lionqueen Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 (edited) Hi guys, As the title would suggest I had a puppy from our recent litter that was born with quite bad breathing difficulties. He was born gulping for air approx. every 8-10 seconds and I suspected that he had a buildup of amniotic fluid in his lungs, and I was quite fearful that he was in the last throes of life...I tried clearing his airway with my finger and holding him up by the back legs in an effort to clear his lungs, some fluid did come out. I then commenced alternate chest compression and mouth to mouth in an effort to get him to breathe properly on his own. This seemed to be working, so I kept doing it for around 6-10 minutes (not sure about exact timespan as I had been up with mum for hours)but he seemed to be responding and getting stronger by the minute. He was quite weak at first and not really able to breastfeed by himself so I syringed some expressed milk into him, and also encouraged him to nurse by opening his mouth and putting him onto his mums smaller nipples. It was touch and go for the first week or so, as he was quite a bit smaller than his siblings, but I perservered making sure he was getting plenty of milk. As the weeks passed by he began to blossom, and now 13 weeks in he is almost the same size as most of his siblings. He has an amazing spirit, he is so confident and cheeky, a real little fighter, he is almost the strongest eater now! He seems totally fine to me, and my vet has given him a clean bill of health. I was just wondering if his lifespan will be the same as his siblings, and if there is any reason why he shouldn't lead a totally healthy life... I would love to hear from anyone who has experienced similar, and what the outcome was etc. Thanks in advance! Edited June 24, 2013 by lionqueen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jed Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I have had pups like this over years, and in my experience, all of them lived normal lives, and did not seem to have their lives shortened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionqueen Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 Thanks Jed, I apprecaiate your reply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Yes had similar with kittens. Fortunately never occurred with pups. The couple of kittens were absolutely fine & showed no after effects of their shaky start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 I'd say if your puppy looks fine now at 13 weeks then he's probably going to have a normal life. :) I've worked on quite a few newborn pups, but one of them I had to work very hard on and he ended up having brain damage that affected his balance. I don't know if he was always going to be that way, or if his time in limbo affected his development. Regardless, he was a normal dog in other ways (he just fell over a lot) and went to a home who was happy to have him and his disability. He was a very confident little pup and really didn't know the world was supposed to be steadier than he was experiencing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionqueen Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 Thanks Christina, and Leema... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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