10 day old puppy question (not a staff)

Not a staff question but wondering if anyone can give an opinion/thoughts.

My brother and his wife became grandparents to three little fur babies 10 days ago - littlest girl unfortunately passed away, leaving the second girl and brother. The little boy is doing well however they have had to start hand feeding the little girl as she is not suckling well, is half the size of her brother and a little poorly.

Her mum has now started taking the little girl out of the whelping box in under the bed (does not do this with the boy), she does stay with it however it makes the little girl very cold and she has to be retrieved and placed back in the whelping box on her heat pad several times (or more) a day. Any thoughts on why she might be doing this?

(PS .. It was not a planned breeding - Lucy (mum) was a stray that they recently adopted when her owners could not be located, she was already pregnant when they adopted her)

Bitches do sometimes remove weaker members of the litter from the rest to avoid harm coming to them. As long as she is still feeding her and paying attention to her, it probably isn't a case of abandonment.

You could try consulting your vet about a special puppy formula to try to build up the pup's strength. That way, she could more easily stand up for herself with her littermates and the bitch may not feel the need to remove her from the nest.

Has the vet seen the pups?

It isn't unusual for a pup to not be able to suckle & hand rearing is the only way to keep them alive. However, the bitch will normally still be happy to keep the pup with her.

Has a vet seen the pups? I'm wondering if the bitch knows there's something wrong with it & is trying to let nature take it's course?

Thanks Eleanor and Caryll.

Yes the vet has seen them - they provided a formula to feed with syringe and teet for the pup and given them information on how often to feed etc. The vet suggested that mum might be trying to look after the pup and not realise it is making her cold etc ... a breeder that they spoke to said they should take the pup away though as mum is not trying to look after it at all but rather doing as you suggested Caryll. They are really unsure as to what to do

Aw this is heartbreaking! The poor little pup! It does seem odd that the mom keeps removing her from the "nest". I would think she would know if the pup is getting cold but then again I do not have too much experience with this! Can't really offer any advice but I really hope this pup makes it!

Thanks Cara

We are all very hopeful that she will be fine - unfortunately none of us have any experience with breeding/little pups either .. she does seem to be feeding well on her formula though so that is positive!

The pups are coming up to the stage now when they can be seperated from the mum for short periods. Maybe they could keep the littl'un seperate from the mum, but put him with his siblings when they are playing together?

Thanks for the suggestion Caryll