

Hope this helps some.

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Mike Richards, DVM 4/17/99  

Breeding issues

Q: Dear Dr. Mike,

1-Why is Buddy, the father of our 14 day old litter, trying to mate with Mom, Sheila at this time????

He returned home from the kennel yesterday.  He means no harm to the puppies, and seems disinterested and even a bit wary of them.  But he keeps grabbing Sheila around the waist and trying to mount this poor, tired mom, and is not dissuaded by her angry barks.  As he outweighs her by quite a bit,  I am keeping them apart unless I am with them.   But why on earth would he be behaving this way?  Frankly, I think Mother Nature goofed again (the first time, prompting Sheila to eat all those placentas, which gave here extended diarrhea).  I would appreciate anything you have to say about this, and any suggestions.

2-My other question is about whether I can plan on breeding Sheila a second time, or if I ought to have her spayed after this weaning.   I need to think this through *now*, as I am keeping one puppy from the litter, and would like to keep the one yellow of the litter, which is a male.  If Sheila should not be bred again, however, I would keep a black female instead.

Sheila's last heat began 1/31/99, and matings for this litter occurrred on 1/31/99 and 2/1/99.   Her heats have always occurred every 9 months.  This litter of puppies will be completely weaned by 5/31/99.  Can you guess at the date of Sheila's next heat?

Sheila will be four years of age in 11/99.  I imagine she ought to get one heat period off to rest, so I am trying to calculate her age when she could mate again, and am wondering if this would be too old for her to have a second litter.

Thanks very much.

Helen  

A: Helen-

It is likely that Buddy is trying to re-exert his dominance in the household. Mounting behavior in dogs is one of the ways in which dominance is expressed. There is a smaller possibility that he was kenneled close to a bitch in heat and that he is simply expressing sexual frustration -- but that is not too common in dogs.  If Shiela is protective of the puppies and exhibiting signs of aggression towards Buddy that normally is not part of their relationship, that might make his aggressive behavior worse, as well.  Even without puppies as part of the picture, a lot of our clients have problems when a dog comes home from being kenneled or home from our clinic when the other dog was not kenneled  or hospitalized.  Often, dogs seem to feel a strong need to re-establish who is the boss in these circumstances. Since I usually get called when the dogs are fighting, rather than exhibiting less aggressive behaviors,  Buddy may be being better about this than you think.  I really think he will settle down in a few days -- if not, I will be glad to look for suggestions for treating the problem. Keeping them separate when you can't supervise is OK and shouldn't affect things much. If Buddy was the dominant dog before he was kenneled things will return to normal faster if he gets the best place to stay, is fed first, etc. when they are are separate or when they are together.

Female dogs with a regular cycle will normally stay on it. So Shiela will probably come into heat nine months after the last heat period. Having puppies does not normally affect this interval.  So she will probably come into heat towards the end of September or early October.  I don't think that there is a major problem with a five or even six year-old bitch having her second litter, from a medical standpoint.  I would be comfortable with a patient of mine skipping the next estrus and then being bred one more time. You can't guarantee breeding success so if there is an exceptional female puppy in this litter and it is  your goal to continue to move towards bettering the breed, it might be best to keep that puppy.  If you think the male puppy is a better quality puppy than it would make sense to keep him since the odds are high in your favor that you will be able to have a second litter from Shiela.

Next time, you should switch her to a puppy or lactation diet about three weeks before her anticipated delivery date. This is when the developing puppies really start to demand a lot of nutritional support.

Mike Richards, DVM 4/19/99    

Weaning puppies

Q: Dear Dr. Mike,

        Sorry to be at you almost every day, but your answers are of  exceptional quality, and these are unusual times for us, having our first  litter of puppies.

        The pups are 2 weeks old today, and I have read and heard  conflicting advice about when and how to start weaning them.  Sheila is a  great mom and seems to be enjoying the nursing, but I have heard that to  let it go on too long takes an unnecessary toll on the mom.  I was thinking  of offering food to the puppies starting at 4 weeks, and as their food  intake increased, they would take less and less breast milk until  completely weaned.

