NeoRescue Playbooks
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Translation by Google. For medical content, always confirm with a vet.

Emergency Playbooks

Each is the fewest steps that buy time until you reach a vet. None of this replaces a vet. If you can phone a vet, do it while you act.

💔 CPR URGENT

Pup not breathing or has no heartbeat. Start now — every 30 seconds matters.

  1. Clear the airway first. Wipe the face. Use a bulb syringe or pipette to suck mucus or fluid from the mouth and nose. Hold pup head-down to drain.
  2. Stimulate vigorously. Rub the chest and back briskly with a warm towel against the grain. Often this alone restarts breathing.
  3. If still not breathing: seal your lips around BOTH the mouth and nose (their head is small enough). Give a gentle puff every 3 seconds. The chest should rise just slightly — pup lungs are tiny.
  4. If no heartbeat: place two fingers on the chest just behind the front legs. Give 100–120 light compressions per minute. Alternate 30 compressions with 2 breaths.
  5. Keep them warm while you work — cold kills the recovery. Wrap in a warm towel from the dryer if you can.
  6. If pup recovers, place skin-to-skin with the dam or in a warm box. Watch closely for the next hour.
Phone the vet the moment pup is stable. Even a successful resuscitation needs a follow-up exam.

💧 Aspiration URGENT

Milk in the nose, clicking sounds when breathing, gurgling, blue tongue. Pup is drowning in milk.

  1. Stop feeding immediately. Do not give another drop until the airway is clear.
  2. Hold pup head-down at a 45° angle. Cradle the head so it doesn't flop. Gravity drains the airway.
  3. Use a bulb syringe to gently suck fluid from the mouth, then the nostrils. One nostril at a time.
  4. Gently swing pup downward in a controlled motion (head supported) — this helps fluid clear deeper airway. Three or four gentle swings, not violent.
  5. Listen for clear breathing. Clicking or rattling means fluid is still there — repeat.
  6. Once clear, keep pup warm and upright for 30 minutes before any feed. Watch for blue tongue, laboured breathing, lethargy.
Phone the vet if any of: blue tongue persists, breathing stays laboured, or it happens twice. Aspiration pneumonia can develop within hours.

❄ Hypothermia URGENT

Pup is cold, floppy, not feeding, possibly silent. Body temp below 35°C is a vet emergency.

  1. Do NOT feed a cold pup. Their gut shuts down below ~35°C; milk just sits and rots, killing the pup. This is the rule that saves lives.
  2. Warm them slowly. Skin-to-skin against your chest under a jumper is ideal. A heat pad on LOW with a towel between is OK. Aim for 29–32°C ambient.
  3. Never use direct heat — no hot water bottles touching skin, no hairdryer, no microwave-warmed towels above warm. Cold pups burn easily because they can't move away.
  4. Check temperature every 15 minutes if you have a paediatric thermometer. Rectal, lubed, gentle.
  5. Once pup is warm and active (feeling responsive, vocalising), offer warmed (38°C) glucose-water or milk replacer in tiny drops. Slow feeds.
  6. Return to dam only when pup is fully warm and the dam isn't pushing them away.
Phone the vet if pup doesn't warm within 30 minutes, stays floppy after warming, or temperature is below 33°C on a thermometer.

⚠ Fading Puppy Syndrome URGENT

Pup was fine, now is weak, quiet, off the milk, losing weight. Often hits 1–4 days old.

  1. Triple-check warmth first. Cold mimics fading. Get pup to 36–37°C ambient before anything else.
  2. Glucose now. Once warm, rub Karo syrup or sugar-water on the gums every 30 minutes — pup's tiny liver runs out of glucose fast and that alone fades them.
  3. Hydration. Tiny drops of warmed lactated Ringer's or unflavoured Pedialyte if you have it. Otherwise warmed glucose water.
  4. Gently encourage feeding from dam. If pup won't latch, supplement with a few mL of warmed formula via a soft syringe — slow, drip by drip, never squirt.
  5. Stimulate toileting by gently rubbing belly and bottom with a warm damp cloth — pup may be too weak to self-stimulate.
  6. Skin-to-skin contact with dam or you, check every 15 minutes for the next 2 hours.
Phone the vet now. Fading pups have a narrow window. The vet may want to check for infection, congenital issues, or treat with subcut fluids and antibiotics.

🤰 Dystocia — Labour Stuck URGENT

Mum's straining hard with no progress, or labour stalled. This is a vet call.

  1. Phone the vet RIGHT NOW if any of these: straining hard for 30 minutes with no pup, more than 2 hours between pups while she's still actively in labour, green/black discharge with no pup yet, mum collapsed or distressed.
  2. Resting between pups is normal — up to 2 hours can pass between pups even in healthy whelping. Don't panic on the rest, panic on the strain-with-no-progress.
  3. If a pup is half-out and stuck: CLEAN hands. Wait for the next contraction, then with the contraction gently and slowly pull pup downward toward mum's belly (not straight back). Don't twist. Don't pull on the head alone.
  4. If you free a stuck pup: immediately clear the face and stimulate breathing — they often need help.
  5. Keep mum calm. Quiet room, you near her. Stress slows contractions.
  6. Track times. When did she start stage-2 labour? Time of last pup born? Vet will ask.
Vet trip is often a C-section. Have someone drive you. Bring whelping box, towels, and any pups already born — they need warmth en route.

🩸 Bleeding

Mum or pup bleeding — direct pressure first, then assess.

  1. Direct pressure with a clean towel for 5–10 minutes WITHOUT lifting it to peek. If blood soaks through, layer another towel on top — don't remove the first.
  2. Cord bleed on a newborn: pinch the cord stump tightly between thumb and finger for 2–3 minutes. Tie off with clean dental floss or thread about 1 inch from the belly.
  3. Mum bleeding heavily after whelping: small amounts of dark blood are normal for days. Bright red bleeding, soaked towels, weakness — phone the vet.
  4. Don't apply a tourniquet unless you've been trained. Done wrong they cause more harm.
  5. Keep the bleeder warm — blood loss drops body temperature fast.
Phone the vet if: bright red bleed not stopping in 10 minutes, mum is pale-gummed and weak, or pup keeps bleeding from cord after pinching.

⚡ Eclampsia — Dam in Crisis URGENT

Mum is trembling, staring, restless, panting hard, stiff, possibly collapsed. Calcium has crashed. This is fatal without treatment.

  1. Phone the vet NOW. Eclampsia kills within hours untreated. Tell them you suspect eclampsia.
  2. Remove the pups from her — they're draining her calcium with every feed. Bottle-feed or warm them in a separate box for now.
  3. Do NOT give oral calcium tablets as a fix on the way to the vet — too slow, can cause vomiting in a fitting bitch. The vet will give IV calcium.
  4. Keep her cool and quiet — eclampsia comes with hyperthermia. Cool wet towels on belly and feet.
  5. Drive to the vet. One person driving, one with the dam. Tell the receptionist on phone — they'll prep treatment for arrival.
  6. After recovery (and always for high-risk breeds — small breeds, large litters): vet-prescribed calcium supplementation through lactation.
This is the fastest-killing whelping emergency. Every minute matters. Don't try to ride it out.

These playbooks are condensed from veterinary neonatal protocols. They buy you time. They don't replace a vet — if you have any doubt, phone yours.