# Cold puppies



## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Out of curiousity, how do you folks handle "cold" puppies? Cold pups are the ones that have been separated and the body temp has fallen to a dangerously low point.


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## Greg Leavitt (Aug 31, 2006)

I will be interested to see responses I have not had a cold pup in many litters as most of my litter seem to be spring or summer with temps in the 80s-90s and the pups are now in an insulated climate controlled portion of my house.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Do you guys use that plastic electric litter-mat? (I bought one at auction for an arthritic senior and it is one of the most successful acquisitions _ever,_ but that's another story.)

The temp stays between 98 and 101, and it's very low to the ground -- easy to get on or off.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I give them a swab of Karo syrup in the mouth (boost the sugar levels) and put them on a heating pad in a shoebox or other small/enclosed area with a towel over it, and leave them alone. If they didn't get to cold, that usually pulls them through, if they did, they won't make it. I don't go through heroics to save one, I used to do that years ago and realized what I did really didn't matter, they either warmed back up and were fine, or died. I also mark them somehow, or take note of any white markings, if I find the same pup away like that a second time, I will think twice before saving it a second time. Sometimes one gets off on it's own on accident, but sometimes it's mom rejecting it and pushing it away. If I keep finding the same pup pushed off on it's own, then mom is probably telling me something and I'll let nature take its course. I learned my lesson years ago, I kept finding a pup off on it's own and warming it then putting it back with the litter, after a few days mom finally realized I wasn't going to listen and took matters into her own "hands", she killed the pup. She was great with the rest of the pups, I think she just knew there was something wrong with that one and was rejecting it. 

It's been a long time since I've had this happen though, since my house/garage are normally in the 70's and that's where pups are usually whelped. So even if I have a newbie mom who isn't the best about keeping track of her pups, they can wander off for awhile without getting to cold, and can usually find their way back to mom and the rest of the pups on their own.


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

I had to do what Kadi did, and I still ended up losing two. The room was well over 80 degrees at the time. The pups did much better when I turned the air on, got the room temp down in the 
70's, and put a heating pad in the box for them to get on and off of on their own.


**I want to add that the heating pad should be on the lowest setting possible and should have at least one towel on top of it. You don't want the puppy's body temp to rise too quickly and you don't want the puppy to 'scorch' itself.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

I was curious about the use of Karo syrup to give them something to heat the inside up.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Don Turnipseed said:


> I was curious about the use of Karo syrup to give them something to heat the inside up.


I have read that cold can trigger a hypoglycemic attack in a pup with inability (I think from immaturity) to regulate glucose., and that corn syrup is a fast fix to raise the blood sugar level.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Kristen Cabe said:


> ... I want to add that the heating pad should be on the lowest setting possible and should have at least one towel on top of it. You don't want the puppy's body temp to rise too quickly and you don't want the puppy to 'scorch' itself.


This was what sold me on this rigid plastic heating mat. It cannot be set higher (it's set at 99.5, and as it cycles on and off, the temperature variation is 98-101). The "works" are inside the flat rigid mat. Even with the thin sheepskin cover pulled off, the mat isn't hot. There are no warmer-than-other spots, either.

I really examined this thing before I even trusted leaving it on for the senior dog.

The cord is wrapped in a steel-spring thing that a big chewy pup could probably get into, but not an infant.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

I couldn't tell you Connie. Makes sense. I just heard about his yesterday and was curious if others used Karo syrup also. I have pictures of moms going into the whelping boxes with 2 feet of snow on them and the pups always do fine. I had just never heard of it but it did make sense.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Don Turnipseed said:


> I couldn't tell you Connie. Makes sense. I just heard about his yesterday and was curious if others used Karo syrup also. I have pictures of moms going into the whelping boxes with 2 feet of snow on them and the pups always do fine. I had just never heard of it but it did make sense.


I might be misremembering, but I _think _I read that smaller breeds are more susceptible to the hypoglycemia problem.


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Yes, the Karo syrup is to raise the blood sugar levels. I actually didn't use Karo, but had a prepared sugar solution from the vet's. It can be injected under the skin or given orally.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Both of my daughters have Chi dogs and both breeders advised they keep kayro syrup on hand for the hypoglicemia, yet one vet has told me that's more of an old wives tale. 
Either way it can't hurt.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Bob, I have to ask, how much did the vets recommended solution cost as opposed to the Karo syrup. I think many of "these old wives tales" came about when someone figured out that what the vet wanted to sell you was no more than Karo syrup in the first place.

I shoot squirrels at the front gate for the young dogs to get them used to the gun. I fire one shot and give the squirrel to the pups. Within a couple of squirrels they will sit at the gate and bark at the house whenever they see a squirrel. Neighbors loved it. Back to the point. It was summer and all the pups got coccidiae because they had dropped half a squirrel in the water and it sank. Contaminated the water in the heat. All 10 pups had the Hershey squirts big time. The vet wanted a $35 office visit for each pup just for starters. Instead of the vet, I went to the feed store and picked up a couple of envelopes of 
Tetracyline Hydochloride for cattle with scours. $6.75 a pouch. It goes in the water so all the pups are treated at the same time. In three days it was cleared up for about $10 bucks. No perscriptions or anything.


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## Terry Fisk (Jul 26, 2007)

We used a hair dryer on occasion to warm cold pups quickly at the vet. Have to be careful not to get too close or too hot as you can burn tender skin. Works great if they are wet and cold.


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

If the puppies aren't going back themselves to his littermates and female isn't getting him back, I consider him lost. One way or the other there will be something wrong with him.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

I agree Selena


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

We had a surprise whelping a day sooner than the window we allowed, and discovered at 7am on a frosty morning. Nine pups were born, in a lean-to with some straw, and each were stiff as sticks when I brought them inside to be thawed. No special treatment at all, just mother's tongue revived each one. Not a single loss in the litter, and they were all really great pups.


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## Carmen van de Kamp (Apr 2, 2006)

I also agree with Selena...
until now I never had it in my (3) litters, the only thing I use with the litter is a heat light for the first 3 days (and 2 of my litters were during winter time)
after that mom and the pups together need to do it (and are able to), but I keep the pups the first 3 weeks in the house, after that they move to the kennel, also without something to heat them, the only extra heat for them is coming from the filling of the sleeping place with straw (is that the correct word???) and they can walk in and out of the kennel to stay out of the wind and water (rain) or to seek shelter for it...


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Unless something really out of the ordinary has occured, I do nothing.


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