May 23, 2011
My female had 3 pups a month ago. I left home for a couple hours the other day and when I came back one of the pups was dead. I’m not sure if my other puppies are safe, what should I do?
Full Question:
Hi, I have a Pitbull Bitch who had her first litter on Dec 2nd, a litter of 3 pups. She was doing great with them. I had left them for about 2 hours the other day and found 1 of them had been killed. It was the largest puppy who was also the calmest one. I didn't look too closely at the carcass, but it seems the head had been mangled, however there was no blood anywhere??I know sometimes when she tries to get comfy to milk she'll walk in circles and drop down which she'll sometimes land on the pups. I'm not sure if she may have suffocated him and then try to get rid of the body. Do they do this? Please help me with any info possible. Are my other puppies safe? I can't lose another, we are already so attached! Should I bottle feed?
She seems to be fine with the other pups?
Thank you for any help you can give.
Desperate in CT,
Kim
Cindy's Answer:
If the pups were born on Dec 2 then you can begin the weaning process. I’d use our bottlefeeding formula to get them drinking out of a dish at a month old they shouldn’t need a bottle.
I would not allow the mother to have unsupervised access to the puppies at this point; if you need to leave then I would put her in a SECURE crate. Since no one was there it’s impossible to know what happened, I would just start weaning now to safeguard the 2 remaining puppies.
You need to realize that the maternal instinct is strong, and if you just put her in another room she may try to dig or chew her way out…. Start getting her back to her normal activity and wean her off the pups. She will still need to nurse the pups, but less and less each day.
You can try using the search function on the website to find the answer to any additional questions. It is located in the left hand corner of every page on our website. Simply type in your search terms or key words and you will be directed to articles, question & answers, free streaming videos and posts on our forum.
Cindy
I would not allow the mother to have unsupervised access to the puppies at this point; if you need to leave then I would put her in a SECURE crate. Since no one was there it’s impossible to know what happened, I would just start weaning now to safeguard the 2 remaining puppies.
You need to realize that the maternal instinct is strong, and if you just put her in another room she may try to dig or chew her way out…. Start getting her back to her normal activity and wean her off the pups. She will still need to nurse the pups, but less and less each day.
You can try using the search function on the website to find the answer to any additional questions. It is located in the left hand corner of every page on our website. Simply type in your search terms or key words and you will be directed to articles, question & answers, free streaming videos and posts on our forum.
Cindy
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