Fading Puppies - Page 1

I have recently had a litter of 7 puppies born 16/09/04 but over the past few days 4 have faded, they look healthy, fat and weighed 350+ gsm at birth, What i did notice was that some of the puppies where not as vocal as usual and not rushing to feed from mommy when they where born. The female had quite a bit of water? but all the puppies looked fine. ANY IDEAS ANY ONE????

get them to your vet! do bloodwork on mom and pups to see what is going on.

could be canine herpes. an autopsy of the deceased pups can tell you (best done asap after death has occurred), check with your vet.

I had this happen to me and yes it was canine herpes. I did everything and nothing worked until I got some stuff for fading puppies and saved the rest of the litter. here is the link this is the only stuff that worked for me. http://www.naturalrearing.com/CATALOGUE/Tridex/fadpupp5.htm Heather

Canine Herpes! That means that your female is a carrier of that virus. Subsequent litters could be or could not be affected. As a preventative measure we always (any time of the year) raise the temperature in our whelping box to above 98 F for two to three days. Above that, the virus does not replicate. We have a red heatlamp above our whelping box which hangs on two heavy chains. When we lower it the heat is more intense directly under it while the rest of the room (for the female's sake)stays warm but not unbearable. Later, we raise the chain. This heating device is controlled by a thermostat. We bought it years ago from a farming supply catalog. Once, the puppies show symptoms, there is not really anything you can do. Right before death, they usually sry a lot and have yelloish loose stools. Their breathing gets very irregular, gasping every once a while. Typical symptoms, I once lost a whole litter within 5 days. It is terrible. I am hoping that they will start testing on the new vaccination here in the US and have it available soon. Chris

My oppinion/experience is that 350 g puppys are small - very small. If they overcome the 3 first days the danger is almost over. I do think it's other reasons... Some litters is not ment to live up.

I've also saw your message a couple of days ago about "NON PAYMENT STUD FEE". My question is: Is the father of the litter the same as in last message ?? If so, well....

It has been discovered that Fading Puppy Syndrome and still born puppies etc. can be caused by Canine Herpes Virus. There is a relatively new vaccine available, only effective when administered to females you are mating. It is made by MERIAL, same company who make FRONTLINE for ticks and fleas. I have an article on my web-site which explains, with hyperlinks to Merial web-site. I have used the vaccine for 12 months with great results. Canine herpes is very widespread, but very often over looked. look at http://www.videxgsd.com/canine_herpes.htm

Solo many thanks i will have a look on your web page i realy have never experienced this before maybe a odd puppy as we all have from time to time. Sbstein there is no ho well!!, yes its the same sire who has produced over 90 puppies from diffrent females /bloodlines, i have had three liters from simlar lines to the fading ones Dam with no problems, Why is it always easer to blame the Sire and dont look pass your nose?

No one is BLAMING the sire. They are questioning why 2 litters from the sire are both ill or have life threatening problems at the same time. Perhaps the male picked up a herpes virus from a female he covered previously to these two. That is very possible since you say he has produced several other litters! Get his health checked to see if he is carrying any virus or sexually transmitted disease. This is not a reflection on the males pedigree, or quality. It is quite possible that he did pick up a herpes virus. And I believe that certain herpes virus' can cause vision problems. They can in cats. When a virus is called a "Herpes" virus by the way - it can be any number of different virus'. The designation "herpes" means that once it infects an animal or person, that it is always in the body. You cannot get rid of it. This is just a suggestion for your own peace of mind, not a fault finding comment.