HAND REARING PUPPIES

[colette tuite]

My question is not just directed at Orphan puppies but more when there is a big litter and supplementary feeding is required or when a puppy seems to be dehydrated and is not suckling.

 

How do people deal with these issues?

 

What milk do you give?

 

What sized bottle/syringe/teaspoon do you use.

 

If using a bottle ,is it a baby bottle or pet bottle?

 

Do you add extra holes in the teats of bottles.I have found that there seems to be a problem with milk flow.

 

In puppies under 1 week if they dont appear able to suckle from the Mother do you squirt milk from the bottle or wait for them to suck.?

 

I worry that if they get dependant on milk just coming into their mouths that when put back on the mother they might expect the same reaction from the Mothers teats and fail to suckle.The obvious priority is to improve hydration.

 

What quantity do you feed at a time and how frequently do you feed?

 

Do you add glucose? If so is that to the milk or do you make a glucose and water solution?

 

Dont feel that you have to answer all the questions but I would be grateful to know WHAT WORKED FOR YOU!

[Trudy Walsh]

Hi Collette,
I hand reared a litter of fifteen in 2008.
Royal Canin was a life saver, literally!
They have a tin which contains milk replacer & bottles. There are three holes in the teat. Different sizes for the age of the puppy. My puppies thrived, although the whole thing nearly killed me! I had to start by tube feeding and then graduated to bottle feeds. All fifteen survived and were very good weights throughout.
If your bitch has milk, (mine did not), just rotate the puppies, so that they all get some of mum's milk and some Royal Canin.
It is only supplied by Vets. Good luck!

[Teresa]

Hi Collette,
I used Royal Canin as well, and it worked very well! My bitch did have some milk, so i did what Trudy said and rotated the puppies. Concerning the teat, my pups only drunk well from the bigger teat. At some point they were destroied and I used baby teats, and to those i enlarged the hole. I also had a pup that did not know how to suckle, so I had to use a seringe to feed that puppie, wich worked very well, but it is a lot of hard work. As for the amount, I pretty much gave them all they wanted, at first every two hours, then every three hours, then four hours and then they were finally able to eat on their own.
At some point my Vet run out of Royal Canin milk and I had to use another brand, and that was a complete disaster, so whatever milk you decide to use make sure you will not run out of that particular brand! It's hard work, but in the end you'll find it worth it!

[danielle rowles]

I've had two big litters that I have helped mum with, and as with Trudy it nearly killed me!!
My girl had milk, but as they were such big litters I decided to help out with feeding, by splitting them into 2 groups, for the first litter I had I used Lactol and is made in a similar way to baby milk, but this is quite expensive given the amount you end up using. The 2nd litter I brought Judges Choice as this had been reccommended. I have seen the Royal Canine milk, I think its call Babydog and I think it will be what I used next time if needed. It can be brought online, http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/royal_canin_size/sp...
Again, as Trudy said, rotate the puppies with mum and bottle. I fed one group, and then 2 hours later mum would feed that group and I would feed the other group and so on, eventually it gets eaiser as 2 hourly becomes 3 hourly, the 4 etc so you can end up getting some sleep, dont think I slept for 2 weeks with the first litter!!
As for bottles, I used Avent bottles and teats, to start with use the slowest flow one as this encourages them to suckle.
All my pups grew nice and big and all very healthy, I do weigh them everyday for the first couple of weeks to make sure they are all gaining weight at a healthy pace.
Good Luck

[Sue and Cash]

I can vouch for the puppies turning out plump and fine. My puppy was from a litter of 13 and I found out the day I picked him up that his mother had died when the pups were 10 days old. They were hand fed from that point on. From what the breeder told me, it was a long few weeks with three adults taking care of it all round the clock. I know Cash seems non the worse for it and actually is the least nippy pup i have ever had and was very comfortable with humans and I thought perhaps it was from this extra attention the puppies had. In case anyone wonders, they said she had a uterian infection that was missed by the vets and went into shock and died on them after the vet saw her the day before because she had vomitted some blood. The vet said he thought it might be an ulcer from the stress of the birth etc. As it wound up he was wrong, they autopsied her for the puppies safety and it was her uterus. Very sad story.

[colette tuite]

Thanks Trudy,Teresa,Danielle and Susan.I hav'nt got to do it at the moment it was advice for the future in case it was needed.I had,nt heard of the Royal Canine milk but it and the pack sound good.I have heard and used Welpi (only got at the Vets) and found it to be better than Lactol which i found still remained in granular form after mixing with water at least that is how i have seen it in the puppies mouths after feeding. Welpi did seem to give good instructions about the amount for each puppy, each meal, from day old upwards but then again i would'nt know! but at least it was a guide line.

I have not been successful in hand rearing pups.!

Hopefully i wont have to do it for some time but would need to be prepared and have the replacement milk in stock in case!

[danielle rowles]

You might also find this useful, I know I did!!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DEFINITIVE-Whelping-Kit-dog-welping-box-puppy...
Also here is a link for the judges choice milk, its called Litterlac http://www.judgeschoice.com/proddetail.php?prod=2DLLpack
For me I found welpi confussing!! But with litterlac, lactol and welpi, I found as long as you mixed them well with warm water (cooled boiled) they were fine, I used a non electric hand mixer.

[colette tuite]

Thanks Danielle that is a very useful web site and the complete puppy kit looks very good as also do the thermal pads!