Feeding orphaned puppies

 

Having puppies can be a wonderful, exhilarating experience, but would you know what to do if mum is unable to look after her young, and you are left feeding orphaned puppies?

This happened recently and the call went out to find people willing to bottle feed 10 pups every 2/3 hours. I fostered four overnight from Pat’s Rescue Retreat, until two went to their new foster mum the following day.

Surprisingly, and although a bit daunting, being responsible for these small critters no bigger than my hand, all went well.

They are one of the larger breeds, Mastive and were only 3 days old. Three boys and one girl, with the girl and one of the boys being considerably smaller than the others.

They were dehydrated the evening they were picked up. Pat already had them back to good condition by the next morning when I met them. You can test for dehydration the same as you do for humans. Lift some skin and it should bounce straight back. If it stays raised, the puppy is dehydrated. Regular milk will remedy the condition.

I did a trial run of my first feed with Pat’s expertise to guide the way. Trying to get the teats into their mouths was harder than I’d expected. Once their little mouths were clamped, they were so strong, and it took a lot of determination on my part before finally managing to feed. Even when the teat was in their little heads move around and it’s a challenge holding the teat in place.

It’s a good idea to hold the bottle in such a way that the puppy can press its paws into your hand. This is what they would be doing with their mother to stimulate the milk flow. Puppies should always be fed on their tummies, never upright or on their backs as for human babies.

Another little trick I was shown, to keep things as natural as possible for the puppies, was getting the urine and stools moving. Dog mums lick and massage their pups just below the tail to promote activity. I just used my finger and a little water to massage gently. It works a treat and saves at least some of the mess going in their bed.

Armed with 4 puppies, Royal Canin babydog milk four bottles, various sized teats, blankets and towels, I set off for the challenge. If you find yourself in the situation of not being able to get commercially made puppy milk, this recipe will tide you over for a few days, but is no long term substitute for the correct formula,

• 1 cup whole milk (cow or goat)
• 1 pinch table salt
• 3 egg yolks – no whites
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid vitamins
• Only make enough for one day

Don’t substitute cow or goat’s milk for a puppy milk replacer; they are not the same. Do not feed any egg white due to the enzymes that might be present.  Read more here

They yelled all the way home and I wondered if my offer to help had been hasty as I envisaged my life for the next few weeks. For little ones they certainly make a noise.

With 6 large dogs at home with inquisitive noses and paws, I decided to make the shower room home for the foreseeable future.

Until the pups have had their inoculations they shouldn’t be around other dogs for fear of disease contamination.

They had no intention of settling down, so against my better judgement I decided to feed again. By this time it had been about an hour and a half since the last feed.

I picked up the first one and the decibels of the others hit an all-time high. I soon learned that the larger pups took the bottles quickest and therefore it was preferable to the ear drums to feed them first and at least lessen the yells.

15 ml each for the larger two and 10 ml for the smallest and peace at last. I fed every 3 hours day and night, setting the alarm so they didn’t go over feed time. They never woke and called for food so it was up to me to keep the regime going to keep them as well as I could.

The box needed changing twice a day at least so there was lots of clean, dry bedding needed.

Pat had told me of a couple of signs things were not good. The first being if the puppies stopped feeding and started being lethargic. This could be attributed to Fading Syndrome (read more here). Puppies who seem lethargic or off their food should be seen by a vet immediately.

Puppies are not born with an immune system and have to get their immunities in the first 12 – 18 hours of birth from the mother’s own immunities.

The second thing to watch for is blood in the faeces and sickness. These could be the first signs of Parvo (read more here). Puppies with blood in their stools or vomiting should be taken to a vet immediately.

When taking the two puppies who were going to a new foster home to Pat, she was amazed at how healthy they looked in just one day.

Looking after these little lovelies isn’t difficult. I do have to be organised and have bottles ready to go on time. The Royal Canine dog milk is easy to make up. 1 scoop to 20 ml of warm, previously boiled water into clean bottles. They give a feeding table of what puppies should be doing and I found this guide really helpful to alleviate the worry of how much the puppies should be taking.

 

It’s one week to the day the pups were born. The feeds should go down to 5 times a day and increase to 30-70 ml. A bit more continuous sleep tonight will be welcome.

This has been one of the wonderful firsts in my life. These little ones are so cuddly and I find myself chatting away as I feed them. I even sang ‘I’m forever blowing bubbles’ to the girl one day when she refused the bottle. It worked a treat. She relaxed, and the milk flowed down. I’ve since discovered that newborn puppies are deaf, so it must have been the soothing cuddle that did the trick.

Will keep you posted on how things go with the extended family.

This post is an overview of what I did when I ended up feeding orphaned puppies. I am not a vet, nor am I qualified to take the place of veterinary advice.

Happy days,

Pippa Pennington

Just heard that one of the other pups has blood in her stools. Fingers crossed for that baby and that the rest don’t encounter problems.