2yrs old, 1st time rottie mother not eating or drinking that much

Question
QUESTION: labor started 2 days ago(thurs afternoon). last puppie born yesturday at about 7pm. 14 total. 11 still living. puppies doing pretty good. none dehydrated yet. the problem is that the mother is refusing to eat. she only ate 2, maybe 3 of the plaseta and did eat a little bit of my leftover ham and green beans today. (about 1 cup) also ate 2 slices of lunch meat turkey. shes also not drinking much. has drank a very little water about 7 to 8 times since start of labor. does not want chicken or beef broth, 2 differant types of canned dog food, or 2 differant types of dry dog food. She did not assist with the cleaning of the pups at birth (other than eating plasenta of those 2 or 3) and is not licking the pups for any reason. (at birth or now to stimulate the pups to urinate) She will stay in the box with them and allow them to nurse but that is it. She has come outside with me about 10 times and does pee and #2 while we are out. I've brought 10 litter in the world before but it has been over 10 years since the last one. Never had a mother act like this before. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Hi Steve! I'd take her in to the vet for a check up. She may have something going on with her, causing her to act like this. If she passes with a clean bill of health, you may just have to take over with the pups. Some dogs just don't make the best of mothers. Sadly, we don't know that until they have the pups, and we're the ones taking care of them. If she'll let them nurse, that's good. Let her do that. You'll just have to do the rest until they're old enough to do it themselves. As for mom not eating or drinking, again, I suggest taking her in to make sure she doesn't have an infection or something else going on. If she doesn't eat or drink, no milk. You may also want to go ahead and stock up on puppy formula and bottles just in case. Try giving mom melted, plain vanilla icecream. That usually kick starts them. Good luck, and let me know if I can help with anything else.

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QUESTION: as of now we are down to 9 pups. tried giving them the bottle this morning but with no luck. tried the vanilla ice cream tonoight. didn't help. 15 to 18 licks, that was it. I've got a really close friend that had a litter of rotties last sayurday, so I took mine over there tonight. she acted like they were her own, but wouldn't stop licking them. over a hour and half of licking. the second they would latch on she would lick them off. not sure if it was on purpose but never the less. it wasn't easy to get them from her, so I know she was trying. by the time I got home 3 more were very dehydrated so I had to resort to a needle under the skin with water. about thirty minutes later tried the bottle again, but opened up the hole some more. it worked this time. each of them took about 1/2 to 3/4 of a tablespoon. just finished with that about 20 minutes ago. (2am EST) I was also able to get in touch with my vet at about 10pm. I'm taking the mom and pups down at 9am in the morning. well i'm runing on about 10 hours sleep since thursday. I'm going to lay down for a while. I really appreciate your advis and I will keep you posted. THANKS AGAIN.

ANSWER: Hi steve. Trying to use a different mom was a good idea. Too bad that didn't work out though. That would have been perfect. Mom may have something going on with her causing her to act this way. When the issue is addressed, she may come around. Then again, she may have hung her mom hat up, and leave everything to you. I know it's tiring and so frustrating. Newborns need to be fed every 2-3 hours, so you'll lose plenty more sleep. :-) It'll be worth it though, when they're 6 weeks old, fat, happy, and sassy. Good luck, and just holler if you need anything!

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QUESTION: Thanks for your attention to this matter. I got her to the vet today. Blood test slows very high white blood cell count, very low iron level which is preventing her blood from clotting (is in her discharge), but the vet was very positive. My vet over the phone said she thought she would give her something called oxytocyn (sorry, spelling is probably wrong), but when I got there she informed me that her stock of it was outdated since Dec 2007. So she didn't even look at my dog, she just sent me to another vet 5 miles away. Good thing she did, because this vet was able to do the blood test on site in about 10 minutes. My vet does not have that capability. Can you believe she ate a can of dog food for this vet and a beef treat while we were there. She does have a small uterus infection with no fever. He prescribed Amoxicillin 500mg twice a day. Since we got home this afternoon, she has ate 1 1/2 boiled chicken breasts, 1 cup of dry Natural Blend Nutri Max Puppy food and a lot of water. Also she has now decided that she will take care of the pups. i dont have to tell her to get in with them. In fact, tonight as I removed the pups one at a time to give the bottle she followed me with them and even attempted to take them back. As I'm typing to you know I'm looking at her clean them and helping them to use the potty. I was worried there for a while. I would like to thank you for your attention to me and my situation. There is a lot to be said for someone like yourself to give your time to help others in a time of confusion/crisis. Thanks again.

Steve M.

Answer
Hi Steve! I'm glad that mom and babies are doing well. I kind of figured that something was going on with her. I'm also glad that you found a vet that you're comfortable with, and treated your dog how you wanted to. That's the most important thing. Mom should be up and running in no time, and it sounds like she's back on the road to motherhood. Good thing for you.:-) And yes, I can believe that she ate for the vet. lol Dogs and kids are the same way. Always remember that if you're not satisfied with one vet, go to a different one. I have three myself. :-) You did a really good job, and I'm glad that mom is ok. If I can help with anything at all, just holler!