Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

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oliveview01
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Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:49 pm

Puppy has pneumonia, she is now living in our bathroom instead of at the refuge. Both her brother and sister died (sister yesterday) Puppy is on antibiotics. The vet said to mix puppy meal with water, I have tried that, even grinding down the biscuit but pup still will not eat. She is not lapping at all.
I am trying to syringe water into her every 30 min or so, she is not happy with me doing that, she fights me.... but at least she is not just laying back and not caring.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. She has a hot water bottle under the towels to give her some warmth. She did not have a temperature (she did not appreciate the thermometer being put up he behind either) She is peeing and has done 1 poo, which was very watery. Would some scrambled egg be a bad thing to give her? I just want to get her to eat.

I look forward to your suggestions/help

ValL
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby ValL » Mon Dec 24, 2012 9:44 pm

Hi have you tried boiled chicken, no skin add plain cooked rice or scrambled egg and rice.

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Mon Dec 24, 2012 10:04 pm

I did wonder about scrambled egg, I will try that. :thumbup:

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Donz.
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby Donz. » Tue Dec 25, 2012 10:41 am

Don't feed her - get her properly warm first! :thumbup:

if she has pneumonia feeding her will likely make her worse or fatal, you never feed a cold puppy :thumbdown:

Feed her only when you've got her warm, at a constant temperature. Have you tested her skin , the pinch test to see if it bounces back ?
You can better hydrate her through her bottom

At 5 wks I would give her minced beef - better for their tums than mushed kibble

Well done for trying, I have to say the odds are she has got a small chance but it IS a chance :clap:

Once she gets thoroughly warm she will start to feel better and will ask for food, & when she is warm and hungry also add glucose if possible to the water

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rafiki
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby rafiki » Tue Dec 25, 2012 1:03 pm

Fingers crossed for her. Good luck.
Brian.

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Tue Dec 25, 2012 4:27 pm

Pup is still with us, she is on a hot water bottle, renewed every hour or so. I have some special feed, I have made it up like water, and got her to take about 2 tsp- by pouring tiny bits into her mouth. She is no better, but no worse. I would put her chances at 40-60 not in her favour. Back to the vet tomorrow, is she is still with us,fingers crossed.

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Tue Dec 25, 2012 6:57 pm

Pup just walked out her bed to do a pee, and walked across the bathroom.... fingers crossed

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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby Nimrod » Tue Dec 25, 2012 7:09 pm

Go pup!
Good Luck :thumbup:

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Tue Dec 25, 2012 8:09 pm

I have just given her her 2nd dose of antibiotic for the day, I am sure she swears at me, you should hear the noise. She is a spoilt pup, she has the oil filled radiator in the bathroom for the night, on a low setting. :thumbup: So if our electricity bill is up we know who to blame :lol:
She is swallowing the watery cereal, so hopefully she will not be dehydrated.
She reminds me of our kitten, her Mum was killed when kittens were just 2 days old, so the neighbour gave me 2. One died after a couple of days but feisty kitty survived and in a pain a year later :lolno: She was the only survivor out of the 5 kittens.

I will post a photo of pup but not yet,I am not tempting fate by taking photos until I know she will be ok :thumbup:

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Donz.
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby Donz. » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:46 am

Hi Olive how is she doing today? Been keeping everything crossed :thumbup:

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Wed Dec 26, 2012 12:50 pm

Back to the vet today for an injection, we had the injection here but decided to take her to the vet for it, as she is so tiny. She was yapping at 1am this morning :thumbup: She is still eating baby cereal, made up with aquarius /boiled water. She is still with us after 48 hours so fingers still crossed :D

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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby katy » Wed Dec 26, 2012 2:22 pm

Hope alls well, try putting a cuddly toy next to her :wave:

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Wed Dec 26, 2012 3:44 pm

I just tried to feed pup, boy was she angry, I am glad she was not a cat, I would be covered in scratches by now. Feisty is a good name for pup.
We have a soft toy somewhere.... I will try to find it. :thumbup:

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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby crazyred » Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:15 am

That's a good sign that she is feisty!! In my experience with sickly kittens, the more they fight your efforts to save them, the more likely they'll pull through :)
If she has viral pneumonia, antibiotics will do no good and will also kill gut flora which is essential to the immune system. Try a little plain Activia yoghurt mixed with honey. Fluids are most important and you can make a very simple rehydration drink (as used by the WHO) by mixing 6 level teaspoons sugar, qtr teaspoon table salt, qtr teaspoon salt substitute (potassium chloride), can be omitted if you can't get it, qtr teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in a litre of clean water. I have also found Echinacea tincture very useful in animals and is also antiviral as is the honey.
Sending lots of healing vibes :)

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Thu Dec 27, 2012 2:39 pm

Thanks Crazyred, I have the ´drink´ stuff already, I will buy the Activia yoghurt this evening when I am back into the town. She sleeps a lot, but gets up to pee and poo. When it is feeding time she fights us like mad. I wish she would start to lap. She has teeth, I think she is about 5 weeks old.

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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby crazyred » Thu Dec 27, 2012 4:11 pm

I had a kitten like that, in the end I had to wean him on raw chicken as it was the only thing he showed any interest in. He would never lap milk but went straight to solids and I gradually cut down how many syringes of milk (home made formula) he had per day. One of our local butchers sells Ox hearts which the dog and cats all go mad for, you could try that chopped really small.

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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby Nimrod » Thu Dec 27, 2012 5:45 pm

Our animals used to go mad for chopped liver.,the smell would get them in a frenzy!

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Fri Dec 28, 2012 2:27 pm

Pups eyes were very gunky today so back to the vet for a clean up and we now have drops. The vet said pup is still ok and not dehydrated :thumbup: :thumbup: She said I am to try puppy food soaked with boiled water/milk, to ´firm up´ pup´s poo.

Maybe a photo for New Year if she is ok :wave: :thumbup:

oliveview01
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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby oliveview01 » Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:59 pm

I soaked the puppy biscuit in boiled milk/water mix, but it was still ´firm´ in the middle, so I used the hand blender to break it down more- result? Pup spat every bit out.
I mashed up puppy food (meat) and added hot water, so it was sloppy with tiny lumps, result? I ended up covered in spat out puppy food!
I then mixed mashed puppy food with baby cereal, result? I was covered in even more puppy food.

I then went back to the baby cereal, with youghurt and honey, result? After much fighting she swallowed the mix, but only if I forced her mouth open, she just will not lap or eat any solids at all :thumbdown:

One very determined pup here!

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Re: Any suggestions for feeding a 5 week old puppy?

Postby crazyred » Fri Dec 28, 2012 9:31 pm

I would personally leave out the cereal as it plays havoc with many dog's digestive systems. My dog had chronic 'squirts' when we got him at 10 weeks and after trying every single commercial pet food available, switched to a raw diet. We have only ever had a problem since if he gets hold of cooked meat or grain based food. He's now 6 and has never had any major health problems (apart from a chronic flea allergy and allergy to all flea prevention medication!!).
Liver is a great idea as it is gentle on the stomach and excellent for recuperation as it's highly nutritious. I would advise against pig's liver (none of my animals would touch it and thinking I was clever I hid it in the dog's chicken carcass but, he shook it out leaving my kitchen looking like a scene from a horror film) but calf's or lamb's might tempt her. It couldn't hurt to try...


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