Early Death of Puppies

Posted by Jeanne on December 19, 2008

This is a subject that never ends. What causes the death of puppies before they are ten days old? Litters are born, seemingly normal in every respect: then beginning as early as the second day, one after the other becomes quiet and is soon dead.

There are numerous reasons, and the exact cause in each case often cannot be determined. What is called acid milk often is a common alibi. Milk fever or infected udders, brings the disease known as mastitis. It is a bacterial disease and perhaps is the most common situation where puppies die within a few days after birth.

If this situation exists and it can be determined by placing a blue litmus paper in the milk, it is recommended that puppies be taken away from the mother immediately and hand fed.

To hand feed very young puppies is to wake up every two hours, use a very small nipple that can be purchased at drug stores. To the milk should be added a bit of sweetening such as syrup. Milk should be around 100 degrees in temperature.

A sudden chill can bring death to a puppy within an hour. That is why it is well to have puppies off the floor and out of the least draft. Temperature of not less than 70 degrees is desirable for the first ten days. It is true, of course, that puppies can be born outdoors in the coldest weather and survive.

Another cause of early death is infection through the navel after the umbilical cord has been cut off by the mother or by an attendant. It is well to daub this spot on the abdomen with a solution of iodine. This tends also to draw the opening together. Infection or cold through this opening can bring on trouble internally, especially in the liver, and thereby cause quick death.

Puppies can be born heavily infested with eggs of round worm, which mature within three weeks. Indirectly they bring death. If a puppy is bloated with worms, take a chance, even at four weeks; worm it; the alternative too often is death at six weeks.