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Hi Dawn,
I too am perplexed as to why Bella won't eat and has to be force fed. Do puppies develop a resistance to food when sick- is this normal? She only drank the hosts milk freely on the first day we offered it to her. Since then, she hasn't drank it on her own. Every now and then she will drink water from her bowl. Her poops are getting fewer, although they are still like pudding, which in itself is an improvement. She goes back to the vet on Monday afternoon.
Thanks for the tip about the ointment! I've been applying it once a day or so.
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I'm not sure about building up a resistance to food when they are sick. It could possibly be that the meds are upsetting her stomach. Just like in humans we tend to avoid what makes us feed bad. Does the medication say to feed with food or that it may cause upset?
If it were me I would try to feed her a puppy gruel and see if she can eat that on her own. There are many different recipes, everyone is simular but different. It is about finding the right one for your pup that will get that wow reaction and that has the nutritional factor that she needs to help her get better and start eating on her own once again.
A gruel is a milk shake like substance that breeders feed the pups to transition them off of mothers milk and before solids. It can be mixed and refrigerated and uses as needed, typically fed warm. If you are interested below is my recipe, but there is a thread with many more... (I searched several times and can not find it)
1 c goats milk
1/2 can puppy food
1 jar beef baby food
(some will even add a egg, yogurt, ground up vitamins or karo syrup)
Mix all ingredients until well blended, without chucks. Add more goats milk if you feel it is too thick. Gruel should be a consistency that can be lapped up with ease. Can be made thicker as pup is more equipped to handle it.
Keep up the great work with her... You truly are her life line!