Help! 4 week old puppy…

[iluvmali]

We've got a 4 week old lab mix puppy from a litter of 9 who were abandoned by their mother. Our friends have the other 8 and we are all working together to keep them fed.

We've talked to our vet and are giving the 8 and Dakota (our puppy we're taking care of) softened puppy chow but I'm afraid they're not getting all the nutrients they need. Can you suggest anything?

Thanks a million guys! Let's give these guys a fighting chance.

=Hannah

(Mali's mommy and Dakota's aunt)

[JazzysMom]

Looks more like a rottie mix to me. Adorable, whatever they are. Best of luck to you!

Don't they make puppy formulas that can be bottle fed to them? And special infant puppy canned foods? I'm sure I saw those somewhere.

I did find this recipe for formula online at the following site. I can't vouch for it, however. http://www.whelphelp.com/Recipes.html

Milk Formula

10 oz. evaporated milk (whole fat or part skim – do not use all skim) or goat's milk
3 oz. sterilized water (baby water or boiled water) -- delete if using goat's milk
1 egg yolk (raw)
2T regular mayonnaise (optional)
1 cup whole fat yogurt (whole fat or part skim -- avoid all skim)
Place all ingredients in a blender and mix (or use a wire whisk) till well blended. Use all formula within 7 days.
Warm the formula to puppy body temperature before feeding. Always discard formula leftover at a feeding. This formula is thick and so is best administered by stomach tube. If using a bottle, enlarge the hole slightly. It provides 11 calories per cc.

Weak Puppy Booster
This formula is meant to be used on newborns that are chilled, weak or otherwise compromised. This formula should be administered every 1-2 hours, (or more often), by stomach tube and the puppy should be warmed slowly. Once the puppy begins to maintain a normal body temperature, regular feeding can resume. NEVER FEED A CHILLED PUPPY MILK REPLACER.
8oz. lactated ringers solution or sterilized water
1 tablespoon white Karol syrup or white sugar (do not use honey) OR Substitute plain, unflavored Pedialyte.
Mix ingredients and warm to body temperature. Preferred administration is stomach tube (to ensure correct dosage). Feed 1/2 cc per 2 oz. of body weight once per hour. If puppy is very weak, you may half the dosage and feed twice as often. This formula should be followed up with milk replacer as soon as the puppy is maintaining normal body temperature. This formula should not be fed exclusively for more than 8 hours.

We did not make these recipes, please use them at your own will. Please contact your veterinarian if you have any questions.

[Quercus]

I think they may be okay with the puppy food…but hopefully someone with more baby puppy experience will chime in. I know a lot of people use goat milk as a supplement for baby puppies. At four weeks, I doubt then need a forumla replacer...but goat milk might be perfect to boost nutrients/calories.

[Quercus]

Very cute puppy by the way!

[lvoss]

When I am first weaning my pups I take the puppy food and grind it up then mix it with warm water and the powdered milk replacer. As they get older I cut back on the milk replacer and grind the food less and less.

[tanza]

@lvoss:

When I am first weaning my pups I take the puppy food and grind it up then mix it with warm water and the powdered milk replacer. As they get older I cut back on the milk replacer and grind the food less and less.

I agree.. that is what I do, grind the puppy food in a blender to a powder and mix with milk replacer… make it so they just need to "lap" the food...

[YodelDogs]

@iluvmali:

We've got a 4 week old lab mix puppy from a litter of 9 who were abandoned by their mother. Our friends have the other 8 and we are all working together to keep them fed.

What was the story? I'm curious.

The pups are old enough to skip formulas and go straight to ground, soaked puppy food. They will need to be fed about 6-8 times a day at that age with no nursing. And stock up on cleaning supplies for they will all poop after every meal and then some. (8 feedings/day x 9 pups = minimum 72 poops to clean up per day.) Everyone repeat after me, "raising puppies is fun!!!!!"

[iluvmali]

@YodelDogs:

What was the story? I'm curious.

"raising puppies is fun!!!!!"

Lol… as fun as waking up at ungodly hours of the morning can be! But no, seriously, we don't mind.

The story behind the pups is: We're part of a home school group in central florida and through the "loop" e-mail we get every week we saw a family we knew had just had a litter of puppies. There was a problem, however, because the momma had 9 pups and wasn't producing milk properly. The family has 5 children and was having a hard enough time taking care of the momma let alone 9 pups. So in swoop the college kids... (because I mean, what college kid doesn't already stay up until 3am in the morning). A few veteran 4H'ers, a computer geek, and my sister and me.

All and all the puppies are responding great! thanks to your help and the help of our vet they're eating great on their new puppy food, and with vitamins they've found a new energy they didn't have before.

vet said they'll probably have a weak immune system for a while, at least until they're 8 weeks they shouldn't be around new people or new dogs.

So we're having fun! Mali, our 1 1/2 year old 'senji just loves all this activity...
she's like

"I wanna hold the baby, touch the baby, love the baby..."

lol, anyway. thanks guys for your help!

-Han
(Mali's mommy)

[nomrbddgs]

Very Cute puppy-looks like a rott mix to me too.