How to feed newborn puppies without a mother

The birth of little puppies is a real miracle. The newly minted mother first of all tries to feed the babies. But not always things go smoothly. For some reason, a bitch cannot feed puppies, and then this great responsibility rests with the owner. This can happen if the dog does not have milk, if she refuses puppies or even died during childbirth. In such a regrettable situation, it is important to take courage and understand that you have newborn puppies in your arms and they cannot survive without you.

What to do with newborn puppies

First you need to prepare a warm place for them. Kids of the first days of life do not know how and do not know, their eyes and ears are closed. The only reflex for them at the moment is sucking. For puppies you need to arrange a box with warm clothes. You need to put a heating pad or a bottle of hot water in the box. Moreover, it is not necessary to cover all sides of the box with hot objects - this can lead to overheating. Imitate a mother with a heating pad and leave her on one side of the box. Do not forget to change the water as it cools.

How to feed newborn puppies

First you need to make every effort to ensure that puppies drink at least one teaspoon of mother’s milk. This will populate their sterile stomachs with beneficial bacteria, lay the foundation for future immunity. If the bitch doesn’t allow puppies to come, you can try to carefully express the colostrum manually.

As a first feeding, it would be ideal to use a special adapted mixture for newborn puppies. It can be bought at a veterinary pharmacy in the form of milk powder. The mixture is diluted according to the proportions indicated on the package.

If it is not possible to feed the dog with such a mixture, you can use the following recipe. Beat the chicken egg well with a blender and mix with one hundred grams of fresh cow's milk. Milk should be from under the cow, and not in a pack in the store. Then, two drops of vitamins A and D are added to the mixture, after which everything is thoroughly mixed. Before giving the prepared mixture to kids, it needs to be filtered through several layers of clean gauze.

If the puppies are weak, you can add a little cream, 20 ml of glucose and 3 ml of ascorbic acid to the mixture.

How to feed newborn puppies

In a modern veterinary pharmacy you can buy anything. Including special bottles for feeding newborn puppies. But if there is no pharmacy at hand, you can feed your kids with an ordinary baby bottle. It is very important to pay attention to the size of the holes in the nipple. If the hole is large, the mixture will pour out very quickly, the puppy will not have time to swallow it and may simply choke. If the hole is too small, the baby will quickly get tired and will not be able to master all the portion necessary for him. Usually newborn puppies several days old eat about 30 ml of the mixture per day.

Before feeding, you need to massage the babies' tummies with a piece of moist fleece. This is done to improve bowel motility. After all, mom always licks her puppies to start the work of their stomachs. If this is not done, babies may have problems with the stool - then constipation, then diarrhea. It is better to wipe the cables along - from the navel to the penis, and the bough around.

Large dogs can be fed with a baby bottle, but if the breed is small, it is better to use a pipette or syringe. A piece of thin tube is put on the syringe so that the puppy can swallow the droplets of the mixture entering his mouth.

A little puppy usually repels everything that is brought to its muzzle. So that he does not push the bottle, you need to drop a couple of drops of the mixture on his tongue. He will understand that this is food and stop stopping the bottle or dropper. If this does not happen, it is best to swaddle the baby's front legs.

In what position to feed puppies

A puppy is a child to watch out for. If you give him a mixture in the wrong position, he may choke or choke. Best of all, put the puppy on your lap belly down, and slightly raise its head. Give him food in this position, because in a natural way he eats that way. Thus, you reduce the risk of the mixture getting into the respiratory organs.

If suddenly a mixture of bubbles went from the nose of the puppy, then the nipple opening was too large. In this case, you need to raise the puppy upside down, let it catch its breath, change the pacifier to another (with a smaller hole) and continue feeding.

Sometimes a puppy starts sucking greedily and quickly to satisfy his hunger as soon as possible. In this case, you need to take small breaks so that the baby has time to catch his breath. A well-fed puppy usually turns his back on the nipple.

After eating, hold the puppy upright for some time so that all the air from the stomach comes out with a burp. Otherwise, the dog may begin to spit up what was eaten. After eating, repeat the massage of the abdomen, perhaps the dog will empty. Lubricate the dog’s anus and stomach with oil.

How often to feed puppies

First, puppies are fed every 2-3 hours. If the kids are healthy and strong - the interval is 3 hours, if weakened and painful - 2 hours. Over time, the number of feeds per day decreases and already a month-old puppy needs to be fed only 5-6 times a day.

Two weeks later, when the eyes of the kids begin to open, they can begin to accustom to lacquering from a saucer. First, give the puppies cottage cheese. It is not recommended to completely remove the mixture, it still remains the main source of nutrition. Over time, food is completely replaced from liquid to solid.

Feeding newborn puppies is not an easy task. But if you discard all things, give the kids all their time, give care and become literally mom - everything is quite real. Be attentive and merciful to newborn puppies in order to give them a second life!

Video: how to feed a newborn puppy