The Little Guy

The second born puppy was significantly smaller than the other 3. The first one was a whopper and the 3rd and 4th puppies were also close to that size. Since Giggles is a first-time mom, I have been sleeping on an uncomfortable bed in the room where the whelping box sits. Wednesday night, I woke up several times to the squeaks of puppies. I opened my eyes to see what Giggles was doing with/about the noise. For the most part, she was good about trying to solve whatever problem the puppy was complaining about. There was a time or two that more than one puppy was squeaking and poor Gig looked a little overwhelmed. She made it through, though (and so did the puppies :-)).

Thursday night was quieter or I was just that much more tired that I slept through most of the squeaking. When I awoke Friday morning, I heard 3 squeaks coming from the smallest puppy, who was under the pig rail and out of the warmth of the heat lamp. I picked him up and he was a little on the chilly side - and kind of limp. I was encouraged when he moved. So, I called the vet clinic and spoke to a tech, who advised that I give him some Karo syrup and take him into the clinic. I gave him some straight Karo and some diluted with warm water. By the time we got to the clinic, he had perked up some. Dr. Orchard gave him a quick exam - no cleft palate or other reasons he might not be able to nurse. He has been supplemented several times a day since Friday. He nurses from Giggles, but he doesn't seem to be able to stay on a nipple. I'm using a bottle to supplement him and he has no trouble sucking from that nipple. He's significantly smaller than the other puppies - he's 6.25 oz and the others are 13-14 oz. However, he's active (as active as a 4-day-old puppy is) and seeks out Giggles (or anything else that's warm). So, as long as he hangs in there, he will be a small one. I looked back at the records from Marvin's litter and this puppy's smaller than Marvin was at his age. I hope his feet all point in the same direction when he gets older (or that he doesn't have any major faults) - he'll probably be a 13" dog. :-)