Hello Kendra, I've really enjoyed reading this thread as I am beginning the weaning process with our 4 puppies. Lucy developed eclampsia 4 days following whelp, so we have been bottle feeding them since then. I had to deal with the swollen teats, and her crying for her puppies to feed them, but the vet said absolutely not. What my vet recommended was "cold compresses", as opposed to "warm compresses". I got one of those gel pads, put it in the freezer and wrapped it in a cloth, so it wouldn't be too cold. She loved it, and would lay on her back, cradled in my arms like a baby, while I applied a little pressure. She had some issues with sadness over not being able to nurse the pups, so she didn't eat so well for the first week. That seemed to dry her up pretty quickly. Also, I purchased some baby onsie pajamas from the resale store, and cut off the arms and legs & put a slot for her tail. That way, she could interact with the pups, and no worries about them trying to nurse from her. Now that the puppies are 4 weeks old, she still interacts with them for short periods of play, and if one trys to nurse off her, she simply gets up and walks away. I still keep an eye on this though, as I'm sure even though she looks dried up, they could probably suckle enough to get things flowing again. I'm giving our puppies gruel, but only twice per day... and still supplementing them with the bottles they are used to. They are good at lapping, but don't want water ! I don't want them to get dehydrated and of course I want to slowly get them on food and not overwhelm their GI track. Our puppies are big... they were born at 7 oz., 6.4 oz. 6.8 oz. & 5.8 oz. Now they are between 1-1/2 lbs. and 2 lbs. !! Basically, they gain 1 oz. per day. I use fresh, whole goats milk, yogurt, karo, & egg yolk. Our pups did not like the taste of evaporated, canned goats milk. Someone said the whole milk was better, but wow.. a bit expensive !!
I'm worried about moving too fast on the gruel (which they can lap, so it is a medium consistency) and the worries about dehydration with refusing water. I started putting a little formula in their water, and they still turn their nose up at it. Grrrr... they want their milky !! So if I fed them 4 times per day of the gruel, and they were not drinking much water, I worry about them through the night, dehydration and issues with constipation. Do you or anyone else have any ideas ? My pups do not have teeth yet. |