Caring For A Large Litter

[mini girl]

One of my miniature poodles had 10 puppies this afternoon - this is the biggest litter I have ever had - but she went so well and all the pups look strong and healthy weights are between 156gr and 200gr. I have never had such a big litter before the most ever was 8 usually around 5, 6 or 7 but this girl is amazing.

They were born between 2pm and 4.30 pm and now mum is settled in her box and we have divided them in two lots of 5 we took the five that seemed to be getting at the teats off about 30 minutes ago and put them in a basket with warming pad and towel over they are quiet and sleeping - mum ate a lot of the afterbirths and has had a big bowl of puppy milk and seems really good.

How long do you rotate pups for - we always weigh them each day sometimes twice a day for a few days to see they are not going backwards - do you rotate continually or just a few times a day and let them all back with mum for some of the time?

Any other hints with such a big litter for a small dog would be so much appreciated - I guess 10 is not so many more than 8 but it seems hugh and we hope to raise them all.

[TrinaJ]

My first litter she had 14, 2 didn't survive birth, so I had 12 puppies for a couple of days til she squashed 2. I let them feed naturally off her then topped them up with fresh goats milk with colustrum. I was scared of flooding their lungs o i used an eye dropper for the first day (smallest was 202 grs) and ljust dropped it on their tongues, took a while but it was my first litter and i didnt want to do anything wrong. This lasted until they were on solids. There were only 3 that I had to really top up, they were the smallest in the litter.

So lad this recent litter she has enough teets, makes life so much easier

[shellbyville]

I have a litter of 11 labradors that are almost 3 weeks old, so not a small dog like a poodle. For the first few days we rotated them each feed day and night, making sure the 3 that didn't get a teat first, was put on first the next feed. However after a few days, we stopped rotating at night and just started rotating them for some of the day feeds. I weighed them each day to see how much weight they were gaining and all were gaining weight. After the first week I haven't rotated them at all. They are extremely feisty pups, they fight there way in for a feed. I haven't started them on solids yet, will do next week, but am so surprised at how well they are all growing with no intervention (except for the first 2 or 3 days of rotating). I thought I would have to supplement them, but have just been feeding mum very well and she hasn't lost weight, if anything she has put on weight as well.

[Alyosha]

Our last litter of 12 we had in two shifts of six - we grouped them on size, put the biggest ones together and the smaller ones in the other group. I rotated them every two hours for the first two weeks.

But we had milk supply issues and they were being supp. fed as well at the start. So every two hours, mum out to toilet, top up the six pups that had been with her with tube feeds, put them to bed nice and warm then bring in mum and put the other six on her.

The serious downside was only getting about an hour sleep at a time, but they all thrived (and turned out beautifully!) so well worth it. I sleep next to the whelping box anyway for the first two weeks. She had retained placentas which was the cause of the slow arrival of milk but a slow release oxy shot did work and by day six they were off tube feeds. Was a very long first week though!!

When they were just being fed by mum, the changeover was easy every two hours.

edit to add - we kept ours divided up until about five weeks when we were starting to wean them. Mum found it stressful to have all of them at once, she seemed to have difficulty keeping track of them all and would get up and down trying to find and organise them. The risk of them getting crushed seemed much higher. We only had one squashed, and I was right there and resuscitated him. Phew!

Edited April 28, 2012 by Alyosha

[Alyosha]

And just in case there's any extras that you might find helpful, we had a thread going at teh time about tip and tricks for large litters:

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/223332-management-of-large-litters/page__p__5395959__hl__%2Blarge+%2Blitter__fromsearch__1#entry5395959

[Missymoo]

Im impressed she stuffed them all in there! lol!! Nothing from me but to wish you and mumma dog well :)

[Mystiqview]

Mia's first litter consisted of 11 puppies.

Best advice I can give is supplement, supplement and supplement. Just make sure your bitch has enough milk or does not produce too much milk and then get mastitis. I supplemented mine about 3-4 times a day and allowed mum to take care of them over night for me. Watch mum to make sure she does not cull any if she thinks there are too many to care for.

