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Puppies gaining enough? I'll try to keep this short...Sophie had her first litter on Feb 3. They are now 4.5 weeks old. Mom starting running short on milk at about week three. She lets them nurse off and on throughout the day, but it only lasts a few minutes before they start "nipple surfing." We have been supplementing them since week three with a mixture I found on the internet consisting of one can goat's milk, 1/2 tsp Karo syrup, one egg yolk, and 1 cup plain yogurt. I have been adding Gerber Rice cereal (for real babies) to thicken it. They won't suck from a bottle, so we put it out for them to lap up. We have been feeding them at about 5:00 am, 11:00 am, 4:00 pm, and 9:00 pm daily. There are four babies (Big Boy, Bella, Jaxson, and Cutter) and they range in weight from 14 oz to 15.5. I weigh them daily and they gain approx .5 to 1 oz a day. This is our first litter and we have no experience at this, so just curious if you guys think we are on the right track. Also, any suggestions to get them to drink water? They turn their nose up at it! Any help/comments would be appreciated. :) |
Sounds like you're doing great. As for the water, try dipping they mouth into it a tad for them to get a taste they'll soon realize they need and want it. |
At 4.5 weeks old, just put puppy kibbles and water out, with a little water in the kibbles, to soften them up. They'll figure it out. Mama will teach them, too. |
It sounds like you are doing great. My pups did not want anything to do with water at first and then about 6 weeks old they just started drinking it. They still don't drink much though. As for the weight gain I think that sounds like good gain. My Katie also seemed like her milk supply was going down around 3 weeks and she didn't want to nurse them as much. Instead of supplementing though, my vet had me keep putting her in with them and making her nurse at least a few minutes and then after a few days her milk supply picked right up and they are now almost 9 weeks old and she will still let them suckle a little before they play! lol My vet believes in letting them wean them naturally and not just taking them away. It has worked out great the pups are eating well and happy and so is mom (no engorged teats). |
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