Mastitis
Get in the habit of visually examining and running your hands down your bitch’s breasts
numerous times each day. You are testing for redness, heat, hardness or sores, all of
which can indicate possible mastitis, a bacterial infection of the mammary glands.
Mastitis is a very serious condition that can require you to wean puppies early and at its
worst, can be fatal to bitches. Regular checks and prompt action are valuable.
First Steps. If you feel hardness within a breast but no heat, put the strongest puppy on
the nipple to nurse it dry. If the gland still has milk in it when the puppy quits, put
another puppy on. Begin to put hot compresses on the hard area. Moist warmth
stimulates circulation to the area, as well as eases tension in taut, swollen, breast
tissues so moist heat is better than dry when it comes to mastitis.
Compressing. To make a hot compress, soak a hand towel or diaper in water than is hot
but not so hot that you cannot lay it on your arm. Wring out the excess water. Put the
compress on the hard area and cover it with a dry towel or even a heating pad. Leave it
on for 10 minutes, praising and rewarding your girl for tolerating the treatment. Repeat
this at least four times per day until the hardness goes away. Between treatments,
encourage the stronger pups to nurse on that nipple.
Cabbage leaves. Cabbage can be effective in reducing mastitis. If you are not having
immediate success with hot compresses, get a cabbage head and put a leaf between
your dog’s breast and the warm, hot towel. Once the cabbage leaf has wilted, change it
out for a fresh one.
Lecithin. Lecithin is thought to help avoid mastitis. You can give up to 1200 mg lecithin
twice a day as a preventive to your bitch after whelp. Use sunflower lecithin if you can
get it but if not, try soy lecithin.
Monitor her temperature. If you feel heat in the breast in addition to hardness, start
taking your bitch’s temperature every two hours. If her temperature goes above
102.8°F, take her to your vet for a check and possible antibiotic treatment, such as
cephalexin. If her temperature is still relative low, milk the nipple until it produces some
milk. Examine the milk’s color and smell. If it is white or yellowish white with a pleasant
odor, use hot compresses for ten minutes each session, up to every 30 minutes, and use
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Supplementing Newborn Puppies
the strongest puppies to nurse on that breast. If the milk is pink, appears curdled or
smells sour, it is best to take her to your vet.
If you feel a hot, hard breast that is also reddened and painful, use hot compresses for
ten minutes out of every 30 minutes until you can get your girl in to the vet’s, ideally
within 12 hours. Do not wait days for an appointment as mastitis can go from mild to
extremely serious in only a few hours.
Antibiotics. If compressing and cabbage does not work, you must put your bitch on
antibiotics. In our experience, neither amoxicillin nor cephalexin work in 95 percent of
cases so ask your vet for cephalexin AND to run a culture and sensitivity (C&S) on her
milk. The C & S will take three days so you want to be prepared with a more effective
treatment if the cephalexin does not work.
In that case, Baytril is the next best option but you must wean the puppies while she is
on the drug. We have successfully reintroduced the pups to their mom after treatment
and they continued nursing till they went home.
We have had very few cases of mastitis over the years, even with our singleton litters,
but we remain very diligent in checking our bitches’ and take immediate action as soon
as we feel any hardness within a breast. We also take care not to overfeed our girls,
carefully monitoring their condition during this period. However, the few cases of
mastitis we have experienced ensure this condition is never far from our minds.
Remember, mastitis is a medical emergency so do not procrastinate!
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