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My newborn puppies are dying and turning blue. How can I save them?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Dalmatian | Female | 3 years and 6 months old | 13 lbs

3 of 5 newborn puppies died today.they were in goog health . One of their skin became blue. And the other two could'nt understand. Doc says during first pregnancy of dog it happens but i'm not satisfied with. Remaining two are having milk and we are trying our best to keep them warm. Anything else we can do to save puppy ?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 1st, 2017

Poor puppies. It is hard to say what exactly was the underlying problem but these puppies undoubtedly suffered from fading puppy syndrome. Fading puppy syndrome affects puppies during the first 2 weeks of life and can be caused by a multitude of things including: cleft palate, infection, pneumonia, or other congenital abnormalities to their physical structures. on average we see about a 30% loss of life and puppies during the first two weeks. Although in your case this % is much higher. I don't know what you mean by your statement "the other two couldn't understand"? Unfortunately in most of these situations the puppies cannot be saved despite our best efforts. However you can do your part to give them the best chance of survival, by: 1) Providing warmth but don't overheat 2) Feed every 2 hrs if mama dog isn't nursing well 3) Stimulate to pee and poop every 2 hrs if mama dog isn't doing so 4) Get puppies checked out by the vet if any aren't eating well, appear blue in color (means not getting enough oxygen) or are not active (good energy level). Here is an excellent resource website to help guide you along the way. Hopefully you won't lose any more puppies from this litter and they all grow up to be happy healthy dogs. Best wishes!

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