Oh my! Yes, I have had to deal with this as well. When this happened to me, the pups were 2 weeks old. We almost lost the Mom (Gellica) but thank goodness, she pulled through. The vet advised we not let her nurse anymore at all, so we were on our own. I too, made sure she had plenty of calcium suppliments along with cottage cheese, etc. but I guess some dogs are just more likely to have this problem. Here is what I've learned:
1. The pups like to knead (with their little paws) when they eat because they are used to doing this to the mom. So, I got a fuzzy bathrobe and draped it over myself when feeding them, and they took to it right away.
2. At first, they would not take the bottle, so we used a medicine dropper to feed them. Yes, it took a long time, but they did great, and after about a week or two, they could take the bottle.
3. Feed them often! Especially at first, and weigh them both morning and night to make sure they are not losing any weight. We fed them every two hours, and the one pup that we felt wasn't getting enough, we fed every hour until she started taking in more.
Good luck to you!! |