Leema Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I have a singleton litter born by c-section yesterday morning. Puppy and mum are doing well. Puppy is drinking by herself and doing all normal puppy things. However, a couple of mum's boobs are looking more full and I want to put the puppy on these nipples. Puppy seems to prefer the front 5 nipples, and disregards the back 2 nipples. Whenever I try to move the puppy onto the back ones, it goes to sleep? Or, it just moves towards its favourite 5 again. If I am persistent, puppy gives up and goes to sleep. Any suggestions on how I can get it onto the back boobs? I have tried squeezing milk out of them and dabbing saliva on them to try to make them smell appealing... Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Baggins Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I have a singleton litter born by c-section yesterday morning. Puppy and mum are doing well. Puppy is drinking by herself and doing all normal puppy things. However, a couple of mum's boobs are looking more full and I want to put the puppy on these nipples. Puppy seems to prefer the front 5 nipples, and disregards the back 2 nipples. Whenever I try to move the puppy onto the back ones, it goes to sleep? Or, it just moves towards its favourite 5 again. If I am persistent, puppy gives up and goes to sleep. Any suggestions on how I can get it onto the back boobs? I have tried squeezing milk out of them and dabbing saliva on them to try to make them smell appealing... Thanks in advance. Leema do not worry about it and let them dry up. Watch for signs of mastitis. Try putting an ice pack on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I used the bottom four only with my singleton and let the others dry up. Just let the pup feed from the one's it likes and watch the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 ..and don't feed the bitch any extra food ! Good quality- normal ration . She doesn't need to produce much milk at this stage ..and if pup needs to work a bit for his dinner- that's good exercise, which is now lacking as he doesn't have siblings to crawl over/fight for food with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions. I'll leave puppy alone. What are some obvious signs of mastitis I should look for? The back boobs are starting to look 'lumpy' ('cellulite-like'). I'll also cut back on mum's food. She isn't getting anything incredible, anyway, but I'll be conscious to not be ridiculously generous. I am hoping that in a couple of days, she'll realise that she only has one pup and reduce her milk production? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Her body should catch up soon enough. My girl took days for her milk to come in properly, because she only had one, then flooded her for a few days and then pretty much looked like she wasn't feeding a pup at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) Okay, now I'm heaps scared after reading about mastitis. Here's a photo of one of the boobs in question. They both look similar, but this one looks 'worse'. Do you think it's cause for concern? EDIT: Attached pic (was too big). Edited October 25, 2011 by Leema Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 no photos...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Sorry, attached now. File was too big and I had to resize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Don' t panic .. mastitis is an infection..therefore a gland with mastitis will probably be warmer to touch..may be a bit sore, and may feel tight/hard (hard to explain if you haven't come across it before, as full mammary glands feel tight and full ;) ) ..also any milk expressed will look curdled ... or be 'sticky'. I have worked with lots and lots of whelping bitches- and have seen only a handful of mastitis cases - it's easy fixed if caught early Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) To me those rear boobs just look very very full and tight..and the veins are prominent ..... that;s just from the photo... if you're worried , then apply a cool compress.. or a cabbage leaf compress . ..and see what happens. Her hormones have told her to PRODUCE ..and she has! Ever seen a full cow's udder? let things settle and in 24 hrs they should look much smaller, and feel softer. It's difficult for bacteria to get into a mammary gland if no pups have suckled ..as the openings are still closed ;) Edited October 25, 2011 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Thanks for your help. I'll relax... Ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 In my experience, newborns like the front teats, which are easy to grasp, but generally have less milk. Older, hungrier, pups gravitate to the back. The back nipples are harder to grab, but more payola (I think I've hit the tradeoff in my life :D). I haven't dealt with a singleton, so can't advise on how to shift a pup backwards over time. But mastitis is painful. If you watch out for sensitive teats, you should be able to keep ahead of the threat. My guess is that biology will watch over the scene and the pup and dam will work out something healthy if you don't intervene too much. Mostly, when the pups stop sucking, the boobs stop producing. The really ugly cases happen when a bitch has much more milk production than the pup(s) have suck power and the excess milk brings in rot -- or when a really bad mastitis bug gets introduced. If your girl isn't swelling and isn't showing sensitivity, you're probably in the 'safe' zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilaryo Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I also would let the back row teats dry up as these are the ones that sometimes give the most trouble if not emptied regularly. I've also found that they are the least liked teats as the pups get older even though they do seem to produce a lot of milk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Thanks for your comments. I'll keep an eye on things, but it sounds like I'm just being paranoid at the moment. Last litter she had 3, and I could just move puppies around at will when any boob looked fuller than the others. This singleton has attitude already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacuna Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 My maiden bitch recently gave birth to two pups. I noticed that they were just using the back two nipples and by day three the nipples were looking red and were rather warm to the touch although they weren't hard. I cut the pups nails and also applied a cool flannel to them during the day but I noticed she didn't appear to be worried by pups sucking on them. I would have been concerned if she didn't allow the pups on them. On a visit to the vet a day later I asked about them but after examination he said that they were fine. Must admit I was worried as they were only using the back two but obviously when the milk supply in them wasn't enough they moved forward to the next two although the back two still seemed to be first choice. As I rarely heard the pups crying obviously they were being satisfied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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