Before you leave the house
Before you leave the house for the scheduled cesarean section, turn the heat lamp on so the whelping box is warm by the time you get home. We also have a heating pad at the bottom of our whelping box. We turn the heating pad on before we leave for the vet.
Arriving home with puppies
When we get home, we take a weight of each puppy using our food weight scale. We record the weights daily, around the same time of the day, for each puppy. We do this to ensure that the puppy is gaining weight accordingly. The first 24 hours they may slightly drop weight; that is not abnormal. After that initial 24 hours they should steadily gain weight daily.
Always stay inside the whelping box with the puppies while they are nursing from Mom. NEVER leave Mom alone with the puppies. She is still coming out of anesthesia and her behaviors may be unpredictable. You know your dog better than anyone else. You will know when she can be trusted to be left alone with the puppies. We also monitor Mom and puppies together for the first 48 hours after delivery.
We keep an electric aspirator in the puppy room. They are great for removing excess milk to avoid the puppies getting aspiration pneumonia. Be sure to clean the aspirator between each use with each puppy. If you have a puppy who is sick, please do not use the aspirator on other puppies.
Let’s talk potty time. Moms will normally lick the puppies to stimulate the bowels and urine. If Mom isn’t licking the puppy’s genital area yet, use a damp cotton ball or warm cloth to stimulate urine and bowels for each puppy.
We supplement Mom with calcium before and after she delivers the puppies. Each Mom is given an over easy egg daily while pregnant. After the puppies are born, we may use a calcium supplement on top of feeding eggs, crushed egg shells, plain yogurt and cottage cheese. We also feed the Moms cooked liver as it contains vitamin rich proteins.
