Hand feeding pup

Eemia

We have 6 GSD pups and the mother is starting to reject one, shes loosing weight and yday we bought bottle etc but i'd imagine the nipple thingy is WAY too small more meant for yorkies or something, so shes not that interested. Lapped away at a few mils last night but not so bothered now. Can bigger ones be gotten or any other way to get the milk into this little girl?

Eemia

Pup just drank 10ml there just and i after saying she won't :rolleyes:

How much should she be getting apprx and how often? Sometimes she feeds off mam so don't want her to burst.

Also would rotating 3 and 3 help or hinder the siutation?

morganafay

Hi, what age are the puppies? If she is over three weeks then she can probably drink and eat herself with some persuasion.

Why does it seem like she is rejecting her. It is possible that she is the runt of the litter and the mother can sense that she won't survive. Hopefully she does though.

Are you using puppy milk replacer, or just normal milk? Just in case, you shouldn't use cow's milk.

If you can then I would try to hold her up to her mom's nipples and see if she will let her suckle for a while, and do this a few times during the day if you can.

teacherspet

Good advice from Morgan. Use a small babies bottle if required. You can get replacement milk at the vets. Newborns need to be fed every 2 hours. If 3 weeks or over you can start to feed them on a little bit of baby rice with replacement milk or porridge etc. At 4 and 5 weeks introduce meat meals . One milk feed then one meat feed. Feed about 5 or 6 times a day. Let us know what age they are.
The mother may be rejecting the pup because it's under weight. The mother will not waste her time on a pup she thinks won't make it. So if you feed the pup up, she will accept it again.

Eemia

morganafay wrote: »

Hi, what age are the puppies? If she is over three weeks then she can probably drink and eat herself with some persuasion.

Why does it seem like she is rejecting her. It is possible that she is the runt of the litter and the mother can sense that she won't survive. Hopefully she does though.

Are you using puppy milk replacer, or just normal milk? Just in case, you shouldn't use cow's milk.

If you can then I would try to hold her up to her mom's nipples and see if she will let her suckle for a while, and do this a few times during the day if you can.

Pup is one week 3 days right now so not ready for lapping.

Pup is always away from mother and not putting on weight really. In two days there is nearly 200g's in a difference from biggest to this one, biggest gaining 170g and she loosing 25g She was second smallest born so i guess she wasn't the runt but is now.

We have been using lactol puppy replacer milk and she really does not like the taste lol :rolleyes:

teacherspet wrote: »

Good advice from Morgan. Use a small babies bottle if required. You can get replacement milk at the vets. Newborns need to be fed every 2 hours. If 3 weeks or over you can start to feed them on a little bit of baby rice with replacement milk or porridge etc. At 4 and 5 weeks introduce meat meals . One milk feed then one meat feed. Feed about 5 or 6 times a day. Let us know what age they are.
The mother may be rejecting the pup because it's under weight. The mother will not waste her time on a pup she thinks won't make it. So if you feed the pup up, she will accept it again.

Thanks i tried the baby bottle and the teat is more mammy nipple size and she has drank better from it but not enough i'd imagine. Will keep trying sure its all we can do now really, shes hanging in there.

She can cry and cry and cry and mammy will not try coax her over. We have taken 3 and left 3 with her and latching on this pup and she will suckle away, i think she's too weak now to battle the other 5 for a nipple



Say a prayer she survives poor pet

morganafay

Poor pup, I hope she'll make it.

I would keep trying to get her to suckle from the mam a few times a day, if you can. It'd be good for her. And just keep trying to feed her from the bottle as often as you can, every 2 hours if you are able to. And then keep her warm. That's really all you can do. I hope she'll be ok.

ISDW

I found the Royal Canin puppy milk the best, you can get it from your vet, and it comes with a bottle with different size nipples.

Best of luck with it, incredibly hard thing to do, especially those feeds in the middle of the night, but if hand rearing, you do have to feed EVERY 2 hours around the clock. Don't forget after feeding to massage the bum and tummy, the pup has to go to the toilet after feeding, use damp cotton wool or kitchen towel. Usually the mother would lick the dogs afterwards, making them go to the toilet, and then clean it up. It is vital that the pup goes to the toilet regularly, and is too young to go itself, which is why you have to make it go.

Eemia

ISDW wrote: »

I found the Royal Canin puppy milk the best, you can get it from your vet, and it comes with a bottle with different size nipples.

Best of luck with it, incredibly hard thing to do, especially those feeds in the middle of the night, but if hand rearing, you do have to feed EVERY 2 hours around the clock. Don't forget after feeding to massage the bum and tummy, the pup has to go to the toilet after feeding, use damp cotton wool or kitchen towel. Usually the mother would lick the dogs afterwards, making them go to the toilet, and then clean it up. It is vital that the pup goes to the toilet regularly, and is too young to go itself, which is why you have to make it go.

Thanks for that, we found using a dropper thing is working atm also she is getting alone time with mom. Shes cleaning pup etc and pup is going toilet so no fear there. We're just helping it along i guess. She has put on some weight but not near as much as others i guess its a step in the right direction and she is deffo getting stronger. I know all about night feeds etc with a toddler been there done that

morganafay

It sounds like you're doing a really good job and she's hanging in there. Getting some time with her mam is great, and with the extra feeding too hopefully she'll get stronger

Eemia

morganafay wrote: »

It sounds like you're doing a really good job and she's hanging in there. Getting some time with her mam is great, and with the extra feeding too hopefully she'll get stronger

Thanks! Keep yar fingers and toes crossed for this little one.

Will keep this updated let ye know what happens Will throw up a pic or two aswell tomorrow..

foodaholic

fingers crossed for u

TechnoPool

Fingers crossed for ya, lookin forward to pics of the mammy and her babies

Eemia

Just want to say thanks to everyone that replied to this thread.

Sadly the poor girl passed away yday morning in my mams arms. Its upsetting but at same time there was obviously something wrong with the poor mite.

Which leads me to wonder... she was a white GSD, is this normal?(I don't mean are white GSDs normal but the situation) Considering the rest are black, black and tan and grey, did mammy dislike her?!

morganafay

I'm so sorry the puppy died


I don't know if it's anything to do with being a white GSD, but there was probably something wrong with her when she was born. It's really sad, but it often happens with baby animals, and the mothers can tell and have to stop looking after them so the other babies have a better chance. You tried your best to save her anyway

ISDW

That is really sad, but nature is an amazing thing. I think the mother obviously knew there was something wrong with her and stopped feeding her, as morganafay says, to look after the pups that could survive. A friend of mine had a cat that had kittens, one of them she abandoned on the stairs, didn't want to know it. My friend hand reared it and it survived, but had liver and kidney problems throughout its life. My friend realised that the mother had abandoned it because she knew it was ill, she wishes now that she had let it go as a kitten.

So while obviously you are feeling sad, the pup would probably have had health issues throughout its life, so its better for it to have known a few days of love, than a lifetime of pain.

Eemia

Thanks for the kind words morganafay and ISDW. We always thought that anyways and even said between ourselves maybe if she did survive she might be sick but at same time couldn't leave her for dead neither! We still have 5 healthy pups and 3 are over the 1kg already and they are due to be weighed again this morning so i'd say there is deffo one more over the 1kg!

The same day the other pup died some opened their eyes! Out of 10eyes yday evening there were 5 open so again i'd imagine on weigh in when i get a good look i'd say they are all open. Bitter sweet moment..