Dr. Lara (Dr. Lera Clone) reviews newborn puppy care and a postpartum vet visit for a new mother dog (Cookie) and her litter. Topics covered include canine gestation length (61–63 days), using X-rays around day ~45 to count fetuses, risks of dystocia and C-section, importance of removing deceased fetuses to prevent infection, neonatal thermal regulation, importance of colostrum within the first 12–16 hours, daily weight monitoring for the first 4 weeks, checking for cleft palate, umbilical hernias, heart murmurs, weaning at 4–6 weeks, nutrition for lactating dams, and brief mention of tail docking timing (first few days).
Chapters
Hey, guys. Dr. Lara here today. I am here with Cookie, and Cookie is a new mom. And as you guys can see, she has two little puppies. One of the puppies didn't make it. And it is common to have puppies or kittens not make it during the litter. And so one of the things that people want to know is how. How long do our dogs usually pregnant for? And it's usually 61 to 63 days, usually around 45 days of gestation or into the pregnancy. We will go ahead and do X rays on the dogs to see how many puppies are in there. And the reason we want to do that is because we want to make sure that if mom is going into labor and. And she has a puppy or she has two or three, we want to make sure that there aren't any other puppies left in there. And then she's starting to experience what we call dystocia or difficulty giving birth. If she is experiencing that, then that would mean that we might have to do one of a couple things like giving her some medication to get her to pass the other babies, or we might have to do an emergency C section to go ahead and help get those babies out. Even if we're not able to get the babies out in time, and unfortunately, unfortunately one of the puppies passes away, we would still need to potentially go in and remove that other fetus, because that puppy, as it's being broken down by the body, can cause a major infection. Okay, so one of the things that we are going to do today is we are going to do some X rays on Mom. Mom never had X rays before. This wasn't an intended litter. And so it's something that we just want to make sure that there aren't any puppies. That being said, these puppies are about three days old. They're Yorkies. And so you can see they're kind of fat right now. They're napping. And mom is doing a great job of being relaxed and allowing the puppies to nurse. The other thing is that mom needs to be around the puppies or the puppy needs to be on top of mom to help keep them warm. The puppies have a lot of difficulty regulating their blood, their temperature, and if their temperature starts to drop, that then what happens is their instinct to the puppy's instincts to feed and suckle for mom starts to go down. And that can be very, very dangerous. Within the first 12 hours, it is crucial that the puppies drink the mother's first milk. That first milk is called Colostrum and that has some stuff in it that helps the puppies develop their immunity and that kind of stuff. And it's typically within that first 12 to 16 hour window. If it doesn't happen within that first 12 to 16 hour window, it's end of the world. But they're not going to be as well protected as they would have been had they ingested some sort of colostrum, whether it's from their actual mom or another mom that is lactating as well. Now, one of the other things you have to realize is not all dogs or cats or animals are naturally good mothers. And so you have to, you know, really monitor mom to make sure that she's allowing them to circle, allowing them to, you know, to nuzz up next to her and that kind of stuff. If they're not, then you're going to need to work with mom to make sure that she is allowing them to do that, or you're going to need to find a different mom. The other thing that you could potentially do is you can look at getting them on milk replacer. It's not the best thing. The best thing is to have them on mom's milk. That being said, one of some of the important things that you want to know is when the puppies came in and we started doing our exams, we want to weigh them, especially for the first four weeks, every single day or every other day. That's really important to know that they're gaining weight every single day. If they're losing weight or not gaining weight, that's an indication that something bad is going on. Whether A, they're sick or B, if mom's milk is not, doesn't have, isn't rich enough or doesn't have enough nutrients, or if mom is not producing enough. That being said, you want to make sure that you're weighing them every day and keeping a log of it. If you have a puppy that's a weaker puppy and isn't feeding very well, you want to let that puppy feed first on the most engorged nipples and then once that puppy is done, then allow the stronger puppies to come in. Trust me, they will get the milk out of mom. The other thing that we do when we go ahead and evaluate puppies is when they're first born is to go ahead and check them for cleft palates. We want to make sure that's a condition where there's an opening in the ceiling of the dog's mouth where it goes up into their nose and it makes it difficult for them to swallow. That is something that a lot of times can be surgically corrected and is something that needs to be taken care of sooner rather than later. The other thing that I do when I evaluate these dogs is I look for umbilical hernias. And so just checking to see here, making sure that there aren't any potential issues down the road, and also listening to their heart to see if there's any evidence of a murmur. Now, just because they have a murmur doesn't necessarily mean that there's something wrong. A lot of the times, dogs or kittens or even humans will be born with a murmur, and eventually they'll grow out of it. So it's not something that is a death sentence, but it is something to keep on your radar if they happen to not be doing well and that kind of stuff. As of right now, normally, you'll start to wean them off mom's milk between four to six weeks of age, and then you'll start weaning them over to human, not to human food, but adult puppy food. And that is something that you want to do slowly but surely with these smaller breed dogs. We are not really a fan of doing tail docking or you're cropping or anything like that. But if you are planning on doing that, it is something that has to be done typically within the first few days of life. The thought is that they have less nerve endings that have developed, and therefore it is less painful for them to experience that kind of procedure. It is not something that is done with general anesthesia nor local anesthesia. It is something that is done without any anesthetic. And typically the puppies will stop whining within about a minute, if not less. Okay. One of the other things that mom has been doing, and mom noticed, was that she's picking up the puppies and she is moving them back and forth. And so mom started exhibiting some of that behavior before with us. And I anticipate it's because mom was being protective of them. That's just something that we want to go ahead and let her know that she's comfortable. And so you want to give her some space if there's a particular spot in your house where you want her, where she wants to go. See if you can make your. See if you can accommodate them. Okay, you guys have one last thing also. Make sure that mom, before the puppies are born, is on a lactating or a growth formula, because they are going to require a lot of nutrients to make those puppies. And once the puppies or kittens are born, they are also going to need a lot of nutrients and minerals to go ahead and produce that milk. If you guys have any questions about this particular topic, leave it in the comment box. If you found this video helpful, give us a thumbs up. Subscribe, and if you know somebody who needs to see it, share it with them. Thanks for watching. Be safe and take care.
