Diary of a Runty Pup - Page 1

Ok...actually a journal, since it's a boy :)

I'm fostering a working line GSD pup for a friend of mine who works full time.  He was born this past Friday.  Almost 7 ounces at birth, his siblings were more than twice his size and looked as brawny as bulldogs compared to him.  He was gaspy, greyish gums and starving when born.  You could see all his ribs, hip joints and easily feel the ridge of his spine.  Once he was rubbed down well he started breathing much better and able to get good oxygen in his system again.  He tried valiantly but was just too weak to nurse.  He was also very dehydrated.  I tube-fed him and he quickly rehydrated, but still couldn't get the strength to nurse well, he got maybe 2-3 cc's worth of colostrum in him, but he has to be held to the nipple, he can't do this on his own.  So I took him home. 

He started nursing on the bottle on Saturday, already gained 1 ounce.  By late Saturday evening he was on the bottle only, no more tube feeding. 

Sunday evening, he's gained another ounce, can't see his ribs or hip joints anymore, but can still feel them. He's very spirited and is taking to his bottle very well.

Monday.  He's doing well, had some constipation issues for awhile but that has resolved itself.  He's a squirmy little guy, but he loves 'sun-bathing' under the heat lamp.  

Very early Tuesday morning his left eye has opened, we noticed his left eyelid was slightly cracked open when he was born, but it seemed to reseal itself.  I put an eyedrop in it and a tiny bandaid over the eye to encourage him to keep it shut, seems to work well.  His bed is a boot box and hand towel.  He's already trying to figure out how to escape when he's hungry or has to go potty, he can pull himself up and hang his head over the side of the box.
Late Tuesday night,  the bandaid is starting to peel off, his eye looks like it's re-sealed again so I take the band-aid off and the eye stays shut.  No sign of infection or discomfort. 

Wednesday (Today) he's been nursing so well, figured maybe he could nurse off of his mom now.  Took him back home.  On the drive there he gets real fussy so I pull into a parking lot to check on him, he had to go potty.  I notice that his eye came unseal again and is open, darnit.
Arrive at friend's house, another eyedrop and another bandaid.  We wait until it's feeding time and reintroduce him to his mom, she's curious about him.  He won't nurse.  Try a few more times, no good.  He doesn't seem to recognize that this is his mom and he can nurse on her.  Gave him his bottle, which he immediately latches onto.   I'm amazed at the size difference between him and his siblings, they weigh 4 times as much as he does, they are very muscular and fat.  I wish he would gain weight quicker, but at least he is still steadily gaining weight. 

Stay tuned for further updates on the runt with a strong will to live.

please post photos too......

raising a runt or as a singleton is quite a project, but oh so rewarding!

Bless you for helping this precious pup.

Here is a photo I just took an hour ago on my cell phone, you can see the little bandaid that is covering his eye, it does a very good job encouraging him to keep that eye shut.  He is about the length of a normal 16.9 fl ounce water bottle from the top of his head to the base of his tail/butt. 

aww poor thing! I've definately done some bottle babies who were orphaned, so much work so I feel you're pain, but in the end it is totally worth it. please keep us posted

So precious, Good Luck with him and we need regular updates Please

Last year I hand raised 3 mini dachshund pups who were orphaned because their mother literally tried to kill them at birth, she hated them terribly, it was very shocking to see the intensity of her aggression.  This particular female dachshund had not shown any signs of aggression previously, but she had some kind of psychological post-partum snap.  A few months later when her hormones had cycled back to normal she was spayed and hasn't had any more mental breaks.  Normally this dachshund was very friendly and cuddly with all people and other dogs, including other puppies. 
Fortunately she had been supervised when she went into labor and none of the pups were injured by her, she had to be muzzled during her labor to prevent her from biting either the puppies or people, she also had to be restrained to allow the pups to get one good drink of colostrum before they were permanently removed from her.  We tried for a few days to see if she would snap out of her aggression and accept her pups, but there was just no love there from her. 
That was my first time really learning how to tube feed and fully hand-raising such young pups, I got pretty darn proficient at it, lol.  I had done plenty of bottle feeding before, but just as supplement to smaller pups who were still with their moms.  Tube feeding was only needed during their first 5 days of life, until they were accepting the bottle better, I'm sure glad this GSD pup took to the bottle much quicker than the mini doxie pups did. 


I'm curious myself to see how this true runt GSD pup grows, I'm concerned about his left eye that has come open a couple of times, this is my first time encountering this issue.  Information online is a bit vague, but there is concern that infection can happen and vision issues or blindness can happen in eyes that open too early.  I noticed that both times when his eye came open that he didn't seem to be able to shut it until I put an eyedrop in, then he was able to blink and shut his eye again.  I'm thinking that pups this young are not producing tears from their tear ducts yet and this is may be part of what could cause vision problems.  
I'm hopeful that he won't have any problems with his eye because both times that it was open it didn't stay open for long at all, and the bandaid has done an excellent job of helping him keep his eye shut. 

Yes you are correct, at this age they cannot yet make tears, I would continue with the drops a couple of times a day but I would also check with your vet as to which drops to use.

( Probable just the tears though )

for a runty puppy, he sure has a great big belly.......LOL
you're doing a great job.....please keep us updated.
i'm in love already...

In case anyone is curious about his pedigree, I know he is a grandson of Urxi Blatenskeho Zamku and Hessel from O'Donnell's (which I'm pretty sure is whom he gets his spit n' vinegar from, LOL)