Pippin and a sibling (Chihuahuas) were rejected by their mother at birth. The sibling didn't survive. The owners had another Chihuahua mother who had given birth two weeks before. In a weakened state, Pippin was given to Annie, the other Chihuahua mother. With her new mommy, Pippin didn't get the needed colostrum that a mother has for a few hours just after giving birth. Plus, Pippin had to struggled against puppies much bigger than her just to eat, and she weakened even more. To Bright Hope Animal Rescue this dog family went, with Pippin being given supplemental feedings by her human foster mom.
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| Winter Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2016 |
About 10 Months Later More rejected puppies:
A half Chihuahua, half Yorkie mother who was accidentally bred with another small dog of unknown breeding was in labor for a long time. Eventually, she was taken to the vet who did a C-section on her. There were two puppies in this litter, but one didn't survive. When the mother dog woke up, the vet staff tried to introduce her to the surviving pup, but she didn't want anything to do with her.
The puppy, who weighed five ounces, was tube fed. The next day, the mother dog and her pup were introduced again, but the mother turned away, then walked away from her pup. To the same human foster mommy this puppy went, being named Winter. This time the work to save this pup was combined between two rescues - Pet Elves To The Rescue and Bright Hope Dog Training Rescue.
Why do some mother dogs reject a puppy?
There can be various reason for this, and here are a few - there is something wrong with a puppy, there are too many puppies in a litter, sometimes a dog just isn't ready to be a mother (example: too young), and sometimes a mother just isn't cut out to be a mom at all.
Why is it important for a puppy to get the colostrum?
The first few hours after a dog gives birth, she produces colostrum for her pup(s) to drink. Colostrum is a pre-milk fluid which provides nutrients, growth factors, and antibodies a newborn pup needs. It is vital for a pup to nurse from its mother the first 24 hours of its life. The antibodies the pup gets during this time will provide protection from infection for the first few months until a pup starts producing its own antibodies.
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| Pippin (you can see chest area doesn't have a lot of fur) Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2016 |
Pippin did not get the colostrum. The health issue she has as a result of this is demodectic mange, which is also called puppy mange or red mange. Every dog has the demodectic mite on them, but their immune systems keeps the mites from overpopulating. With Pippin's immune system being compromised, the mite population increased, causing itching, sores, and hair loss, or no hair growth at all on her underside. The fur she has is dry and rough in texture.
With Winter being fed from a bottle, precautions were taken to help her immune system. She was given colostrum in her replacement puppy milk. Because of this, she has a nice, fluffy, very soft coat of fur.
Cow (Bovine) Colostrum:
In the last decade, scientific research has been done showing that the antibodies and growth factors in cow's colostrum is not species specific, which means all mammals can benefit from it. It is important the colostrum comes from pasture-fed cows. They have a much higher range of antibodies. In addition, colostrum needs to come from cows that are free of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotic, and rBST (hormones).
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| Pippin chasing Winter Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2016 |
When I adopted Pippin, she was losing fur. We didn't know if she was going through a coat change or if it was demodectic mange. It turned out to be demodectic mange because of her immune system being compromised from not receiving colostrum. She was started on a western medicine medication that she would have to be on for 65 days. She got very sick on the first dose. I thought she was going to die.
I could not go through losing Pippin after just losing Koda a couple months before. I searched the internet, read through various holistic vet books, and discussed things with Pippin's foster human, to find a course of action that did not include the western medicine way of doing things. Pippin was started on a loading dose of colostrum. After 3 weeks, she was put on a maintenance dose. She was also put on various herbs that help the immune system. She has also been given baths with a special essential oil shampoo.
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| Pippin Photo by Tracey R. Simmons 2016 |
Pippin has shown great improvement. She no longer has sores and fur is starting to grow on her underside - neck, chest, and belly. We are hopeful that eventually she will be fully furred, with the fur being soft.
Lastly, as for the Animal Rescues Major Commitment:
Bottle feeding, including supplement feedings to a pup nursing from a mother dog, requires a great deal of time and commitment from the human. Newborn puppies need to nurse or be bottle fed about every two hours. As they grow, the time between feedings increases until at about 4 to 5 weeks of age, the puppies are old enough to start weaning and learning to eat solid food.
In addition, there is more to just feeding a puppy from a bottle. Puppies and kittens, and many others kinds of mammals, are not able to go potty or poo on their own. A mother dog takes care of this by licking and cleaning their babies. Humans who foster rejected/orphaned newborn puppies and kittens need to know how to take care of this requirement properly for the health and well being of the animal. Thank you to all the "human foster moms" who care for these animals!
For more information about the two rescues mentioned in the post, please go to:
Pet Elves
Bright Hope Dog Training Rescue
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