This is something I’ve been wanting to post about for a few days now, just haven’t had the chance.

A couple of months ago, a local Golden Breeder lost her bitch during a c-section. There were 10 puppies to care for, and Martini took five of them under her wing. Good Girl *Tini*

Anyway, one of the larger problems facing these puppies, was the absence of colostrum. After searching around , the bitches owners, found some at Hutch’s... but not enough for all ten puppies... so, long story short, the cc’s of colostrum given to each puppy was not optimum.

Which brings me to this thought. This past New Yrs day, Sophie, delivered one puppy vial c-section. My vet was aware of the issue with the Golden babies, and after the section as we were waiting for Sophie to wake up, he mentioned, milking her for some colostrum and storing it my freezer , incase there was ever a need for it.

That evening I collected around 15cc’s of colostrum from her. Now, if I am faced with a similar situation, I will have some colostrum on hand. I will also collect again with the next bitch I have whelp, and the next. Once I have more than I need, maybe 20 cc’s, or whatever, the other vials I keep frozen can be available for any other breeder that is faced with the prospect of orphaned puppies.

Could it be possible for all of us to start doing the same? To compile a bank of colostrum that we can have on hand for each other if needed?
Any thoughts, suggestions?
-J

How long will it keep in the freezer?

I wonder if the powdered colostrum used for goats, horses and calfs etc would work?

Jill, I always have colostrum in my freezer. I never had the need of it until last spring when one of my girls died a couple of hours after her emergency c-section. I was glad I had the colostrum at hand. Her 3 puppies benefited from it.
I'm not sure how long does frozen colostrum last, but this one was about 1 1/2 years old.

What do you collect and store it in? Test tubes? Great idea!!

I put it in a pill plastic container. Nothing fancy. I did filter it with a regular kitchen filter to remove hair.
It takes a long time to get 100 cc, but you have the whole first 24 hours to get it.

Does anyone if given plasma from older well vaccinated adults would or could work? I have heard that they do that in some cases with sick puppies, like treating parvo. A person was telling about plasma.

I know they collect plasma in cattle to give to sick newborn calves. You draw so much blood for an older cow, spin the blood down, take the plasma off and freeze it.

We had a situation where a bitch wouldn't let milk down for a newborn (one puppy litter). She had a section and took almost 2 weeks to let milk down. Our vet said colostrum isn't as important in puppies as it is in cattle. Not sure about that, but the puppy did make it. Maybe that is why they make colostrum for large animals and not for canines. I think its best if they can colostrum.

There use to be a place online that sold plasma for canines in CA, if I recall right.

Here is the site with canine Plasma.

http://www.caninecryobank.com/immunityboosters.html

I lost a bitch from a c-section and had no colostrum available. All 9 puppies survived. No problems. Maybe I was just lucky.

Sounds like a very smart thing to do. And so easy. Bet Hutch knows how long it would last. Hope I can remember to do it next time.

Yes, the plasma is also a good way to go if there is no colostrum on hand. These Golden puppies also received plasma. I believe the colostrum is present in the bitch for the first 24 hours. Although I’m not certain of the length of time that it could be frozen, one vet said *years* Not sure if that’s 2 or 5. But, I would like to know. Hutch is hosting another one of his always informative seminars at the end of this month in the Cleveland area. This might be a good question to broach.

Anyway, the original idea here, would other breeders be willing to start collecting colostrum from their bitches, so that we can all have a supply on hand? Then, if and when someone else needs it, we can come here and post a request? If the breeder with the colostrum is out of the other persons geographical area, it can just be overnighted in the same fashion as semen.

I’m willing. I have enough in my freezer now, to probably meet my own needs, and as I said, I have two more bitches due this month and will be collecting from them. After that if anyone else is faced with orphaned puppies, I would be able to send it to them. Eventually, we would be creating a network..

As for collecting, I used a a large plastic tube, as a matter of fact it is the exact tube that we get in the Mini Tube kits, (the one you place the smaller vial of semen into) Then I transferred it into a regular 15 cc collection tube, and placed it in the freezer.

-J

I flash freeze it in ice cube trays, then put the cubes in freezer zip loc bags.

I have thought about this but figured that the canine milk replacer that i get from Natures Farmacy was ok because it says that it has colostrum in it. I do keep plasma on hand and have loaned some out to a couple breeders who had puppies that we on the "iffy" side.

I think its a great idea and since i have some spring litters coming up then i will see what i can do to help out.

Last July, I had a litter of premies via c-section at Hutch's. Immediately after the c-section, we began collecting colostrum in semen collection tubes. My girl had so much colostrum that they had to mop up her belly before making the incision. Fortunately, these premies had no problem getting colostrum/milk from their mom since she leaked so much.

If my memory serves me correctly, the freezer life span is 6 months which is the same length of time for human breast milk.

I will collect colostrum whenever one of my girls has a litter so that if some one has a need, I have something on hand.

My question is - would a battery operated breast pump work more efficiently at collecting colostrum? I know that I owned 2 pumps years ago but donated them. Personally, a pump worked better on me than manual expressing. (Sorry, probably too much information.)

Great thread!

To make a canine breast pump:

Cut off the very top end on a syringe where the needle goes, smooth it off with sandpaper and then put the plunger back into the cut end. It makes a great breast pump. Lot of suction.

Sherry, that is brilliant and so easy I don't know why I--or my repro vet--didn't think of that! Thanks.

Human milk is good in a DEEP freezer for 1 yr. That is all I would keep colostrum for....
Great idea guys! I will do the same!

Just remember that the breast needs to be msassaged/kneaded to enable the let-down reflex; it's not all about straight suction. You'll end up hurting your girl's nipples if you depend on straight suction to draw out colostrum/milk. Just think about how baby animals knead/bunt at the momma's breasts while starting to nurse on a teat; once the glands/ducts "let down" the fluid, the kneading ceases and the baby sucks.

I used a human breast pump(electric) on my girl Sarrah for a failing puppy that she had that we tube fed. It was easier to get the hind nipples and you do have to make a good seal by pressing but I was able to get quite alot, the little guy didn't make it so I froze it and gave it to my vet and hoped nobody else would either, but she said more than likley it would be put to good use.
This litter I had a puppy that needed to be raised by tube feeding and I was able to use the breast pump to get some colostrum and even some milk from my girl for this puppy, but she was hard to milk. Some girls are easier than others so if it comes easily I would jump on the opportunity to save it.
I paid around $50 for my pump at CVS and I've had it for about 7 years, everything is so easy to wash on it.I'm planning to save some from my next litter just in case. A Colostrum/milk bank would be a fabulous idea, as the colostrum in supplements isn't the same thing, it's more as a supportive additive but not able to replace the function of fresh or frozen colostrum.

Medela makes a 36mm breast pump shield that is adjustable. I'd bet it would work on a dog.