Nursing Pups

[debradee]

Hello. I am new to this website. I have a Lab named Lily. She just had a litter of pups 2 1/2 weeks ago. Even though I have trimmed the puppies nail as the vet suggested, she is still so very raw from nursing. I feel so sorry for her. She has 8 rather large puppies and the vet informed me that I can start to ween them next week but I still need to do something about her soreness. Her pain is making her not want to nurse as much I think. I just had her to the vet this evening and other than her skin irritations, she is perfectly healthy. I already know she doesn't have mastitis. Well since I have rambled on too long...my questing is....Is it safe to put Lanisoh cream or bag balm on her? I don't want to harm the puppies.

[luckypenny]

Welcome to pets.ca debradee.

Don't put any creams or lotions on Lily. Not only can it irritate further but, any scents or strange tastes (not to mention chemicals) may prevent the pups from wanting to nurse and can harm them. If you can express some of her own milk from her teats, gently rub it around all sore areas and let air dry. Do not wipe off. The nutrients in her own milk will help her heal faster.

Although you didn't ask for other advice, I would recommend you have her spayed, if you haven't already thought to, to avoid any further complications with future pregnancies and births. she heals quickly.

[debradee]

Thank you for the advice. You don't think that if is safe enough for human infant to suck off of a mother breast it wouldn't be safe enough for a puppy to nurse? Just curious. I may be just using a mother's logic but, thats why I am here. I don't know. lol I already have intentions of having her spayed but only because I don't want any more puppies. She had absolutely no problems with her birth or her pregnancy. She was the perfectly fit mother and had a nice easy delivery.

Have a nice evening.

[badger]

You don't think that if is safe enough for human infant to suck off of a mother breast it wouldn't be safe enough for a puppy to nurse? Just curious.

Do you mean that a nursing mother would use those products, then let her baby nurse? Just asking, I don't understand your point. Even if they are safe, I'd definitely ask the vet before proceeding. He must have encountered this before in his practice.

If you've got a picture of the little darlings, we'd love to see it.

[rhynes]

A friend went through this a while back, the puppies where rough when nursing. Managed to find some big white cotton gloves, cut the tips off and make some booties for the puppies. Tie them on gently. Can be a pain if there's alot of pups but he only had 3.

[tonkamcd]

If pure Lanolin (the same stuff they suggest for women breast feeding) is safe for new born babies, I'm not quite sure how it can be harmful ............ and if I'm not mistaken, wasn't bag balm developed specifically for cows ? if a calf can ingest some wouldn't a puppy be able to ? I would personally double check with your vet just to be on the safe side if it were me,

[luckypenny]

Originally Posted by debradee

I may be just using a mother's logic but, thats why I am here. I don't know.

That's petty much well what I was using when I answered . When breast milk dries, it forms a healing barrier and I found it worked better than lanolin (I didn't recognize the name 'Lanisoh' you mentionned). Bag balm contains antiseptic, petroleom jelly and lanolin. I don't know if ingesting this on a regular basis would be wise for babies or puppies .

[CearaQC]

How many pups did Lily have?

Could supplement feed the pups too, to take some load off mom. I did that with Belle's pups back in November. Well it was kinda out of necessity for Belle, because her previous owners didn't feed her enough during her pregnancy and she became very anemic and weak. We thought we were going to lose her at one point because she was breathing so heavily. We only had her one week before she gave birth. The vet even wanted to put half the pups to sleep but I said no and took care of all 10.

Belle's nipples were irritated as well. But I imagine if you can supplement feed at least once a day that will help out Lily. I didn't treat Belle's nipples at all with anything but did keep them clean with warm water frequently.

You can start weaning at around 3 weeks or so. Some people use baby cereal but I just used puppy kibble that was softened with lots of warm water and a touch of canned milk to turn it into mush. Later on they got liver and turkey necks to chew on because puppy chow isn't the best food out there.

Weaning is messy! Have fun with that.

Lily might appreciate an egg now and then. Shell and all. Belle and her pup Sheeba get a couple of eggs a week and Sheeba loves eggs so much... if she watches me cook and hears/sees an egg being cracked, she roo roos at me.

Pictures please.

[Love4himies]

Originally Posted by debradee

Thank you for the advice. You don't think that if is safe enough for human infant to suck off of a mother breast it wouldn't be safe enough for a puppy to nurse? Just curious. I may be just using a mother's logic but, thats why I am here. I don't know. lol I already have intentions of having her spayed but only because I don't want any more puppies. She had absolutely no problems with her birth or her pregnancy. She was the perfectly fit mother and had a nice easy delivery.

Have a nice evening.

Dogs are not human and different chemicals are poisonous to us and dogs. Also dogs go by scent and their sense of scent is unimaginably better than ours so by using any creams it changes the scent of momma.