Nutri-Cal tips?
 

I just started giving Milli Nutri-Cal puppy to supplement her food. (I'm a little worried as she is 19 weeks old, and hasn't gained ANY weight since we brought her home at 12 weeks-in fact, she's lost a few ounces.)

I've never used it before, does anyone have any tips on how to give it to her?

Also, I just held her in my lap, and she burped the MOST DISGUSTING SMELLING burp I've ever smelled. I also noticed she was a little "gassy" earlier :eek: :eek: :eek: Does anyone know if Nutri-Cal makes our little angels into stink-pots?

Thanks!

Most dogs will just lap it right off your finger. As for the bad smells, it could be the type of dog food you give her. I don't think it's the Nutri-Cal.

has she been having any hypoglycemic episodes?

in her case since she's underweight then i think giving her the nutrical a couple times a day won't hurt her. The nutrical is more like a sugary treat then the 'vitamin supplement' it says it is. So once she's a little older and putting on weight i would only give it once a day if you think she needs it to prevent hypoglycemia.

If you are wanting to give her a supplement try Rebound liquid diet supplement. It is available at your vet's office. 1 - 2 oz a day will give her all the vitamins and nutrients that she needs and the little ones absolutely love it. If she is losing weight, I would recommend getting her to the vet immediately. She may have a serious medical problem.

Totally agree there is also Dyne which is a weight gain supplement. Nutri Cal is for energy.

How often do you feed your puppy? We fed our little girl every four hours and now that she's 7 months every six hours. We give her soft food at those time and we keep crunchies (Solid Gold Wee Bits) out for her at all times. We don't rely on crunchies alone because she only picks up a couple at a time and that's it for hours. Not enough for a growing pup.

If your puppy isn't eating a solid meal every four hours, then you might try feeding her by syringe with a mush recipe someone posted on here that their breeder gave them:

1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup instant baby cereal (usually rice, but oatmeal works too)
1 whole jar Gerber's strained baby meat (anything but turkey)
1 tsp. Karo syrup (or maple syrup if no Karo is available)

Warm the half-and-half and stir in cereal. Add jar of meat and karo syrup. Cool to lukewarm to feed to your puppy. Insert syringe (we use a baby medicine syringe that you give a baby meds in which is available at the drug store) by inserting the syringe into the corner of the puppy's mouth and gradually squeezing the mush out. Our dog likes it now and voluntarily licks it from the syringe.

Nutrical isn't really a meal replacement. It's just an emergency measure to give your pup if it hasn't eaten in more than 8 hours and is going into a hypoglycemic episode.

This is a great recipe:thumbup: We used it for my little Lily who was underweight at only 0.8lbs when I got her and would not eat. I honestly think this saved her life. I would recommend replacing the half and half with goat's milk as many yorkies have trouble digesting the half and half. (I learned this the hard way)

She now eats Chicken Soup for the Puppy lover's soul wet mixed with Rebound in the morning and at night and the dry whenever she wants it. This keeps a nice round belly on her:)

Good luck with Milli. Please keep us updated on her.

I have used and like both of these. One frugal tip. Nutri Cal and Nutri Stat are made by the same company. I emailed and asked them the difference, since the labels read the same ingredients. They wrote back and said they are the same product, just labeled differently for marketing reasons. Nutri Stat is usually a dollar less a tube. If I have one I am trying to put weight on I usually give them both. The Dyne on food or in the water one or twice a day and the Nutri Stat as a treat 2-3 times a day. When you get just about where you want to be weight wise cut back to once a day for each. If the dog is a hard keeper, you may always have to give Dyne or Nutri Stat everyday. My dogs love the Nutri Stat so much that when I am giving it to one dog, they all want some. Of course I let them each have a taste!

Thanks for the tips everyone!

To answer a couple of the posts, she eats her meals just fine, and eats a good quality food (Blue Buffalo Puppy-Chicken and Rice). She gets fed twice daily, and gets a kong during the day that has treats/kong paste in it, so I know that she eats that during the day while we're gone. I haven't noticed that she was stinky until I started giving the nutri-cal...maybe it was just an "off day" yesterday.

I haven't seen any signs of hypoglycemic episodes at all, but I thought that since Nutri-Cal is high in calories, that it would help her gain a little weight. Is that not true?

She has been checked by the vet, and the vet says she looks healthy and is just probably going to be small. I was just a little concerned since she looks and feels SO skinny-I thought a little supplemental Nutri-Cal might help, and it certainly made me feel better!