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09-16-2013, 09:23 AM | #1 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Texas
Posts: 228
| Feeding question for 4 week old I've posted a couple times before about Cherry-see my previous posts if you have questions as to why I have such a young pup. I want to make sure she's eating and drinking enough. She's 1 pound, 10 ounces. She's eating 1/4 can of royal canin baby mousse and two tablespoons prepared goats milk (I mash it all together and feed her with a syringe- goats milk is 1 tbsp powder and 2 tbsp water) through the day and night. She's been eating almost all of this mix throughout the day. I've also been supplementing with nutrical. Per a recommendation, I'm stopping the pedigree (it's what she was on when I got her). She's not drinking much, though. But she's peeing 6-8 times a day and 2-3 times a night. Pooping twice a day and 1-2 times at night. Is that ok? Like I said in my previous post, she seems to be gaining energy and becoming more playful. I've never had such a young pup (or such a tiny one) so I just want to make sure she's eating and drinking enough. Excuse any typos. I'm typing on my phone. TIA!! Last edited by cherry14; 09-16-2013 at 09:26 AM. |
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09-17-2013, 02:40 AM | #2 |
Rosehill Yorkies Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 9,462
| I would add some goats milk, say 1/4 cup, on and off during the day...warm it up and offer it between meals....she would still be nursing if she was with her momma, so I like to teach mine to lap up warm formula (I use a formula until my babies are 8 weeks old, rather than goats milk.....I use goats milk after 8 weeks of age)from a shallow saucer. Watch her urine....if it is light colored, she is getting enough fluid.....if it becomes darker, she needs more fluids. |
09-17-2013, 04:00 AM | #3 |
BANNED! Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Spain
Posts: 147
| I have had many dogs over the years, and 3 come to mind. I fostered one at birth (she was found in the rubbish) and I bottle fed her from the start and had her right up until she was old enough to go to her forever home at 12 weeks, and I have actually had two of my previous dogs given to me at the age of exactly one month old too - one was a yorkie and the other was a rater (also a small breed), both were males (long story, different subjects, I will not take over your post with this). But, with this, I just wanted to say that looking after such a tiny/young puppy is in no way or form ideal, and it shouldent be something an owner has to worry about, but it´s also not rocket science and it´s doable You need lots of patience, lots of dedication and common sense (it´s alot like looking after a baby - I know this, I have 3 kids lol).As I said, it´s not ideal, but it doesnt always mean that something will go awfully wrong either. This is how I cared for my very young pups: I used to keep honey (in your case Nutrical) on hand and twice a day, I´d put a little dab on my finger and just wipe it on the roof of their mouth to stop their sugar levels from plummetting.I´d do this every morning and then again right before bedtime. I´d soak their kibble in chicken broth (about half an hour before feeding) and made sure it was "fluffy", then I found that hand feeding was the best way to go.I´d sit them on my lap with a small amount of kibble, and then hand them a few peices at a time until I felt that they´d eaten a good amount of food (a tablespoon full of kibble every 2 hours during the day is more than enough for a toy breed at that age).You can also mix the soft kibble with a small amount of canned food (half a teaspoon full) and that will also make it alot more appealing. The reason I don´t like canned food on it´s own, it because it makes their stools very soft and extremely smelly, and they get used to it to the point where they end up being picky eaters.I always prefer soaked kibble for this reason and just a tad of canned food just to enhance the smell During the day, just make sure she eats every couple of hours (this is why I liked hand feeding) and if you see that she hasnt drank anything in a few hours, take a small seringe and just squirt a small amount in her mouth to keep her hidrated. At night, a hot water bottle is a god send I also had a big fluffy teddybear that I used so that my boy could snuggle up to something (remember, she would still be doing that every night at that age). At 4 weeks old, don´t even atempt potty/crate training or hoping she´ll sleep all night, because a pup that age should still be nursing from her mother every once in a while at that time and she´d still be sleeping in a big comfy pile with her littermates too (sad when you think about it), so she´ll pee and poop an awful lot at that age now that she´s completely on solid food.I remember thinking "wow, this dog pees like every 10 minutes", and it was normal Once she´s about 8 weeks old, you can lower your guard a little, but right now, she shouldent be left alone for more than an hour at a time just so you can keep an eye on her behaviour at all times I hope all goes well for you, I´m sure you´ll do a great job |
09-17-2013, 05:57 AM | #4 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Texas
Posts: 228
| Thanks so much!! Is this the right starter kibble? Royal Canin MINI Starter Mother & Babydog Dry Dog Food at PETCO I also have Orijen puppy kibble, but I was told it's too rich for her right now, and to wait until she's older for that one. Oh, and her urine is a regular pale yellow. It's not super light/clear, but it's definitely not dark at all. |
09-17-2013, 07:04 AM | #5 | |
Rosehill Yorkies Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 9,462
| Quote:
I feed RC and have great results with it....I think you are doing great! The puppy starter mousse is scientifically designed to provide all the nutrition a weaning baby needs during the transition and I think you adding the goats milk to add liquid intake, is even more is helpful getting enough milk into this baby....this is still a baby and babies IDEALLY need milk....if this baby will suck from a pet nurser bottle, THAT provides the sucking requirement that is required psychologically, with the absence of momma to continue to provide the suckling drive......this is how I wean all my babies, with the exception that I use that formula that I use for tube feeding any babies that need it, rather than goats milk....but the goats milk will work fine. I do add the additional formula during the day, between meals, for the calories and added nutrition the growing baby's tissues/muscle/nerve fibers require, which is why I also use the formula (Just Born Puppy formula + distilled water + egg yolks + Karo syrup + infant vitamins.....this formula delivers the calories per cc per ounce of new born that the new born requires to survive......your baby is at an age where it would be starting to wean from momma, so the RC Starter mousse is a perfect transitioning food. Adding the goats milk for liquid intake will work fine. At 7=8 weeks, you can add in the RC Starter kibble, softened with the warm goats milk and a little of the mousse....baby knows the taste of the mousse and the majority of babies love the taste of RC starter kibble.....serve this from a shallow saucer that baby can pick it up/lap it up from. You will do fine! Her urine color sounds good....pale yellow is great! Last edited by Yorkiemom1; 09-17-2013 at 07:05 AM. | |
09-17-2013, 03:46 PM | #6 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Texas
Posts: 228
| Yay!!! She ate the RC starter kibble!! She only had a few bites since she's eaten really well already today, but she ate it herself without me feeding it to her! I'm so happy. I was worried she was going to have eating issues because she only ate really well when she was hand fed or with a syringe! So my plan now is to continue with the mousse (1/4-1/8 can) mixed with kibble (1/8-1/4) increasing the amount of kibble and decreasing the amount of baby mousse until she's eating just hard kibble. Also, I'll be giving her the goat's milk (2 prepared tablespoons per day) and a pea sized dose of nutri cal twice a day (morning and night) That sound good? |
09-17-2013, 03:47 PM | #7 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Texas
Posts: 228
| Oh and I tried to give her a bottle today and that didn't work at all! |
09-18-2013, 01:18 AM | #8 | |
No Longer a Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Maine
Posts: 1,077
| Quote:
you are a great mommy.. | |
09-20-2013, 05:52 PM | #9 | |
Rosehill Yorkies Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 9,462
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