Puppy Help!!

[DavidKelleyMay18]

Can you feed a 4 wk. puppy soft food, or just puppy milk? This afternoon we were told to just give the puppy milk at the pet store. So I did. A little while ago the puppy wasn't looking too well possibly dehydrated as she's not drinking much. Make me nervous, so I took out some soft food and she looks better. How often should a puppy of this age be eating and of what? Any other advice! Mother was stolen, so this is why I have her at so young.

Any help would be great! Unfortunately the vet isn't open to ask their advice!
Thanks!!

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

4 wks??? When you say "milk" you mean puppy milk, right?? I dont think they are supposed to me starting soft food that early...hummm

Are you giving the milk with a dropper or bottle so you know how much she is getting?

actually, according to this, 4 weeks is okay to start it but it sounds like it should still be getting most nutrition from formula

http://www.animalcompassionnetwork.org/orphaned-puppies-care

[DavidKelleyMay18]

I have been letting her drink out of a bowl. Maybe out of a bottle would be better. She's sleeping right now. Seems okay, but how often at 4 weeks should she be eating.

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

How Much Milk Should I Feed?

That is a very difficult question to answer because puppies arrive in so many sizes. Experienced breeders generally decide when to stop feeding based on the shape of the puppies stomach and its greediness to continue feeding rather than by giving a set amount of formula.

But I can give you some idea: When the powdered formula I suggested is mixed according to directions (one part formula powder to two parts water) ; each day the average puppy needs 25-35 milliliters of formula for every 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) of body weight. Divide this number by the number of feedings per day to obtain the amount for each feeding. During week two, give 15-20 ml for every 100 grams body weight. During weeks three and four give 20 ml for every 100 grams body weight. These amounts are always only a rough estimate. Feed the puppy until its belly is gently rounded or pear-shaped - never more. As long as it is slowly but steadily gaining weight, everything is fine.

How Often Should I Feed ?

Feed very young puppies every 2-3 hours or six to eight feeding a day. Some people get up to give their puppy a midnight feeding but this is not necessary if you have a vigorous ,healthy pup.

By the time the puppy is three weeks old, 4 feedings per day are quite sufficient. At 5 weeks of age, the puppy should be eating some solid foods. At this age feed it formula 2-3 times a day - if at all. Puppies that are hungry and need feeding will whine continuously, move their heads from side to side and suckle on each other and on objects in the nest box.

Burping The Puppy

After each feeding hold the puppy upright with its tummy against your shoulder and pat it gently until it burps - releasing trapped air. Nursing bottles that do not release enough milk lead to more air being trapped that you need to release through burping. If the puppy should bloat or become colicky add a few drops of infant anti colic medicine (simethicone, Equate Infants’ Gas Relief, WalMart Stores Inc.) to the formula. If the problem persists, take the pup to a veterinarian.

Is she peeing and pooping on her own? This website has a lot of info...Id think that if she seems dehydrated, try to give her some watered down formula in addition to what she is normally eating?

http://www.2ndchance.info/orphanpuppy.htm


but according to this site, the lil thing should still be getting milk about every "couple" hours...http://pethealthlibrary.purinacare.com/articles/dogs-articles/orphaned-puppies/

---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 PM ----------

heres a free ebook you can read on your computer, page seven has weights and amounts to give the puppy, info on dehydration and stuff starts on page 10....
http://leerburg.com/pdf/bottlefeedingpuppies.pdf

What breed is she?

[kiloyd]

You can put the puppy formula on dry puppy food to make it soft if she'll eat that. And as she grows change to water on the dry food until she can eat it dry.

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

reading more of that ebook, its excellent...read some of the letters sent in down near the end....its soo good, id say to start there rather than reading the other sites i linked

[DavidKelleyMay18]

She is peeing and pooping on her own. She pooped this morning. For a few hrs. there she hadn't peed when I tried. She's peed a few times since then. She seems to be doing a lot better now. She was playing a little while ago for a few minutes. I got nervous. Thanks so much for the info. I really think that she had gone too long without eating/drinking. My main thing now is trying to figure out if I should bottle feed her or let her drink out of the bowl. She doesn't seem to be drinking much from the bowl. That's my concern. Maybe she doesn't need to though. Also, the puppy milk in the bowl was not very liquidy it seems, but I've fixed that problem since too. The e-book made me feel so much better! She is a parmerian/chow pup. Wish I knew how to post photos here, and I'd post one.

