Need help preventing a problem I may be in over my head here. Remember we had decided to hold off getting a rescue pup? Well, some things kind of fell in to place and I got a call about an 8 week old female up in Tennessee. Her mom and littermates were turned over to a rescue due to the flooding. We drove up there to meet her today. Long story short, we ended up bringing her home. So here is my problem. I think she is younger than 8 wks. She's small, only about 1 lb, 2 oz, and she only has 3 teeth. The rescue said she was eating Purina Puppy (crap) Chow and doing well on it & had no issues with hypoglycemia (she was in a foster home). I am having a hard time believing she could really be totally weaned. I offered her the food several times, but she had zero interest in eating it. I also offered her wet food, but still no luck. I did get her to take some nutrical both during the ride home and after we got here. I did stop and pick up some Esmilil (sp?) and managed to get her to take about 20cc's- she seemed to enjoy it. She hasn't peed or pooped since I picked her up about 6 hrs ago. Right now she's sleeping, but she has been playful, giving kisses and chewing on the soft duck I bought for her. What else can I do to encourage her to eat? I plan on keeping up with offering her the food every couple hours through the night. |
i would defin. take her into a vet for an age estimate and to see if you need to keep bottle feeding her on esibilac or if she's old enough to eat canned/dry/raw food of your choice. keep up with nutrical, i'd go ahead and give a little lick daily until she's eating well just to give her a boost. then make sure she's had a health exam and gets started on vaccs and set up with the vet care. good luck and God Bless you for taking in the little angel. |
I don't know anything about weaning puppies but I wanted to wish you good luck! The puppy is so lucky to be in such a wonderful family:) An idea I had (totally unsure if it's even logical) could you put the formula on the kibble to entice her to eat it? |
i've only weaned shelter puppies i was fostering in the past and they were typically med to large breed dogs. Never anything as small as a yorkie baby, unless you want to count kittens. Anyway, what i used to do was mix the kitten or puppy milk in with the wet food at first, and then depending on how they do with that after a few day i'd add kibble to the mix. the more experienced breeders here can probably give you better suggestions for tiny puppies though. also don't overload the pup with nutrical. it can cause her to not want to eat, or it can make her hypoglycemic by having a sugar crash after the effects wear off. |
I do have a vet appt scheduled for Monday a.m. ( I made the appt before I left to go see her, just in case). There is an emergency vet about 30 minutes from here, and I won't hesitate to hop in the car if I need to. Several of the breeder sites recommended giving 2cc's of nutrical each day in addition to their normal feedings, so I felt comfortable doing that (it was divided during the 3 hour trip home and after getting here). I was concerned about a rebound affect, which was why I was a little freaked out about her not wanting anything else. After my first post, she woke back up. I offered the wet food again without success. She did take another 10cc's of formula. How long should I let her go between offering the feedings? If she's 6 weeks as I suspect, is 4-6 hours too long? Obviously, if I see any signs of hypoglycemia, I won't wait. I've dealt with 1 pound skin babies for years. I trust my intuition and experience with them, so I don't know why this little furbutt has me so nervous. |
did you try mixing the wet food with the formula? make it nice and mushy/soupy. maybe she'll like it |
She could be 8 weeks by your description but, even if a little younger, should be eating something on her own. Her not wanting to eat may be due to the stress of a new home and everything else she's been through. Not sure of what formula you are feeding, but canned goat's milk w/ equal parts water and a little karo mixed in is preferable to commercial milk replacers. If you make a formula of this and she takes to it, you could then try putting some on her food to entice her to eat. I would feed her about every 4 hours for now. That would be playing it safe for now until you get her settled in. It also will help you to better monitor her with the frequent feedings. Also, she needs protein and since she has some teeth, try shredding a little chicken to see if she likes that. You're right in worrying about hypoglycemia and the best way to treat it is to prevent it. Best of luck with your new little one. |
Has she eliminated yet? |
She finally urinated about an hour ago, a fairly large amount for such a teeny girl. Her gums and tongue are nice and moist. No stool yet, though. |
Mix the formula with some wet food and make it really mushy. More than likely she is probably anywhere from 5 weeks to possibly 8 weeks but with only having a few teeth I would have to lean more toward the younger age. she needs to poop so you may have to use a warm wet washcloth or cotton ball and wipe it across her but with a little pressure. personally I prefer canned goats milk mixed with gerber rice cereal and a little bit of canned food. Then I start substitutting the rice cereal with ground up puppy kibble , using less milk and more kibble each week until they are eating the puppy kibble by itself without it being ground up. |
Where can I find plain canned goat milk? Do I need to go to a feed store or could I find it in a health food store? The Esbilac is a goat milk based forumula. She's drinking that well this morning. I tried to mix soak some kibble earlier, but I don't think I got it mushy enough- she sucked the formula off and spit out the kibble. I'll go get some rice cereal now. I'm going to try a different canned food to see if she will take some of that. I had been trying to give her the Blue Buffalo canned, but it does have a strong smell, so maybe it's not up to her liking. She's urinating well, but still hasn't passed any stool, so I will try the wash cloth. She's very alert and playful this morning, which makes me feel good. She woke up every 2 hours last night and would whimper a little. I ended up sleeping on the floor next to her crate with my hand in between the bars with her head laying on my fingers. |
She can be 8 weeks. Most times with smaller ones it take longer for their teeth to grown in. You should be able to find can goats milk at most gro stores or try Wal-Marts. Also you can soak the purina kibbles with water to soften it and add a small amount of the goats milk or a small amount of pedigree can puppy to it. Mash it up and offer it to her. I would leave the soft, kibbles and water with her at all times Just change out the soft with fresh 3-4 times a day. I wouldn't really would change her foods to sudden as it can cause upset tummy and she can get runny poos. Good luck with your new little one. |
You should be able to find canned goat's milk in the baking aisle of most any grocery store. It's usually next to the other canned milks. It is concentrated so needs to be diluted with equal parts water. Also, shake the can very well as the milk solids settle to the bottom. Here's a link with some info about the problems with Esbilac. LA Animal Watch: Petag's Esbilac puppy milk contains heavy metal copper |
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I would keep her on the puppy chow soaked with the goats milk and water for now, try some canned (stay with one kind) for right now. Let her get acclimated to your home first. Then slowly begin to switch her over later. I have had 8 week old tiny ones with only a few teeth or even just 2... Also with the nutrical... pea sized amount 3 times a day is usually enough.. if you give them too much of it they may refuse their food also and it can give them the rebound sugar effect also. Enjoy your new baby!! |
Thanks to everyone for your help over the weekend. I finally got Scarlett to eat well yesterday using the goats milk mix and rice cereal. Today she ate some very wet canned food. We went to the vet this morning. She thinks she's probably in the 6-7 week range, too. She still hasn't poo'd, despite using the warm wash cloth on her bottom. Her tummy is nice and soft, and she doesn't seem to be in any distress. But if she hasn't gone by this afternoon, we have to go back in. She's taking a nap now, but when she gets up I'll encourage more of the wet food. Wish us luck. |
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