Is the runt of my litter going to be okay?

Question

My pet schnauzer just had her first litter and she had five. She had no problems with having them and did it all on her own and she is perfectly well now. It was two nights ago when she had them. There are four really healthy looking pups and one runt. He seems to be laying and not moving like the others. He doesnt seem to be drinking because im afraid that he is to weak. I also just noticed that he has a little bit of foam coming from his mouth or nose. I am so worried. If its okay then how can i help the pup eat more and the pups are getting their tales cut off at the vet tomorrow so should i worry about the pup and let the vet know of this problem?

Answer 1

Yes tell the vet of this one pups problems and of your concerns. Have the vet check the pups mouth to see if the pup has any problems with his tongue or his pallet.

Aslo see if you can help the pup get to the moms teat by putting him or her right on it. This way you can tell if it is sucking properly. You can also check his sucking power by putting your pinky finger (if you dont have long nails) into it's mouth and see if it has a strong suck or a weak one. If it's pretty strong then make sure he get to the mom's teat and help make sure he is getting his fair share of her milk. Sometime the stronger pups will push the weaker one away and then the weaker one doesn't get enough milk to help him get any stronger.
Good luck!

Answer 2

no vet keep an eye on these dog usually because of it being a runt the other puppies will not let this one eat i had a dog that had ten puppies and i didnt realize that they werent letting this one eat so by the time i figured it out it was to late your best bet is to take this puppy and feed this one by hand buy a baby bottle and some similac with iron it give it to him or her every 4 hours then get some soft dog food and use your finger and kind of force her or him to eat it will not bother it to be away from the other puppies but keep this one warm when you go to give the food try a little bit of this first then give the milk to wash it down only do a couple of bites at first she will fight with you but force her it is the best way she will not know how to suck on the bottle at first so try to get it in her mouth then cup your hand around her mouth and the top of the bottle make sure you rub her belly to get her to burp if she doesnt it is ok but it is better that you try as for the milk about 4 ounces at a time if she doesnt take all of it dont worry do this and she will be just fine trust me i have five dogs now and just had ten puppies

Answer 3

I don't want to be rude to you but you know nothing about breeding and should not be doing it. The minute you saw the runt having some difficulty you should have called your Vet immediately and had the pup looked at. When there is a problem at birth and it is not taken care of immediately the pup usually dies. If they were born 2 nights ago, the pup could be starved to death by now. It could be dead by the time you go to the Vet tomorrow. WHY would you wait when you see he was in trouble?

Answer 4

I would Tell the vet. Usaul most runts are healthy, but this pup sounds like it might have a serious illness. Most of it's actions that you descibed I'm sad to say match those of Distemper, but I may be wrong, it might just be spitting it's milk up and it might being pushed around by the other pups, it's hard to tell. Also it might be a birth problem, sometimes after birth a puppy won't nurse and they appear weak. As I said before you should tell your vet.

Answer 5

Yes,you should definately let the vet know.

It sounds like the little guy is bringing milk up through his nose (not HORRIBLY uncommon with some breeds...but I've never heard of a schnauzer having this happen). If he's got a cleft platte in the back of his mouth,it could be why he just doesn't feel well. I'd say go get some puppy formula and eyedropper until tomorrow.

Answer 6

I would wait until tomorrow to ask the vet, but in the mean time get yourself a medicine dropper and give the little guy milk, should be a formula you can buy puppy formula at the pet store, but Milk would do ok for tonight, If he is not well the mother may have very well layed on him. I know it sounds cruel, but she may now that he is not going to make it, and alot of dogs will go ahead and smother the weakest pup.

Answer 7

what u need to do is either feed him your self with a bootle or after the other pups r done drinking milk take the little one and show him to his mom. I had puppies like that one litter and she lived. But the second litter the runt died. So good luck with the runt but u will need to get not so close cuz it might die.

Answer 8

I would definately let the vet know about the littler one. You will need to make sure it is getting on a nipple on the mom to get milk as the other and bigger more dominant pups will push and shove him away. In that case you may need to bottle feed him with a milk replacement. Talk with the vet more about it. Have fun with the new pupppies! :)

Answer 9

LET THE VET KNOW! He could have rabies or worse or an infection. And I;m sorry to hear that.
P.S. I've always wanted to know why in the world would you cut of their tails that's how they express themselves! And isn't it illegal now?
No offense. Just curious.
Good Luck.

Answer 10

I don't know the other answers but I think you should definitely tell the vet about it! It may not be getting the nutrition it needs from it's mom, but that doesn't mean it'd need to die. See what the vet says. Why are you getting their tails cut? I didn't even know that schnauzers had cropped tails... wow.