A?friend in Canada is asking for help regarding dying puppies.? I know there is alot of experience on this list, so hopefully someone here can shed some light on the dire situation.? Please feel free to email privately.?? I realize this is not GSD related but a GSD friend forwarded to me. B Hively Heres the run down on the situation. Previous litter born April 3rd, raised in the same room, on the same food, with the same schedule of events. All are in new homes, happy and healthy in every way. Litter #1 born April 23rd. Mini Aussies. Moms second litter. Sires first litter. Litter #2 born April 24th. CKC Aussies. Moms 4th litter, sires 5th litter. Both parents are raw fed and minimal vaccines. No flea treatment, heart worm etc and are in great general health. Pups started being weaned at 4 weeks onto ground raw chicken with a bit of offal mixed in. The same thing I wean all my pups on with no problems. Chicken was ground fresh and frozen right away and was the same batch of chicken the pups in the previous litter ate, minimal risk of food poisoning I would think but anything is possible. They always have fresh room temp water and the house temp is kept around 20 C all the time. They have heat lamps on at all times right now to keep the temp even higher than normal. They have not been outdoors yet and are raised in our computer room. We did have a rat problem early in the spring and we caught about 20 rats in rat traps. They could have brought something onto the property but no one has given me any ideas what it could be. No poison was ever used. No chemicals on the lawn or gardens. No sprays of any kinds. We clean the puppy room with bleach. And all bedding is changed daily. No new toys or anything have come into the environment. Same ones we use all the time and wash regularly. Moms are still in with the pups full time. This past Saturday when the pups were 5 weeks old the problems started. One puppy had breakfast, was happy go lucky with no problems. He went for a sleep with the rest of the pups. When they all woke up he was still sleepy and not coming around really well. I took his temperature and he was 90 F. I immediately heated up some towels and got him under a heat lamp. I warmed up some subQ fluids. I checked him gums and they were grey. I put fluids under his skin and sat with him. Within 5 hours he passed away. I took everyone elses temperature Saturday afternoon and they were all between 100-101F. Very normal. Everyone was eating and drinking and playing. Sunday morning I wake up and everyone is fine. They have breakfast no problems. I take temps and all is normal. We play and clean up and change bedding. We give them lunch and they go for a nap. After lunch I was going to take them outside for the first time but when I went to rouse them all, I notice that a puppy in the other litter isn't responding to my call. She opens her eyes and has a glazed look on her face. I immediately take her temperature and she is also down to 92F. I put her under her own heat lamp and heat up towels and sub Q fluids. I tried giving her a bit of water and cornsyrup from a dropper once I had her temp up a bit. Her gums are grey, she does vomit up a clear thick liquid shortly after I gave her water and it contained dark brown/black specks through it. It looked like dried blood. She dies about 2 hours later. Monday morning I check everyone as the kids go to school. Temps normal, everyone is eating and sleeping normal. I've got a call into the vet. By 12 the third puppy starts to look lethargic. He is from the first litter. His temp is down to 93F. I call the vet and ask for suggestions. She tells me to heat the towels, get him under the lamp and give him warm subQ fluids. His gums are already grey and tacky. Under the lamp I force his temp up to 98 but he passes away by 2:00. I now call the vets and ask what my options are. They took the two dead pups and did postmortems and found nothing themselves. Tissue samples were taken yesterday and sent to Guelph. I hope to hear back by next week. No one died yesterday which is a relief. One pup from the second litter did seem to have a neurological issue, maybe a puppy seizure. Her eyes were dilated and wide and she couldn't focus for probably 4-5 hours. Her temp was always fine and she continued to eat and drink all on her own. She came out of it and today is as fine as all the rest of the pups. Thinking it may be the raw food. I have taken all raw away as of last night and I am now feeding taste of the wild kibble to the pups. The parents are still on raw. This morning a pup from the first litter is lethargic. His temp was down to 94 when I woke up. I pumped him full of warm subQ fluids, put him in his own area with a heat lamp. That was at 9:00 this morning. If I force him under the lamp I can keep his temp up at 100. But I just checked on him and he had moved a bit away from it and he went back down to 98. So I have to keep putting him back under and keeping an eye on him. He isn't eating or drinking on his own and I'm doing regular subQ fluids to keep him hydrated. He is hanging in but isn't getting any better. He can sit, walk a few feet to get into or out of the direct heat lamp, but then he just sleeps. The rest of the pups right now are happy, loud, eating and drinking no problem. There is no soft stool, no vomiting and virtually no warning. No distended belly, no obvious pain. I use a new needle in between each subQ treatment. Pups are growing at a normal rate and gaining weight. I can't think of anything else to add. The vets have not done any testing on the live puppies or their parents and have offered no suggestions. Any and all ideas are more than welcome and your welcome to forward this to anyone you think may have ideas. I appreciate any help I can get until I hear back from Guelph. Thanks Sue ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2008. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. 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