I was thinking of the same thing possibly. The breeder of the litter should necropsy the puppy at the least and have especially the kidneys examined for abnormalities.

I am terribly sorry for the loss. I hope it isn't CHV but better to know and give the remaining pups a chance. There are excellent, recent posts about how to keep the pups alive with CHV, medications, heat and other suggestions were made.

All you have to do is a search for CHV or canine herpes virus on this list. Acyclovir is used and heat of over 90 degrees along with a few other good suggestions.

Have the breeder move fast OP. Time is of the essence if it is CHV.

Did she take the puppies temperature when she found them not thriving? Anything above 98-99 in a puppy that age is a fever - if the puppy has a fever it won't eat and it needs sub-q fluids. If the puppy was cold and she didn't warm it up before giving formula via dropper that could kill it.

Herpes is always a consideration with dying puppies but usually there is the gut wrenching death cries that come with herpes. If these are happy and content and then not thrifty the next time she see's them I'm prone to think either a bacterial infection or they got to far from mom and they weren't warmed up properly before trying to feed again.

Those are just my thoughts - I'm not a DVM!

I, too have heard of those CHV cries-screams although I never have heard it myself thank doG. You might be right Liz but the breeder is not in with the pups.

Maybe the breeder does need to do so. I always am right there but I don't tell others what to normally do unless they ask as in a 1st litter.

She's lost 2 pups in 2 nights. Yikes! I would want to be right there to try to make sure it doesn't happen again.

OP, maybe you should suggest the breeder either move the Mum and pups near her or she needs to move near them over the nite. She's already lost 50% of the litter, I certainly hope she doesn't lose anymore. Being right there can make a large difference with a healthy litter.

Good wishes. Please let us know how things proceed OP. You're kind to post for the breeder.

A couple of thoughts, although I'm not a DVM, either!

These deaths seem to be too early in the lives of the puppies to be CHV. I believe infected puppies usually show symptoms between 1 and 3 weeks. They also would be obviously distressed, crying pitifully, and usually would have nasal discharge. If the puppies appear healthy and quiet, it doesn't sound like herpes virus.

I had a similar litter with big, seemingly healthy puppies who died. After I lost a couple, and necropsies showed no obvious problems, my vet put the puppies on Cefa drops (cefadroxil, a broad-spectrum antibiotic) at three days of age. All the remaining puppies, including one who was suddenly disinterested in nursing, and appeared to be following in the footsteps of those I'd lost, turned the corner and did well from that point on. I'm not sure to this day what was going on, but the antibiotic did the trick.

If your friend gives Cefa drops to her pups, she'll need to also give Probiocin or Benebac to replenish the beneficial bacteria in their digestive tracts. I give the antibiotic and probiotic 8-10 hours apart so that the antibiotic doesn't destroy the good, replacement bacteria.

Best of luck with the remaining pups.

I got this one time. Healthy puppies that I would found dead or dying just a couple of hours later.
It was toxic milk. I Fed them puppy formula (I used Esbilac) and put mom on Antibiotics. Cephalexin or Amoxiciline would do. Keep feeding the puppies a couple of times a day so she doesn't dry out. I was able to leave the puppies with the mom about 3 days later.
The key sign is gases. The puppies had big timpanic or distended abdomen days 3-4.
If you get another puppy already sick, wash its stomach with a feeding tube and give just some fluids with glucose or Karo syrup
Herpes virus will kill slowly with lots of cry and liquid diarrhea

I have had it twice unfortunately. 7-8 years ago I had it with a litter of 8. at 3-4 days of age the 1st puppy went down and a few days later the entire litter was gone. This was a confirmed case,but thank doG there was no sceaming. 2 years ago I had it again with a mature bitch having her 2nd litter and the pups didnt show signs until 21 days of age. With the help of others (and this too was a confirmed case) I managed to save all but 2. There was some moaning this time, but no screaming. I also know others that have had to listen to the cries and screams. I'm not so sure it's black or white I have spoken to numerous others all having common experiences yet slight differences be it age, speed of disease, ability to save pups etc......

I certainly hope this is not CHV but if another puppy passes I would open the puppy up and look for lesions as mentioned on this thread. Fingers crossed you have figured it out and the rest of the babies are fine.

Take the temperature of all of the puppies. If it is
lower than 94 degrees you must warm them up BEFORE
letting them eat anything either from mom or from tube feeding. If their temp is that low any food in their gut will not be processed and that alone will be enough to kill them.
I am not sure if it's CHV or not but start with checking the puppies temps.

Has the owner of the bitch ever had a litter ? Did she just not know how to help a pup hang on to eat. Did she know to keep them warm the first few days. Did she try to bottle feed and cause aspiration ? It could be anything other than something awful. I am so sorry she lost the pups. Give us an update soon.

The remaining two puppies are doing fine. No more losses. I did ask the breeder to stay in with the puppies at night when I last spoke to her, and am hoping she has been. No more information on what caused the two puppies deaths, although I feel confident this breeder knows how to evaluate puppies' sucking. Also, if puppies are hungry they squeak. She said they sounded content. No inappropriate bottle feeding either. I am leaning towards the mother laying on a puppy; hearing or feeling it, getting up, but internal damage had already been done. We are praying the remaining babies do well. Thanks so much for everyone's input. I know one thing, I hope to NEVER have CHV in my litter!