Be careful if you are tube feeding. It can create a sore at the back of the throat when you get the puppies to swallow the tube. If you get a sore, it can easily become infected or they will not want to suckle.

I weighed mine twice a day to monitor their weight gains

[laneka]

We had a litter of 12. We did not seperate them but supplemented them with Wombaroo Milk Replacer. All pups thrived. I suppose it is up to the individual.

Goodluck with your babies.

[mini girl]

Thanks so much for all the advice - we are getting there and the pups are all over their birth weight now - they dropped a bit the first day after birth - they are 3 days old today - we are rotating a fair bit and weighing twice a day and giving the smaller ones a suppliment through the day and while up at night - just a couple of mils at a time - I am very scared to ever try tube feeding and just use an eye dropper.

I was a little concerned for my girl last night she was panting quite a bit and also temp at 39.3 so to be safe we bundled her up and also the pups and took her to the vet - he did a very thorough check to make sure her calcium levels were fine and an x ray to see nothing retained and an ultrasound to check her tummy - all came up fine and the panting is going now - I know they do pant somewhat after a litter but I guess I am on tender hooks with this amazingly large litter. The vet did give her a calcium injection to be sure and also an antibiotic shot to make sure no infection. Will include some yukult in her milk for a couple of days.

Hope all continues to go ok - will update how all is going.

[Fit for a King]

mini girl - give it a couple of days before adding yakult - let the antibiotics do their job to fight anything there before restoring gut flora.....

[mini girl]

mini girl - give it a couple of days before adding yakult - let the antibiotics do their job to fight anything there before restoring gut flora.....

Thanks for that - only given one little bit so will hold off.

[LizT]

Congratulations Mini Girl! WOW, that is a BIG bunch, you will have fun in about 4 weeks wont you! :laugh:

Fluffy pups galore. :)

I recently heard of a Cavalier that gave birth to 9 healthly pups. That's alot to fit in.

[mini girl]

Congratulations Mini Girl! WOW, that is a BIG bunch, you will have fun in about 4 weeks wont you! :laugh:

Fluffy pups galore. :)

I recently heard of a Cavalier that gave birth to 9 healthly pups. That's alot to fit in.

Yes a BIG litter - still getting my head around it - and totally agree in 4 weeks I will have my work cut out for me - probably less than 4 really as they are now just over a week old.

But an update - all are gaining weight - most doubled their birth weight a couple a bit smaller but really strong little ones - keep giving those 2 extra time with mum.

Mum is good and this morning at 5am was woken up with a face lick - she had finally decided she could leave them and come up for some time with her mummy - was so beautiful.

She seems fine am giving her plenty to eat and divetalact drinks and cheese and also some calcium syrup twice a day to be sure - only thing she doesn't seem to want much water so I dilute the puppy milk and give her that - she does pant a little - not much - when feeding but I guess those little gums and paws may hurt a bit. I am watching her like a hawk - and she is spending a bit of time away from the box now but not too far - can you give them too much calcium - have read about it and most seem to say they just excrete the excess - but with such a large litter for a 10 klg dog I don't want the dreaded esclampsia to get her. Will start to suppliment if I think she can't cope but so far so good.

[angelsun]

Litter of 13 once....they split themselves into milk bar sittings.....it's amazing how they sort themselves out really, nursing then falling off to allow another to take the spot.

Nature has a way of sorting this all out.....I had a bitch with 9 nipples that often had ten pups....they worked it out and all gained nicely without me sticking my nose into it.

[LizT]

Litter of 13 once....they split themselves into milk bar sittings.....it's amazing how they sort themselves out really, nursing then falling off to allow another to take the spot.

Nature has a way of sorting this all out.....I had a bitch with 9 nipples that often had ten pups....they worked it out and all gained nicely without me sticking my nose into it.

Yes, they are amazing. And on the other side of things my singleton only used four nipples, in rotation herself and the remaining nipples simple did not produce milk, dried up and no expressing or interference required from me.

