Someone I know had a litter of puppies last monday, one of them didn't seem to be gaining weight like the others and was not quite acting the same as the others either so they took him down to the vets and they said he had a pronounced heart murmur, was quite cool and gave antibiotics and said to top him up with a bottle.
Last night the breeder sat up with him, helped him to feed off the mum, so the big ones didn't push him away and then topped him up with a bottle. This morning I gave them a lift down to the vets as they wanted to check how he was doing, they said he looked more alert, seemed to have put on weight and was nice and warm, but he had a definate heart murmur. The vet said the other puppies were fine, but wanted to see this little pup again in two weeks unless he gets worse. I got the impression that the vet thought his chances were not that hopeful, even though he didn't actually say that.
The breeder is obviously very upset and is working hard to try and build him up, I think that she has decided that she will keep him if he survives.
My question is has anybody had this with their puppies and what quality of life can they have?