Teddy Watson , a Fox Terrier has been awarded the Fromus Vet Group’s

May 2008 PET OF THE MONTH AWARD

Annie Watson was a Fox Terrier.  She had such a lovely temporament that her owners decided to breed form her.  Her owners already had some experience in breeding- Annie was the daughter of their previous Fox Terrier, Jessie.  Jessie's whelping (birth) and lactation (nursing) were straight forward.  However, as Annie's owners were to find out, breeding a bitch can be far from straight forward.

The length of pregnancy in a bitch can vary between 60-72 days.  Two weeks before her estimated due date, Annie was presented for a check over.  She was looking well.  An ultrasound scan confirmed pregnancy*.  Two fully formed puppies with heart beats were found. 

*In the later stages of pregnancy, ultrasound cannot accurately confirm the number of puppies.

Annie gave birth to three beautiful puppies on 4th May 2008.  One male was nearly double the size of the other two.  Newborn puppies are born with their eyes closed.  Their immune systems and 'thermostat' are inadequate and they rely on continuous attention from their Mother to feed them, keep them warm and stimulate them to pass urine and faeces.  Annie was bemused with her offspring and efficient mothering did not come naturally to her. 

It is very important that the Mother is fully vaccinated prior to mating.  Some immunity is transferred to the puppies across the placentas but it is essential that all newborns receive colostrum (the very first milk produced after birth) as soon as possible, to ensure adequate uptake of antibodies.  These essential antibodies provide resistance to infection.  The newborn puppies are only able to absorb these antibodies within a few hours after birth so time is of the essence.

Sadly within two days, the small female puppy had died and the smaller male was not doing very well.  Very worried the owners brought the puppies and Annie to the vets at Fromus.  The dead puppy was underweight but did not appear to have any external genetic defects.  Annie was well and had sufficient milk.  It was thought that the puppy had become weak due to lack of nutrition and that Annie may have unintentionally squashed her.  'Sid Watson' the larger male was doing well.  He was very demanding and would always get his mothers attention.  The smaller male, Teddy, however, was weak and often left out.  Concerned that Teddy was suffering from a low blood sugar level due to lack of food, he was given glucose by mouth.  This perked him up and it was decided that Annies' owners would help out to make sure Teddy got his turn at the milk bar. 

Unfortunately despite his owners intervention, Teddy declined again and within five days would no longer suckle.  He was rushed in as an emergency one weekend to the duty vet at Fromus.  Teddy had rapidly deteriorated.  He was suffering with hypothermia (life threatening low body temperature), hypoglycaemia (life threatening low blood glucose level) and severe dehydration.  This is known as Fading Puppy Syndrome.  It is thought that a bacterial infection can be underlying this condition.  Teddy's chances of recovery were slim, but his owners did not want to give up.  He was admitted for intensive care and investigations.

At this stage he weighed just 95g and was highly susceptible to infection.  Meticulous care was taken in handling and hospitalising him.  He was too weak to suckle, making himself at risk of inhaling any fluid given by mouth and he was too small for an intravenous cannula to be inserted (a drip).  Hence,  initial rehydration involved injecting warmed fluids containing essential electrolytes, directly into his abdomen.  Teddy was also started on antibiotics by injection to combat any bacterial component to the disease. 

Teddy did not appear to have any external genetic defects to contribute to his condition but an x-ray was necessary to check for any internal problems e.g. congenital hernias.  Fortunately, no abnormalities were found.

After a few hours, Teddy had started to move a bit more and was able to suckle, albeit weakly.  Small amounts of fluids (1ml!) were given via a puppy feeding bottle every half an hour.  Teddy improved a great deal but was not yet out of danger.  He needed around the clock care.  Once he was rehydrated**, a special canine substitute milk replacer was used to provide Teddy with all the essential proteins, energy, vitamins and minerals he needed to grow.  (Cows and goats milk is not a suitable substitute as their composition is very different from that of the dog).

**It can be very dangerous to feed a dehydrated puppy substitute milk replacer.

The milk replacer had to be made up cooled boiled water, to the correct concentration and then warmed to body temperature.  The teat size of the bottle had to be correct to ensure their was not too much resistance to milk flow but enough to prevent inhalation.  His temperature was monitored and 'hot wheaties' were used to keep him warm.  Puppies are not able to urinate or defaecate voluntarily until they are approximately 2-3 weeks of age.  Normally their Mothers would lick their bottom area in order to stimulate them to do this.  (We used damp cotton wool!)

As time went on the quantity of the milk increased and in the interval between feeds decreased.  After 48 hours, Teddy was having 3-5ml feeds every two hours through the day and night and had put on nearly 30% of his original body weight.  He was crawling around and vocal as a puppy should be.

Ideally puppies are reared by their mothers so they can bond and develop in the canine way.   Since Teddy was so much stronger, it was decided to try him at home but with additional supplementary feeding.  Unfortunately Annie rejected Teddy so he's only chance was hand rearing.  Hand rearing a puppy is an intensive job that requires a lot of committment.  They need regular feeding (starting every 2 hours) with the milk replacer throughout the day and night until they are fully weaned, usually at 6 weeks old.  Due to the owners work committments they were unable to provide the care Teddy needed.  Teddy was a real fighter and had come so far.  The Fromus team came up with a rota system between them to share Teddy's 24 hour care.

Teddy went from strength to strength.  At two weeks of age (one week after his inital hospitalisation), he was taking 8mls per feed every 2 hours and had more than doubled in weight.  By two and half weeks he was opening his eyes and much more mobile. By three weeks he was 310g and taking 15-17mls per feed every three hours.  Weaning was started at four and a half weeks of age when he was 567g.  He was slowly introduced to alternative food thereby decreasing his dependance on the milk replacer.  It was a gradual process using a liquid food then progressing to a semi-solid then solid food.  Salters Puppy Diet, a completely balanced puppy diet that contains all the essential nutrition for healthy growth was ground down and mixed with the milk replacer into a guel.  Teddy loved it and at feeding times couldn't wait to get into the bowl to eat it all up.  To start with, Teddy was still receiving milk replacer by the bottle, but as time went on the number of milk feeds decreased and the number of Salters Puppy feeds increased until at 6 weeks of age (and over 1kg in weight!), he was having Salters Puppy food soaked in water.  It was time for Teddy to go home.

It wasn't known how mother, Annie would take to Teddy coming back so initally they were supervised and monitored closely.  It turned out that Annie and brother Sid Watson were delighted that Teddy was back.

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