[Saffioraire]

Might be a bit past it now but we had the bitch on Lukade electrolytes as well, that might help relieve her panting. My girl had similar symptoms when feeding, I was a ninja with the calcium but was so worried about eclampsia that I wasn't mindful of Glucose levels. After a trip to the Vet we put her on them and she did much better - also if you think shes really fading with energy levels you can dissolve sugar or honey into water and syringe it to her. Hope that's helps :)

[mini girl]

Might be a bit past it now but we had the bitch on Lukade electrolytes as well, that might help relieve her panting. My girl had similar symptoms when feeding, I was a ninja with the calcium but was so worried about eclampsia that I wasn't mindful of Glucose levels. After a trip to the Vet we put her on them and she did much better - also if you think shes really fading with energy levels you can dissolve sugar or honey into water and syringe it to her. Hope that's helps :)

My girl does seem a little depressed when feeding sometimes like you been giving her heaps of calcium rich food divetelact, puppy milk, cheese, chicken necks as well as her food and about 15 Mls of calcium syrup a day The lucasade drink is that the drink you buy from the chemist sort of sports drink ? I will try her with a teaspoon of sugar and water though and see how she goes.

[mini girl]

Might be a bit past it now but we had the bitch on Lukade electrolytes as well, that might help relieve her panting. My girl had similar symptoms when feeding, I was a ninja with the calcium but was so worried about eclampsia that I wasn't mindful of Glucose levels. After a trip to the Vet we put her on them and she did much better - also if you think shes really fading with energy levels you can dissolve sugar or honey into water and syringe it to her. Hope that's helps :)

My girl does seem a little depressed when feeding sometimes like you been giving her heaps of calcium rich food divetelact, puppy milk, cheese, chicken necks as well as her food and about 15 Mls of calcium syrup a day The lucasade drink is that the drink you buy from the chemist sort of sports drink ? I will try her with a teaspoon of sugar and water though and see how she goes.

[Saffioraire]

I got sachets of electrolytes from my Vet - I'd imagine this is possibly the best way, or you could call your Vet and ask if there is a comparable product in the supermarkets that is safe for dogs.

My girl actually fainted during a feed. I was giving her oral Calcium liquid and she fainted in my arms. 11 pups, mum and an 8 month old baby to the Vets in under 15 mins hehe! I was hysterical. Her Calcium was great but glucose was really low (which makes sense of course) but the electrolytes really helped keep her 'peppy' and mood up. You could spoon or syringe feed her dissolved sugar in water every few hours at first if you are worried. Just make sure she has plenty of fresh water to balance herself (of course). From vague memory I was giving 2-5ml a few times a day to a 26kg dog. So I'd imagine for a small breed a few teaspoons a few times a day might be enough.

Poor darling. You'll find a coping mechanism, and ROUTINE is priceless! I had a routine worked to perfection, and funnily enough 95% of new puppy homes thanked me for toilet training What toilet training?! A routine is so much more important with that few little extra feet and it sets them up well for their future homes.

[mini girl]

I got sachets of electrolytes from my Vet - I'd imagine this is possibly the best way, or you could call your Vet and ask if there is a comparable product in the supermarkets that is safe for dogs.

My girl actually fainted during a feed. I was giving her oral Calcium liquid and she fainted in my arms. 11 pups, mum and an 8 month old baby to the Vets in under 15 mins hehe! I was hysterical. Her Calcium was great but glucose was really low (which makes sense of course) but the electrolytes really helped keep her 'peppy' and mood up. You could spoon or syringe feed her dissolved sugar in water every few hours at first if you are worried. Just make sure she has plenty of fresh water to balance herself (of course). From vague memory I was giving 2-5ml a few times a day to a 26kg dog. So I'd imagine for a small breed a few teaspoons a few times a day might be enough.

Poor darling. You'll find a coping mechanism, and ROUTINE is priceless! I had a routine worked to perfection, and funnily enough 95% of new puppy homes thanked me for toilet training What toilet training?! A routine is so much more important with that few little extra feet and it sets them up well for their future homes.

Thanks for that - I will ring my vet first thing in the morning - gave her one little dose of sugar and water may give her another before I go to bed. That must have been a real worry for you - sometimes in hind sight we wonder just how we got through things.