Peanut pups! - Page 1

I thought I'd take the time to share a little trick I ran into several years ago. Use it at your own risk, and be sensible about it, but it can be a real life-saver with neonatals in some circumstances. Neonatal or newborn pups, three days or younger, cannot maintain their own body temperature. They are completely dependant on their environment (ambient temperatures and their mother for warmth). Some clever devices have been developed in recent years, including plant warming matts, which stay right around 100* Fahrenheit. These are actually made out of used printer / toner ink, which contains just enough iron (iron oxide) to conduct a electricity, and resistance sufficient to create warmth. These are far better than previous electric matts, which were able to get quite hot, and that will kill a pup quickly. However, a couple of times I had no heating pad at all and I had chilled pups. You cannot feed a cold pup (they will aspirate milk in most cases), and you cannot warm them quickly, either. Chilled baby bunnies can be quickly restored from a seemingly lifeless condition by running them under a warm tap water flow.. But not puppies! So, I had a box of shipping "peanuts", those "S" shaped things that are often found loose in boxes to provide padding. I put the chilled pups in there, one by one, and they were COLD! About a half hour or an hour later, I put my hand into the box and the pups were nice and warm, and all snuggled together, looking for mom! No artificial heat was provided at all.. Just room temperature! And these peanuts are wonderful at retaining even the smallest amounts of heat, so the pups were able to wiggle around in them, breathe freely in the ample airspace, and regain a normal temperature, very gradually and naturally. I hope this helps someone in a pinch. Next time you get something shipped in "peanuts", be sure to save some for emergencies!

Thanks a lot DDR-DSH that is really nice to know. I've always worried about the heated pads that you plug in. I don't trust that at all. This sounds more safe and actually reliable. Awesome~thanks for the tip!!

No problemo! I would not use it for bedding in the whelping box. The mother might ingest the pieces and there could be a real danger of bowel impaction in an adult dog. Just keep a bag of these on hand for emergencies when you have a chilled pup and no heating pad or incubator. And yes, I think this would be safer than electric heat, but be sure to remove any small pieces that the pup might get in it's mouth or inhale, just to be safe!

I'll tell you one more trick with "fading" puppies. In most cases weak, limp pups that won't nurse are a sign of a bacterial gastroenteritis which results in a loss of fluids and electrolytes, and from there the muscles become atonic (not firm and responsive). It is not true that the mother pushes them away. If you took a time lapse photography sequence of a litter of pups, you'd see that the mother and pups are all moving around.. If they are healthy, that is. The little ones have to move to stay close to the mother. A sick pup will not move, so it will seem to be "pushed away". Anyhow... What you need is ordinary Neomycin liquid, available in rather large bottles from a veterinary supply or farm supply. This is a very safe antibiotic, but we will not use it for injection. For the pups, one bottle will last a very long time, because you will only use maybe three drops on the tongue, dispensed with an eye dropper or pipette. Neomycin is often used as a gut sterilant prior to surgery. So, if your pup has an overgrowth of a bad bacteria (which could kill it), in very many cases this simple treatment will save it. I've seen fading pups that were definitely going to be dead in a few hours brought back (going the same way of siblings only hours before them), back up, fighting and hungry, the very next day. If one pup is infected, they all have been exposed, and so you will just lose one by one if you don't stop it with treatment. Treat the sickest one first and you can give a therapeutic treatment to the others as a precaution, but do not use this unless needed! ONLY if you have fading / dying pups! Keep a bottle of Neomycin Sulfate in the back of your refrigerator for emergencies. It costs very little. And you may only use it once or twice, but what is the value of a really good pup? It's worth keeping on hand (and very long-dated)!

"Peanot Chippings" - what a great idea, I shall definately keep a bag on hand for any time needed. Thanks for the tip. Regarding Neomycin, this is also a lifesaver at times as DDR/DSH says - it is quite a safe drug, and is about the only thing I can think of that will attempt to heal neonatal problems orally and at home. Just to add to "tips" - if I have a cold puppy at birth, I have on hand a bowl of WARM - not hot - water, and gently dip in the puppy right up to its neck, I hold them of course,and before doing so make sure the puppy is breathing and the airways clear and I have brought around many a "flat birth shocked" puppy that way, because even if its not cold, the stimulation of the warm water causes the body organs to be stimulated also, and the gasping turns into normal breathing pattern very quickly this helps with getting puppy back on to mum and suckling to stimulate mums contractions if she is still whelping, and also to give puppy the colostrum, which is very much needed as early as poss if he has had a rough start. Mo Lakin - Mascani

Very good info guys. I would have never thought.... This could save allot of pups if more people knew.

Great idea, I'm going to post this to my other dogs lists.

Very helpful idea especially for those of us who live in places where power cuts are not uncommon...many thanks.

DDR-DSH Thanks so much for all the info. I always tell people, I've been in this business for 13 yrs but I will always learn something new and keep learning until the day I die. Thanks SOO MUCH!!! Kelly Boeselager Kennels

DDR-DSH, wonderful information, like many other breeders, I too often worry about the heating pads, and the heat lamps, this seems like a WONDERFUL alternative, what a creative person you are! Thanks, I hope to use it on my litter in the spring, thanks again so much! Krista blueskyekennels@msn.com