Hi! I have volunteered to help a lady here in town (also a YT member!) try and hand raise Yorkie puppies. From what I understand, the mother of this future litter has had puppies before that all died
and the vet thought the mother had bad milk. This poor lady was not intending for her female to mate again, but when she realized she was in heat, it was already too late (I believe she is planning to have her male neutered soon to prevent this girl from mating again).
All that being said, the only thing I have the power to do is to try and help these not yet born babies live! And I'm trying to make sure I learn everything I need to BEFORE they are born, since I don't believe they will be allowed to nurse even once this time??
This is what I've found out so far:
Feeding schedule (found on YT--see below)
DON'T to feed a chilled puppy
Keep the box 85-90oF for the first 4 days, then gradually decrease to 80oF by 7-10 days
Weigh them every day using digital food scales
Potty them using a warm, moistened cotton ball
Burp them**
**I don't know how to burp them....just rub their tummies?? Also, how often do you burp....after feeding or half-way through and after or....???
Also, I need to potty them before and after each feeding, right?
What do I feed them???? I've read goat's milk, I've read a formula that includes goat's milk, egg yolk, whole yogurt, and Karo..... I'm especially concerned about what to feed for that very first feeding?? This is a biggie, so please let me know!
And they can be started "weaning" by ~ 5 weeks, right? I read this about how to wean:
http://www.debbiejensen.com/weaning.html.
Anything else I need to know, or any corrections to the above???
Here's that schedule:
Weight of pup..... amt to feed per feeding.............frequency
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3-7 oz pup.........1cc per oz of wt......................... 3 hours
8 oz pup............12 cc........................................ 4 hours
10 oz pup...........15cc................................ .........4 hours
12oz..................18cc........................ .................5 hours
14 oz.................21cc........................... ..............5hours
16oz..................24cc........................ .................5hours
20oz..................30cc or (1oz).............................5hours
24 oz.................36cc. or (1 1/3oz).......................5hours
28oz...................52cc or (1 3/4oz).......................6hours
32oz...................60cc or (2 oz.)...........................6hours
36oz...................68cc or (2 1/4oz)........................6hours
40 oz..................75cc or (2 1/2oz)........................6hours
48 oz..................90cc or (3 oz)............................6 hours