nursing mum & 5 wk old litter of 12

[janeann66]

I have litter of 12 staff pups 5 wks old all been healthy, ***** has had diarohea since birth but always had weak stomach been worse last days this morning 1 pup had diarohea, afternoon 2 and now 3 they are happy and playing but just today are suddenly starving for their pup food (3 times day r fed) ***** wont leave their feasis alone keeps eating it screams when i dont let her near pups to feed them i been awake for 3 days & nights my partner was paying vet bill but vanished im on my own any help appreciat

[Ghilly]

IMO, the only time a puppy should be wormed at 2 weeks of age is if there is such a heavy infestation that the puppy won't survive without it.  Almost ALL puppies have worms, it's part of being a puppy, but like grendslori and margot said, 6 or 7 weeks is plenty early for a first worming.  NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER NEVER (did I mention NEVER?) use a wormer that you buy over the counter and ESPECIALLY not one that you get from a grocery store.  Even the ones sold at pet stores should not be used.  The ONLY wormers that are safe to use are the ones you get from your vet.  Products that grocery stores sell are pure poison, ESPECIALLY the ones made by Hartz Mountain, Sargent's and Zodiac.  These products have sickened and killed off tens of thousands of dogs and cats in recent years.  The problem was so severe that the FDA made Hartz Mountain remove a good portion of their product line from production, they were that unsafe.  Wormers and Flea and Tick preparations should only be purchased from or recommended by a veterinarian.  It's just not worth playing with your pet's life.  Yes, the preparations that you buy from your vet are more expensive but if you cannot afford to buy things that will help your pet and not harm it, it's best not to have a pet until you CAN afford to buy them.  I know that this was not the question right now, but one last warning, NEVER put a flea collar on your pet.  They are dangerous, they really don't work, and they are just plain NO GOOD.  They, too, have harmed many more animals than they have helped.

Ghilly

[Margot49]

Have done my share of breeding over the years, the right way.  Puppies can be wormed at 2 weeks but I never started until 4-6 weeks with Strongid but that is just basically for round worm.
It could be Cocci or another type of worm so you should take stool samples into the Vet.  Big litter and they can be weaned.  Start making a gruel with baby rice cereal and water or goat's milk.  Cut down Mom's nursing time so her milk will dry up, meaning keep her separate from the puppies most of the time.  If it is Cocci, you have to be vigilant to pick up any stool right away and wash bedding and dog dishes, preferably with diluted bleach.  You might want to get stool checks done on the Dam too.

[grendslori]

Be careful about that previous posting on deworming; Puppies shouldn't be wormed that young or that often. Usually they get a first deworming around the 7-8 week mark and a second one a couple of weeks later IF they need it. Your vet will do a stool check to see what type of worm your puppy is carrying and HE will despense the correct medicine for the type of worm found. Do not just go to the pet store and buy a dewormer; you do not know what type of worm your puppy has, only a test can tell you that. Twelve puppies is a lot for one person to handle; good breeders tend to not breed a lot because it is time consuming, energy zapping and when done right is very costly! My last litter ended up costing $10,000; you read that right: $10,000. We ended up with one puppy left out of thirteen. If you think you make money breeding dogs, I'm hear to tell you that you go into the red if it's done properly. Good luck.  

[Ghilly]

It's not too uncommon for the mom to have diarrhea after whelping a litter, eating the afterbirths often are the cause of this.  Twelve is a large litter and, consequently, a large number of placentae to eat.  Some breeders allow the female to eat one or two of the placentae just so that the instinctive urge to do so is answered but then they dispose of the rest so that it doesn't overload her and cause diarrhea.  After five weeks, however, this should have resolved.

As far as the mother eating the feces of the puppies, this too is an instinctive behavior and something that is done in the wild to prevent predators from being able to sniff out the den.  As long as the mom is in there with the puppies and they are still nursing on her she is going to do this, and you will drive yourself to distraction trying to get her to stop because it IS an instinctive behavior.  Your only choice here is to pretty much ride herd on the litter and pick it up as soon as they do it, which is going to be no easy task with such a large group of puppies.

Is there an odor to the diarrhea?  I would have them all tested for coccidiosis, which produces an almost sickeningly sweet-smelling diarrhea.  There is an antibiotic called Albon that is the drug of choice for treating this and, while coccidiosis is usually caused by the pups being in unclean conditions, I have also known it to happen in litters belonging to fastidious people.  Sometimes it just happens.  It usually isn't dangerous unless the diarrhea is allowed  to go unchecked, in which case it leads to dehydration and all kinds of other problems, so it's best to have it checked.  A normal fecal exam will tell if this is the problem or not.

Lynn is correct in stating that worming should be done on the puppies.  It's possible that the stress of the pregnancy activated dormant hookworm larvae in the mother's system and she has passed this along to the puppies.  There are good, safe wormers available from your vet that will allow you to safely worm puppies as young as two weeks of age, so I would look into one of these first thing Monday morning.  

Breeding dogs is not something to be taken lightly, it is a LOT of work and expense, especially if you do it correctly.  I'm sorry that your partner has basically disappeared and left you holding the bag but if these puppies are to survive and thrive, they will depend on you to to it.

Please keep us updated on their progress!  And post some pictures!  There's NOTHING cuter than puppy pics!

Ghilly

[janeann66]

Thanks Lynn was in a state of panic last night and mum is still nursing them they r all eating drinking and playing felt better being able to say it then reading this is calming I would never do this again people dont realise its full time with 12 pups plus mum and dad thanks again

[Lynn9419]

Have they been dewormed?? (I've learned my lesson on this one) they must be dewormed at 2,4,6,8 weeks....

Also, 5 week old pups still have to nurse from their mom. So, I guess the pups' feces will just have to be cleaned the soonest possible so the mother wont eat it.

As long as they are still eating and drinking then they'll be just fine.
I've read that pups can get diarrhea from a lot of reasons, sometimes they can be treated at home if the cause is not bacterial, or parasitic or from eating toxic things.
There are warning signs that you have to watch out for like blood in the stool or black tarry stool, general weakness.
Diarrhea can be deadly to puppies if left untreated for a couple days.
So, if things seem to get worse, you should head to the vet :)

Good Luck!