Question?? Supplemental Feeding..... OK, I have a question I hope you all can help me out with. Today when I left the Vets office with Penelope and the puppies, the vet said I should bottle feed along with the Mom breast feeding. The pups have been feeding from the Mom fine. Do I still need to bottle feed them too? :confused: |
Did the vet say why he thought you needed to do this?...I do not supplement unless needed...Weigh the pups daily to make sure they are not losing weight...As long as babies are happy I see no reason to supplement! |
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I wouldn't......Her milk will come in. Be sure she is drinking plenty, if not syringe water to her mouth during the day. Right now they're getting the colostrum they need so much. It sounds like they're doing fine. |
We did have to suppliment Beamer and Rainbow for one or two days. Since Sunshine had a c-section, her milk was a little slower coming in. Just check their weight often and look at their tummies to see if it is rounded after they nurse. As long as they are gaining weight, I wouldn't worry about it. |
Rarely you will find a dog that doesnt produce enough when the babies are allowed to nurse as often as they are hungry. Typically, the more demand for milk (the more the pups are latched on) the more the mom will produce. Just like with people. I have had many people moms (lol) come to me saying they arent producing enough for their baby, then they tell me they have been bottle feeding half the time. The more you give a pup or a baby a bottle, the less the mom will produce. |
I suggest weighing them 2 times a day and as long as they are not losing any weight there is no need to suppliment. Remember if you suppliment they don't get the much needed initial colostrum from mom and you also risk getting fluid in their lungs un-necessarily. If its NOT broke then don't fix it! It sounds like mom is doing just fine with her babies. Keep the babies warm and I suggest just letting mom continue do her thing. If they start to lose weight then supplimenting is in order. |
Maybe you should consider it... Ok , I am no expert by any means, but could he be worried about hypocalcimia, since she is so little. One of our momma's was a wonderful mom, and nursed those babies, hated to leave them, but they litterally drained her. Yes I was feeding her everything I could, and giving her as much as she wanted. Her meals consisted of canned puppy food, dry puppy food, shredded chicken, cottage cheese and a little of the isblac mixed in. We allowed her to free feed since she was just at 4 lbs after delivery ( she had 4 pups) Anyways, depsite all our efforts, she did become hypocalcimic, and had I not known something was differnt in her actions ( she did not show typical signs) she would have died. The vet later said, they just took everything from her, and what may have helped was partial supplementation. Instead we had to force wean 4 week old pups, bottle feed all of them around the clock, and cover Mom with a towel, then a onesie, so she would not nurse. It sucked, and she was miserable. So that is just something to consider. |
I just wanted to add that mine were 3.5 and 3.7 ounces when born. when they went down to 3.0 and 2.9, I supplimented them, but always let them nurse from mom first. |
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It usually takes a couple of days for her milk to drop. Keep checking their weights to make sure that they are gaining weight and if they aren't, start supplementing. |
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Eclampsia can happen to any Mom anytime no matter how big or small she is...She can have one puppy or several puppies... I have had eclampsia 3 times and had to do what you did with your Mom and babies the first time...Since we use Calsorb with every litter from now on we have not had the problem with Eclampsia anymore... |
One of the first signs the pups are not getting satisfied will be their constant crying...Cold, Hungry or puppies that have not been pottied by Mom will cry until their needs are met!... Human Mom's milk does not come in until day 3 and when we drink plenty of fluid and let babies nurse the milk will come in... |
Can I ask what Calsorb is, and where to find it. I would do anything to prevent it happening again, it was an awful experiance. I just wanted to point out as well, that I did say this is what my vet said would have helped. I was just passing along the advice I received. Thanks for your information. |
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