Hand Raising Puppies???
 

Hello Everyone,

So it is me wonder luck with yet another burning question. I need advice on how to hand raise my 5, one week old pups. Bridget as many of you know was diagnosed with preeclampsia prior to her c-section. At 4 am this morning I awoke to her panting and shaking. I rushed her to the ER and she is right not on IV meds to help her.

She has been on lots of calcium, I have a dairy bar going on for her food ( literally at least 3 dishes of diffrent calcium options for food out all the time) yet she still has the problems. So now I am faced with hand raising these puppies for at the vets reccomendation I need to limit her with the puppies, they are thinking at most 1 feeding from her a day. That is if she does ok, any signs of it happening again, they would be cut off.

So who has been through this before with young pups? I have one time, but the puppies were 4 weeks, so it was easier to deal with. these will be the smallest babies I have had to hand raise. I need your help and suggestions. I have powdered milk ( esbliac) on hand and 2 of the pre-mix. I would like to be ahead of the learning curve so to speak so any help would be great. Thanks in advance...

This has been a rough week for a few of us here, hard to believe so much could go so wrong.. Thanks everyone

Sorry on the news about Bridget but she is in teh best hands.

I don't have much advice but I wish you all the luck in the world. :ghug:

I hope so, but I could really use some help, these babies are in need and I am wondering if there is better info out there other than the esiblac... Any adive would be great...

I found this site for you, it looks like it has lots of useful information in it. Granted they raise GSDs but it's all relevant

Bottle Feeding Puppies

Hope its of some help!

pups
 

I hand raised a litter of 6 when mom died after a c-section. I fed them every 3 to 4 hrs around the cloc,k depending on size...they will need "diapering" just as often, perhaps more...keep them warm and feed..good luck

I've done this many times
 

Canned Esbilac has worked best for me, and use a Gerber Preemie bottle. Warm the Esbilac to room temp and feed every four hours. I like to dip the end of the nipple in Karo syrup first. As soon as they open their eyes and get on their feet start making a mush of Esbilac and canned puppy food and offer it on the end of a spoon until they get a taste for it. They'll be lapping off a saucer in no time.

Related question---
 

One of the puppies I'm currently hand feeding has been very fussy this morning--cries and belly seems hard to me. |She nursed very enthusiastically on the bottle at 2AM but refused it at 6AM. I have put her on her mother and she nurses well there, then resumes the crying and whining as soon as she's removed from Mom. We have vet appointment later today, but I'd like to hear from anyone who might have an idea what's going on.

pups
 

I used canned also..I found no matter how well I mixed the powdwe, it still clogged the nipple...and using honey or karo on the nipple works well...

Belinda...I have used a tiny, tiny bit of crushed Tums with a fussy pup..but do not advise unless you ask your vet...mine has no probloms with it...even said a bit of Baby Gas-X works..depending on age.

I hope this tibit helps..
 

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Thanks everyone for the tips. I will keep everyone informed. After discussions with the doc, all morning we decided to let Bridget for the most part dry up. She may nurse 1-2 puppies a day one time, but that is it, and he hopes me to get them on to gruel by 3.5 weeks. So the next little bit will be very interesting for sure. Please kepp your fingers crossed for me, man Jenn I wish you lived closer I would send some babies your way to avoid this...

I hope your babies are doing ok

Brandi

Hand feeding your babies
 

I used a nylon stocking over the moms belly and cut front leg holes and then let her stay in with her babies. that was she could keep them warm and clean them as needed. the nylon came off 2 times a day.....in the morning and at night for about an hour. Inbetween I feed canned goats milk and fading puppy mixed together. Good luck. all my pups did well and mom had another litter recently and had no calcium issues.

Sorry... my post didnt come through..
 

I am sure you already got the info from doc... I just had a list of stuff from my breeding for dummies book I wanted to share...
but keep the warm, fed and clean...and the should sleep a lot... if tummy is hard... I was thinking it would be air or waste...and the book was saying you had to stoke them with warm towel after they eat to simulate the mother's licking so they would eliminate. If the squirm a lot it say they are cold or hungry... important to keep warm... you probably already got this down pat..
keep area clean and dry free from waste... ;)
good luck.. sorry

If you are hand raising them and feeding them then you also have to stimulate their privates with a moist warm cloth so that they can use the bathroom. It might be that the pup has to potty but cannot potty on it's own right now, that is what the mother would be helping them with if she was able to care for them she would constantly lick their private parts to stimulate them so they can use the bathroom.

I've been several times through this situation it is really a lot of work but worth it.I would tube feed it id the only way you are certain of the amount of milk the babies are getting they should get 7.5 cc per ounce daily x weight of pup.Good luck!!!

Hi,

I am so sorry to hear about everything that you are going through. I had only one night of being up every hour and I know how tiring it can be. Hang in there. Praying for Bridget and the little ones.

Love, Jenn