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Resusitation of a puppy who fails to breath
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What to do if your puppy fails to breath at birth.
If you have a puppy inhale mucus and fluid, which filled his lungs and he can't breath. Don't give up! As long as the heart is beating you have a real chance of saving your baby.
The first thing to do is to wipe the puppies nose and mouth. Sometimes if it isn't bad this will fix the problem. If not...Put the puppy in your hand Head down and firmly pat him/her on the back. This is not a time for gentle pats. Wipe his mouth and nose again as fluid runs out. Rub the baby vigorously to encourage baby to gasp. If he isn't gasping...Use your fingernail and open puppies mouth. This often will cause them to inhale. Keep rubbing vigorously and use a bulb syringe to pull fluid out of the nose. Do not hesitate to put the bulb all the way back in the babies mouth. You are trying to clear the air way. In my case I got fluid every time I did this. The minutes are ticking by and baby is still not breathing on his own. Stand up! Once again put the babies head between two fingers which are curled around babies shoulder and neck. DON'T CHOKE THE BABY Get a firm grasp on the babies body with your other hand. You now have baby sandwiched between your two hands. HOLD ONTO BABY FIRMLY. You can throw the baby if you are not holding him tightly between your hands. Which of course, will most likely will kill him or her. Now raise both arms to about eye level and swing the baby in a downward arch. Centrifugal force is your friend. Swing your arms back up the eye level. Do this a few times. In my case when I swung the baby down. His internal Organs pressed on his lunges and heart. causing the fluid to fly across the room. When you swing back up it takes the pressure off of the heart and lungs. Now check to see if baby will breath on his own. In my case he wasn't. So I began rubbing him with real vigor. I like to put the baby in a wash cloth. It make it so much easier to hold onto them. They are wet and slippery and very limp.. Resuscitation takes time Keep rubbing, keep opening his mouth, keep draining his lungs. You will conquer the problem. In my case it took 25 minutes before baby even attempted to breath on his own. But, I was getting a gasp now and again because I wasn't being gentle. I was very firmly resuscitating him. I swung him several times and finally all the fluid drained from his lungs. It still took time. His heart was still beating, so keep trying. I let mom lick him every now and again and then rub, rub, rub. My vet told me that they will start breathing better if you hold them in the position of tummy down, head down and keep stimulating them to breath. Finally the puppy began to gasp on his own. It still took an hour for him to fully get the hang of breathing on his own. Once I could put him with his mom I watched him closely to make sure he kept breathing. If there was a pause. I began rubbing him vigorously again. This is an extreme case of resuscitation. If this should happen. Watch baby very closely for a couple of weeks. If he starts sleeping in a corner or on mom to keep his head elevated. He is having a hard time breathing. On this incline it is easier to breath. Take him to the vet now. Don't wait as he may be developing pneumonia from the fluid that was in his lungs.
this little boy is gaining weigh rapidly and doing so very well. I don't think he will get sick, But I still watch him daily for signs that he is failing. Weigh them daily so you know if all is well.
I hope this helps you if you ever find yourself in a position to resusitate a baby that isn't beathing.
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