Runt or Dwarf? What's the difference? - Page 1

I didn't notice anything different about my litter of pups until they were all about 2 weeks old. One of my little girls is extremely small. Extremely. I have watched her closely and she does eat very good. They are all now 6 weeks old. She is still very tiny. I want to say almost like a teacup pup. Her teeth just started to come in. And it seems like her eyes have just started to focus good. She is playing with the others but she sleeps more than they do.

I called my vet a couple of weeks ago and my vet said it was probably the runt. I'm suppose to take the whole bunch in this Thursday for their shots and stuff. I guess I will know more then.

So, does anybody know the difference between a runt and dwarf?

If it's okay...I will post a picture if I am allowed.

Thank you

Maybe this will help:

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/Musculoskeletal/c_dg_osteochondrodysplasia

http://www.ehow.com/how_4549114_recognize-treat-dwarfism-

dogs.htmlhttp://www.jaquenetta.com/Availability%20of%20Genetic%20Test%20for%20Pituitary%20Dwarfism.pdf

http://www.vetinfo.com/canine-pituitary-dwarfism-syndrome.html#b

Oh wow

Thanks for the links.

Most of those links say that it doesn't start to show until they are about 2-3 mths old. Mine is only 6 weeks old.  She seems to be about 2 weeks behind the others in her litter as far as developing. For example..her teeth has just came in. They are very, very tiny. Her head is a little larger, it seems, than the rest of her body. Her ears are very tiny also. No hair lost though. Hers is pretty thick. I don't see any patches of hair loss.

My vet is going to see me early tomorrow morning.

hi there,from the sound of it i'd say she probably most likely is a dwarf,i had one,(still have) and the symptoms you are describing are exactly the same as her's were.i too thought she was just smaller because she was weaker after been born.for the first week i used to get up nightly,every two hours to make sure she got a good feed.in hindsight left to her own devices she probably wouldn't have survived..from two weeks old it started to dawn on me she wasn't the same as the rest,tiny compared to them,even though she was getting(and eating). the same feeding.i too rang the vet...he said extremely rare conditition,probably just the runt he continued to say this when the whole litter was getting their vaccs at six and eight weeks.i changed vets,and at 13 weeks she was diagnosed with PD.
So,not to tell you you're business,i would be pushing the vet to do the test ASAP,i feel  i might have made better progress with mine if treatment had to be earlier,and not delayed until 13 weeks.

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Your pup may also have a liver shunt, which would explain the sleeping alot. Puppies with liver shunts cannot process proteins from meat, it bypasses the liver and turns toxic to their body, tons of ammonia from the proteins going straight to their little hearts, they need to be fed a vegetarian diet with lactose proteins added until the shunt closes which the normally will if the puppy can live long enough. I had a friend with a tiny pup like that, not even 2 lbs at 5 weeks old. Vet told us it was likely a liver shunt and that she would die soon. My friend did some research and found the above information regarding diet. The puppies with shunts are smaller, bony (they don't carry any fat) and you will see them sleep and get lethargic after eating meat based proteins. My friend fed her puppy the above mentioned vegetarian diet, Nutro Natural Choice had it I believe and she fed cottage cheese for the lactose proteins and the puppy did well, she grew but still did not carry weight like a normal puppy, then at about 11 or 12 weeks of age after seeing her get into some of the other dogs regular food and her not having any lethargic reactions she started to wean her off the vegetarian and lactose diet back onto meat based food and she grew and started to get way more bulky with fat and more meat/muscle on her bones. Once she was stable and doing excellent on the meat diet again for a few weeks they were able to find a friend of theirs that adopted her, advising them of her issues and that they did not know how it would affect her lifespan. My friend also did not give the puppy any vaccinations as that was not recommended because they cannot be processed either in a liver shunt puppy. When she is older they should be able to vaccinate her as far as I know. I hope this helps to give you an idea of something else that may be going on with your puppy that you can explore with your vet. Liver shunts are more common in small breed dogs but do affect large breeds as well, the above mentioned puppy was a GSD puppy. Good luck with your puppy.

Thanks for all the wonderful links and advice.

I have a vet appt. at 9:30 this morning. I'm only bringing in the tiny pup and another pup from her litter...just so the vet can compare.

This morning the tiny pup had a small blister pop up on her stomach. I wonder if maybe b/c of the pee? She is so tiny that she basically will pee on herself...but mom has been licking her clean all the time. ????

I should know (hopeful) more later on. I'll post some pictures then.

Good luck, rollinginit.  I hope you find an answer.... Please update us as soon as you can.