Having just had four beautiful West Highland White pups born via caesarian section, Leslie was rapt. Years had been spent planning for this, and truly she would have been happy with just one pup. So as you can imagine, four to pick from was heaven.
However, a week later that all changed – one pup (Carlos) became very lethargic and wouldn’t drink and was crying in pain. Fortunately for Leslie (and for the pup) we examined Carlos and knew exactly what his issues were.
Unfriendly worm larvae (baby stages of worms) were crawling their way through gut wall and through liver and spleen, causing pain. Within 12 hours of starting medications to drop the pain and start killing the worms, Carlos was happier.
Two days later, everything was returning to normal and he was feeding on his own again from mum.
This can honestly happen to anyone! It is NORMAL for pups to be born with some worm larvae present from their mum, and this is why we start worming them within the first 2 weeks (actually we generally recommend starting at the end of the first week after birth). It doesn’t matter how often you worm your bitch during pregnancy, some worm larvae will still be present in her puppies.
So, we urge you to start the de-worming within the first 1 – 2 weeks of the puppies being born, so that your pups don’t experience what Carlos the West Highland White pup did.