        What is your thinking on this, both on the timing and the method?

 Thanks very much.

 Helen  

A: Helen-

I think that it is OK, when necessary, to wean puppies when they are three and one-half  (3.5) weeks old. It is probably better to wait until they are four weeks of age to offer food, though. It is pretty hard on the bitch if you don't begin to wean the puppies by the time they are five to six weeks old.

I think that puppies should be weaned directly to a puppy food. Using a kibble type food is easiest. Find a flat dish or saucer and moisten the puppy food enough to make it really soft. Then put the dish in with the puppies. At first they just walk through the food but then they figure out pretty quickly that it IS food.  They will gradually eat more of the puppy food and nurse less. Most females start to wean the puppies by spending more and more time away from them at about 5 weeks of age. Some start sooner and some seem willing to let puppies nurse for a very long time, though.

At about 5 weeks of age it is OK to moisten the food less, gradually working towards feeding it dry by the time they are six to seven weeks old.

This works well for most situations. A small number of puppies have to be weaned off mom to a puppy milk replacer and then have that mixed with food until they will eat it.

Try to avoid weaning to oatmeal or some other incomplete food. It just complicates the whole process.

Mike Richards, DVM 4/21/99    

Sucking behavior

Q: Dear Dr. Mike,

        Things are going great her, thanks to your good advice: Sheila is looking in good condition, Buddy has stopped trying to mount her, and I have a weaning plan in place with which I am comfortable.

        And here comes the "but":  One of the puppies is now seeking out male pups and vigorously sucking on the penis.  This is not a good thing, right?  But I don't know how to prevent it.

        Any ideas?

        Thanks very much

Helen

A: You had a question about one of the puppies nursing on the male puppy's prepuces. This is relatively common but it can sometimes lead to infections, particularly after the puppy's teeth begin to erupt more fully. It may help to feed the puppy with this habit Pedialyte or one of the similar formulas made for pets. Doing that won't interfere with the puppy's nutrition as they almost always will still nurse but it gives them some nutrition and keeps them hydrated, which may be the reasons for the behavior.  

Colic

Q: Dear Dr. Mike,

        This is our first litter, as you know, so hopefully I won't have so many questions the second time around.

        Today's problem is that one pup is the most vociferous creature I have ever encountered. In between feedings, he often toddles around the box, yelping at the top of his lungs. He did this twice during the night, and the only way to quiet him is to pick him up, soothe him to sleep, and ease him back down with the others.  Otherwise, he is sturdy and vigorous, and is gaining weight as are the others.

        What a scene, in the middle of the night!! Sheila had observed that I was able to quiet him the first time, so when I woke up the second time, she jumped anxiously to her feet (it was clear that she had been watching me and hoping I would get up), and as I was cradling this little guy on my shoulder, I had my arm around Sheila's neck, as she was anxiously burrowing into me. "Don't worry, Sheila, we'll take care of this little guy."

        At 63, I'm a mom again!! Do pups get colic???  What to do?

Thanks very much.

Helen

A: Helen-

Puppies do get colic. Sometimes it takes a lot more effort to stimulate a puppy to have a bowel movement or to urinate than the mother is supplying, since she often has multiple puppies to take care of.  Rubbing the puppy's stomach gently can be helpful. Using a warm wet  washcloth or other soft cloth to gently massage around the puppy's anus can stimulate a bowel movement and relieve discomfort. This can also be done around the preputial area in male pups. It is best not to use the same cloth for stimulating both areas if that can be avoided. I don't know of any really good remedy other than comforting the puppy and trying to stimulate it.  I won' t have access to my pediatric books until Monday but I will try to look for any further information then.

Mike Richards, DVM 4/23/99  

Michal Response:

Hi Helen,

You might also see if burping the puppy helps. You know, on your shoulder with gentle pats and very gentle rubbing on the upper back and shoulders.

Also try walking around for a bit with the puppy held comfortably on the center of your chest, over your heart, doing what I like to call the granny bounce..that thing we do when we pick up or get handed fretful babies. Works for me.

Michal  4/24/99

also see Diarrhea - Chronic