Thanks so much Again! Words can't express!!
Kelley



Is she peeing and pooping on her own? This website has a lot of info...Id think that if she seems dehydrated, try to give her some watered down formula in addition to what she is normally eating?

http://www.2ndchance.info/orphanpuppy.htm


but according to this site, the lil thing should still be getting milk about every "couple" hours...http://pethealthlibrary.purinacare.com/articles/dogs-articles/orphaned-puppies/

---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 PM ----------

heres a free ebook you can read on your computer, page seven has weights and amounts to give the puppy, info on dehydration and stuff starts on page 10....
http://leerburg.com/pdf/bottlefeedingpuppies.pdf

What breed is she?

---------- Post added at 03:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:08 AM ----------

reading more of that ebook, its excellent...read some of the letters sent in down near the end....its soo good, id say to start there rather than reading the other sites i linked

I looked at all links that you gave. Thanks so much again for the extended help! I was so nervous and anxious about it!!

[pastelsummer]

90% should be puppy formula preferrably out of a bottle but if you dont have one or cannot get her to drink out of a bowl is fine. Thant said at four weeks you can mix a SMALL amount of wet puppy food with the milk if you need to. At that age i never could afford just straight puoppy formula and that was when i started to do the wet food at 6 weeks i would mix wet and dry food in with some formula gradually weaning out the formula and wet food. As for how much it depends on what kind of dog it is.

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

My main thing now is trying to figure out if I should bottle feed her or let her drink out of the bowl. She doesn't seem to be drinking much from the bowl. That's my concern. Maybe she doesn't need to though. Also, the puppy milk in the bowl was not very liquidy it seems, but I've fixed that problem since too. The e-book made me feel so much better! She is a parmerian/chow pup.

Can you try the bottle and see how that goes? The author of the ebook suggests a baby bottle, but I wonder if she might be too little? Worth a try...

Im relieved to hear she is doing better :)

---------- Post added at 10:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 PM ----------

Thant said at four weeks you can mix a SMALL amount of wet puppy food with the milk if you need to. At that age i never could afford just straight puppy formula

you should check out the ebook too...they have a recipe in there he says is better than the formula...probably cheaper too.

[DavidKelleyMay18]

I did take out a baby bottle instead of one at the pet store. I got desperate when I thought she wasn't doing well. She got very excited when I started to give it to her. And I did see the homemade recipe. I figured I'd use what I have first since I did already buy it. I'm sure it's cheaper to make than buy as I spent $20.00 for it. Oh and she's a parmenian/chow pup.

Thanks Again!!!

[kiloyd]

Do you mean Pomeranian? And Chow too? What a mix! :) large and small

[Johns_Gal]

The beagle pups were happy to dive, nose first, into a pie pan of high quality kibble slurry. Their mother approved. :giggle Meant less work for her.

TBH, at four weeks I wouldn't fret as long as she's eating something with gusto. If she gets uninterested, then I would worry about hypoglycemia.

Do you have other dogs? If so, I think I'd keep them far away from her until she gets her parvo shot, and then socialize the dickens out of her, epsecially with that mix.

Poor mite. Hope her mama is safe. :(

[DavidKelleyMay18]

Do you mean Pomeranian? And Chow too? What a mix! :) large and small

Yes, I mean Pomeranian/chow. I saw the father, and he wasn't too big. The mom was stolen though. Soo sad!!

Do you have other dogs?

Poor mite. Hope her mama is safe. :(

I do not have any other dogs, just a cat. She is doing soo soo much better now! It's so cute to watch her jump around. When DH gets ready for work she's playing with his shoe lace. haha~

Thanks so much!

[mamacat]

Our vet recommended using canned puppy food and kind of mashing into a slurry rather than starting with the dry food for our little guys because he was concerned about small pups choking on the dry food even softened.Even our small adult dog eats a dry food with very small pieces.Our pups are almost 5 wks old and we just started giving them the mashed wet food on a plate 2x a day - last wk it was 1x

[DavidKelleyMay18]

Our vet recommended using canned puppy food and kind of mashing into a slurry rather than starting with the dry food for our little guys because he was concerned about small pups choking on the dry food even softened.Even our small adult dog eats a dry food with very small pieces.Our pups are almost 5 wks old and we just started giving them the mashed wet food on a plate 2x a day - last wk it was 1x

I've actually been doing as you described. After I'm done with the soft puppy food I was going to start her on hard food. Should I continue on soft instead. My pup just turned 5 weeks. My pup is more active, and jumping about..so cute!!