? about supplementing growing puppies
 

Hi everyone, I have my first 3 female litter here. They are 2 1/2 weeks old, just starting to walk around. Eyes have been open since 7 days. Mom is on puppy food (several med. bowls per day), plenty of water, with cottage cheese and yogurt (every other day). The pups are big and growing, following mom around. Her teats seem just drained, they always look as if a puppy just finished eating off of all of them. They never look full. Her sides are thin. I've always thought of her as "hearty" but she's not, she's got her figure back.

I'm wondering if she is going to provide enough right now to keep up with these pups. She's always laying and feeding a pup or three it seems.

From what I've read, some start weaning onto very wet premium puppy food for the puppies to drink almost at 4 weeks average, sometimes 3 1/2.

Do you have any suggestions for us at 2 1/2 weeks? I know I should probably increase her cottage cheese and yogurt to daily for starters. Anything to help rebuild her milk supply in between feedings? I know for humans, water is very important ( for more milk) and she drinks plenty of it.

Any advise is much appreciated. Thank you!

Susan

I usually don't start supplementing until about 3 and 1/2 weeks, but then again mine don't have their eyes open until closer to 2 weeks. Peak milk production doesn't occur until about 3 weeks, nursing stimulates and guides the amount of milk produced, so if you start supplementing Mom will probably produce less milk.

Puppies that are hungry and not getting enough will not be content and will cry when nursing and after nursing.

If you don't think she is healthy, I would probably start offering the pups a milk replacer in a saucer and then when they are about 3 and 1/2 weeks start adding a little canned or a quality dry puppy food that has been turned into a powder by a food processor. Keep it soupy in texture, more lapping than chewing, and then you can gradually lessen the moisture until they are eating it dry.

Here's a recipe that I feed my mommies as well as to tinies that aren't taking to weaning.....Helps bring in mothers milk. Doesn't cause any digestive problems at all

Post Whelping Pudding

16 oz. water
1 pkg. Knox Gelatin
(micro. to disolve)
15 oz. can evap. milk
2 tabls. vanilla yogurt
2 egg yolks
2 tabls. white corn syrup
mix all ingred. in bowl let set in fridge
until thickens. Spoon out as needed.

i have a similar pudding recipe but mine uses vanilla pudding (the kind you cook, I also gave Silk two teaspoons of dark beer (per Debbie jensen's site). She was three days early and her milk came in really good exactly on her due date. So i don't know if any of these things workeed or it was her due date. Anyhow, i feed that little pup round the clocck every two hours. I was never so glad in my life to see milk come in and I only had one pup to feed.

I have the vanilla pudding too, but just seemed to me there was just too much sugar and had a little digestive problem with it. This receipe required no cooking. Feed my tiny with it as supplemental feeding as it was being weaned......

That's very true. So I'm not going to supplement until they're ready to start weaning, there's no true need here. She's healthy and is keeping up with the pups fine, and eating and drinking well (tons). She's just not as fat as I thought she was. They girls are just growing so fast. One of the pups were sniffing her bowl when she was eating and she growled at her. I think they're going to do very well when it comes time to wean. They're 3 weeks today. So I'll start soon with gruel (sp?).

Thanks to everyone who took time to reply to my post.

Susan