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Tiny Newborn Pup


SLF
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My girl whelped 8 healthy kelpie pups on the 16th

No obvious health issues, all feeding sleeping wriggling as they should.

The litter is 2 pups more than previous litters (each previous had 6 pups) - don't think it matters but just in case.

There is a tiny female pup weighing approx. 250grm she is approx. 15cm long

The other pups all weigh approx. 500grm or more (approx. 100grm ea on average more than the pups in previous litters too. So they look huge ) These pups are approx. 26cm long so there is a massive size difference.

She is healthy and feeding well and apart from size does not stand out in the litter at all. She is growing however today was the first day I was able to weigh them as the dam is quite protective of them and I dint want to upset the applecart so to speak when so far so good.

My question is; do you find these tiny pups catch up? If they are healthy and doing well in the litter is it worth supplement feeding or extra feeding to help increase growth rates and weight gain?

edited to add - will get pup examined by vet tomorrow (Monday) to be sure no major unseen problems

any other advice welcome :)

Edited by SLF
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I had two smaller pups in my current litter, both strong and healthy but I did find that they started slowing down a little after a few days simply because the others were so much bigger and pushed them off the milk bar.

We made sure they got on the boob first and kept an eye on them for a few weeks. Now at four weeks the boy is almost as big as the two massive males and the girl is one of the biggest in the litter.

In the previous litter my smallest puppy is now the largest dog I own and the biggest from his litter. The biggest puppy is my tiny little girl :laugh: So birth weight doesn't seem to mean all that much provided the dog is healthy.

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As long as the puppy is consistently gaining weight I would leave it alone & try not to worry. Weigh daily, preferably around the same time if possible & chart the weight gain.

If you supplement now the puppy may not push forward to get a teat. Only supplement if there is no weight gain, as in ratio to its smaller size compared to the others of course.

Sometimes there may be an odd day of no gain but as long as its only an odd day & it weighs more the next day all should be well.

Some are merely smaller dogs & others catch up at weaning time which is fine at about day 20 or close if pup will take it.

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Was she smaller at birth or has she just not gained? When we get a small one weigh it twice a day. Let her have some time alone with mum on the lower fuller teats a couple of times a day. If she is gaining after this she will probably be fine. I always weigh them at birth and record it and do it every day till they are consistently gaining. When you get a larger than normal litter quite often there are larger ones and smaller ones. Sometimes they do catch up and grow into normal large dogs or sometimes they are smaller dogs. It's funny out of a litter of mini poodles can get different sizes when full grown. Like people some kids grow taller than. brothers and sisters. I was told genetics can throw forward up to 6 generations. Good luck with it. If it starts going backwards and too weak to get on the teat you may have to feed her yourself.

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  • 4 weeks later...

She was born approx. 190gr the other pups between 500-600grms. So she was tiny.

Now at a bit over 4 weeks she is thriving. Gaining approx. 22% of her bodyweight per day, growing eating playing perfectly. Had a check up at the vet yesterday, no obvious signs of heart murmurs etc..

So fingers crossed all goes well. I will keep her and see what happens. I couldn't sell her - just in case. good excuse to keep one :thumbsup: from the litter as I wasn't planning on it.

She is just like a foxy pup born in a kelpie litter !

Im not sure how to add photos but she is super cute and doing very well.

edited to add, I have not had to supplement feed her at all.

Edited by SLF
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I'd love to see a photo of her too. Geeze the other ones sound like they were HUGE at birth, over half a kilo!!! :eek: She must look very cute. I hope you've taken lots of photos so when you work out how to post them you can bombard us with them.

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They are fine, apart from her size she blends in . If anything she is more bossy and pushy, as she really has to push through them sometimes to get feed now they are bigger etc..

She doesn't hold back that's for sure. :thumbsup:

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She was born approx. 190gr the other pups between 500-600grms. So she was tiny.

Now at a bit over 4 weeks she is thriving. Gaining approx. 22% of her bodyweight per day, growing eating playing perfectly. Had a check up at the vet yesterday, no obvious signs of heart murmurs etc..

So fingers crossed all goes well. I will keep her and see what happens. I couldn't sell her - just in case. good excuse to keep one :thumbsup: from the litter as I wasn't planning on it.

She is just like a foxy pup born in a kelpie litter !

Im not sure how to add photos but she is super cute and doing very well.

edited to add, I have not had to supplement feed her at all.

I've had a couple vets tell me that low birth weight puppies generally had poor attachment in the womb and therefore the embryos didn't grow to full size. I guess this could cause problems, but most often the pups catch up rapidly if given a good seat at the milkbar or a little supplemental feeding. No long term effects.

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thanks Sandgrubber, yes the vet suggested that if all is well with the pup then poor placental attachment is very likely.

It will be interesting watching her grow over the next few months.

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