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Originally Posted by bjh  Are the pups still nursing on their momma? Is she producing any more milk? I think it is more important that they get milk from momma first and them supplement them if they are still hungry. The more the pups suck on their momma the more milk she will produce. Is she eating any better? |
Hello! I'll use this reply to respond to your post as well as update everyone who's following.
Mom did eat a little more in the past 12 hours. She had a small piece of boiled beef liver last night and some white rice/chicken broth/dog canned food mix. Not as much as she typically eats and nowhere near as much as she ate during pregnancy, but definitely more than she has been eating. She's still having Nutrical twice a day, whelping pudding several times a day and goat milk/water/eggyolk/corn syrup mix quite a bit. After pups are fed, I'll sit next to her and try to hand feed her. Yesterday the only thing I could get her to eat earlier in the day (other than milk & pudding) were a few crackers. Then, anything she doesn't want, she'll take it from your hand, drop it and try to flip some of the bedding over it! She'll try to do the same with any dishes I leave out (I leave a few dishes with a variety of food options hoping she'll be tempted to try some during one of her potty trips). I can't explain this behavior. But yes, we still need to keep working on making her eat more.
Today so far, she has not easily let me check her for milk and I'm giving myself a little time ('till the cup of coffee kicks in) before I try to maneuver her to check…I feel a little hesitant about not being careful enough and hurt her incision area, so I want to give myself some time to feel alert, but definitely will be doing that soon. I do want to check because at the latest feeding, the pups didn't take as much supplement milk as they had for the 2 prior feedings. The interval between feedings went longer too. When I checked at the time I would have fed them, they were latched on, so I let it go to give them time to keep trying on mom. Then when I saw they weren't really fussing or crying for milk, I got scared and decided to try to feed them anyway, but their tummies were pretty full, so I'm hoping this means they're getting milk from mom and not that they're having some kind of digestive issue :S
As of the last weight-check this morning, pups have gone up about 0.2-0.3 oz from their lowest weight. I don't have a real good feel for where they should be and whether this increase is enough or not. When I pick up the pups, they seem a little shaky and I'm not sure whether this is newborn instability or if it's a sign of something wrong. They do steady once I lay them down, but they'll still crank their neck away from the milk during feeding. Wondering whether this is normal or should I be worried?
Can't think of any other concerns at the moment, but I'm sure the questions will keep coming. Thanks to everyone trying to help! I truly appreciate it!