08/16/2025
Hard days at Cane Creek Kennels 💔 (trigger warning-puppy loss)
I've been dreading making this post. But all of my faithful followers deserve to know the good, the bad and the ugly.
The last 48 hours have been a crazy whirlwind, and we have definitely dealt with the sad/hard side of breeding.
Here's what happened:
Within 24 hours of the pups being born, I had a puppy die. I found it suddenly weak, and thought maybe it wasn't getting enough to eat (it was a smaller pup). I immediately started all the things- dropper feeding, puppy support electrolytes, heating pads, holding up against me, ect. But within a short few hours, the puppy was gone 😭 At this point, I thought it was an isolated incident. I had all the pups snuggled up with mama and decided to catch a few hours of sleep the second night after they were born. The next time I checked on them, I found another one extremely weak and momma sitting on a second one (He was dead). At this point I became extremely concerned that maybe momma was sitting on them and that was what was making them die. As I tried to nurse the weak one back to health (same protocol as the first one), I also decided to separate momma from the pups. I would keep them with me and only let her feed them under strict supervision. I did this for the entire day.... By evening I saw that another one seemed to be getting weak. She responded well to being dropper fed and ate well, so I had hopes she would make it. I was up a lot of the night. Bringing momma Mira in and out to feed.
The sick girl pup continued to eat thru the night, but was still too weak to nurse. I planned to take her to the vet as soon as they opened. But at 8am in the morning, she was also gone 😭
I knew for sure the mom had not sat on her. So I began questioning my assumption. We immediately started getting ready to take mom and the remaining pups to the vet for thorough testing.
After lots of time and lots of tests, Dr. Scott was scratching his head. No parasites, girardia, pneumonia, ect. This might be TMI for some, but a necropsy was also done on a puppy that had most recently passed. All organs looked good. No developmental issues internally.
At this point they asked me how the puppies were eating. "Are you sure that they are getting plenty to eat?". I told them "Yes, absolutely. Momma is busting with milk and they seem to be eating fine!"
I watched the lightbulb go off for the vet and his assistant. They asked me if she possibly had mastitis. I hadn't thought of this until then, but realized it was possible.
After checking momma dog for a fever and hearing that she had filled up with milk days in advance of labor, they told me that the puppies had been poisoned from their own momma's milk. The technical name of this is "toxic milk syndrome". It's where the mother dogs milk sits for too long in her teats and grows bacteria.
The poor puppies little digestive systems could not handle it.
After a full day of crying, I was thankful to have some answers.
This was one of the most heartbreaking things I ever experienced in breeding.
But I've learned something... And I hope this will never happen again!
I'm already making plans with the vet, to keep a close eye on her a week or two in advance of her next litter. If necessary, she will be given an antibiotic before the puppies arrive to clear up any bacteria.
All of that being said.... Pictured are our 3 remaing pups, out of the litter of 8.
They are now being bottle-fed and will be until the momma completes her antibiotics.
Thank you for reading this far and following along.
Much love, Rebekah ❤️
