Quote:
Originally Posted by beckylombardi  My puppies are 2 weeks old and the runt is about one third of the size as the others. Last tuesday I took him to the vet because he wasn't gaining hardly any weight and got esbalic to feed him, he seemed to be doing better but today doesn't act like he wants to eat. When I tried to force it he acted like I was choking him. I had to go to work husband said he wouldn't eat for him either. |
As mentioned in your other thread, I would get him off the Esbilac and onto the goat's milk mixed with equal parts water. It's also good to put a bit of karo syrup in the mixture. Esbilac has been found in the past to have toxic levels of copper in it. The goat's milk is safer and much more digestible.
Not sure how experienced you are with hand feeding pups so here's a couple of basics. Never feed a chilled pup and hold the pup upright while feeding. Not sure what you're using, but I always use an eye dropper. It's much easier to control the flow and the pup has less chance of aspirating. A pup needs to be burped and diapered after feeding. At this age, it needs to eat every 2 hours. The recommended amount is 1 cc per ounce of body weight at each feeding.
The above can be modified a little. If the pup is skinny and doesn't have much appetite, you could feed less, but feed more often. You should weigh him twice daily and look for a little gain. The beef liver broth is good to use, too, and also the nutri-drops as was recommended earlier. A word of caution on the nutri-drops.....it is a fairly potent formula so only a drop should be used per dose on such a small one. They need the nutrition but the digestive system is very delicate on these babies.
It is VERY important that this baby is fed around the clock. It cannot miss any meals. That could mean living on naps or having someone help you until he is thriving.
Best of luck.