I have a litter of 6 orphan pups. Mama dog passed away at the vets' s office following the c-section. The pups only nursed for a few minutes and not all actually got to hold on to the nipples and nurse. It was a very difficult situation. They are being fostered by a wonderful Lab that has a litter of 4 that are 6 days older. My question---should they get their inoculations earlier than normal? Has anyone had pups in this situation that can offer any suggestions? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I would highly recommend talking to the vets at NeoVet about their Neopar vaccine. I know it has been used as early as 3 weeks if need be. But talk to them. I wouldn't want to give a 5-way vaccine really young, but I've started giving a NeoPar vaccine at 5 weeks, followed with a 5-way before they go home.

I am so sorry for the loss of your girl. How old are the puppies now? If they are quite young, Hemopet has Fresh Frozen Plasma for protective antibodies to help them in place of colostrum. The article is on the website link below, or at
http://home.mpowercom.net/~hemopet0/files/QQ%20Treating%20Fading%20Puppy%20Syndrome.pdf

or a more clinical article at
http://www.hemopet.com/images/HemopetFresh-FrozenPlasma.pdf
See the reference to using adult plasma as a substitute for colostrum in newborns.

I share your sorrow at your loss. This happened to me 17 years ago. I had 10 pups and no mom. They nursed on mom before we took her body home. I fostered out 2 to a friend who had a week old litter of 6. Another friend had a bitch that had 4 pups and I brought her home. They were 5 days old. She was a horrible mother would wait till she was full let pups nurse then dash out of box. My old spayed girl would get in box and patiently clean and cuddle with pups. We didn't have fresh plasma back then. I vaccinated those pups at 7 weeks Dhppv and again at 10 weeks Dhlppv and then dhlppv 13 weeks then a parvo and Rabies at 16 weeks. It was Intervet vaccine now I believe it is called Nobi vacc. All 10 lived into their teens. One of which lived to be 16 1/2. My thoughts are with you at this difficult time. Hang in there and hug those babies.

I also extend my condolences on the OP's loss of Mum. I can not imagine.

Breeder tech, I used the Nobivac at a vet's office on a litter of 7 in 2011 and all got ill and were lethargic.. I brought all in and the vet couldn't figure out what was wrong.

I usually have Pfizer Vanguard on hand or have it used at the vet. This vet only carried Nobivac and swore by it.

He gave the remaining 2, my keeper and extra pup staying with me their 2nd vaccine 3 weeks later, my keeper and the babysitted pup both got ill again. Fevers, vomiting and diahrea for 36 hours then back to normal except for loose stool for 4 days. Same for the pups that went home that had Nobivac. I personally will never use it again. When 7 pups react, something is wrong. The vet thought I was exaggerating, claimed he never had a problem with it and didn't give me the batch no. Be careful with it please. No one died or was hospitalized but all were lethargic and quite ill.

OP, I extend good thoughts to you and the pups. Let Mum RIP. :'( I am terribly sorry for your loss.

Thank you for , everyone, for your advise and your experiences. The pups will be two weeks old tomorrow. They had a very rough first week, as they all ran high fevers due to an infection (and dehydration) from the c-section. Long story, but end result is they are finally gaining and nursing. I am just concerned about their lack of immunity and the protocol for shots. I have copied your answers and will keep researching. You are very kind to respond. It has been very, very sad to lose our beloved mama dog, and we want to do what is best for the pups. We've had Labs for over 40 years, but, as with many other experiences, this is "the first" with orphan pups. Thank you again.

Wow never had a problem with Nobi vacc then intervet. The Veterinarian I work for now, uses pfizer as well, so my last pups got pfizer vacc. Thanks for the input about Nobi vacc. That is really sad to hear. I haven't used their vaccines since the merge and name change. However used Intervet for probably 15 years. Good luck with your orphan babies. You do this long enough you see everything. Breeding dogs can be heart breaking.

So sorry for your loss. Just learning of and researching about Recombinant vaccines. Another thing to look into as they sound much safer.

http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/vaccinations/f/FAQ_recomvacc.htm

I HATE the recombinant vaccines in comparison to the old Intervet high titer ones. Some lots of the Recombitek recombinant DNA vaccines seemed too strong for smaller dogs, whether they are young pups or toy breeds. I seem to remember that a few years ago there was a study showing an increase in autoimmune problems with them, but it is possible that I am confusing it with the Purdue study showing autoantibodies (allergy to oneself, so to speak) in all vaccinated dogs.

Personal experience, not a study: I have had unrelated Labrador pups having pox like rashes in their ears and on belly a few days after the Recombitek distemper parvo DHPP combo shots, which made me wonder about the canarypox from which the vaccine was made. I really don't like the idea of genetically modified Labradors, so to speak. I never had this reaction using the modified live vaccines.

With so many mergers of the vaccine companies in recent years, it is difficult to know what vaccines to order or have the vet use.