[Menzie]

I think the pups are hungry. They nurse constantly, and 24 hours post-birth hadn't gained any weight. I fed them each some supplemental formula today... should I keep doing that? After I did, they all slept like little logs for about an hour; no nursing... which suggests to me they had been hungry before.

Is there anything special I can feed mom to help her produce more milk?

 

[Betsy Iole]

Hi, Menzie, I don't have an answer to your question about helping mom produce more milk, but if it looks like you're going to be supplementing the litter, you might consider asking your vet to show you how to tube-feed. It's faster than bottle-feeding and you know exactly how much each puppy gets.

[ August 31, 2003, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: Betsy Iole ]

 

[Menzie]

Well, I talked to Soundtrack, and she said I was probably worrying unduly. If they are actually hungry, they will apparently cry and fuss a lot, which these guys aren't doing. But she said it's fine to supplement them a little, if it makes me feel better. LOL I"m sure I'm being a worrywart; they just seem so tiny and fragile....

So I figure I'll give them each a tablespoon of formula, twice per day. That's about half of what the directions they they should get for complete milk replacement, which of course they don't need...

 

[Betsy Iole]

My friends that have had big litters have mentioned that they rotated the pups with the mom in shifts. One friend had a litter of 12, and she was pretty aggressive about supplementing. She and her husband were with the dam and pups 24/7 for two or three weeks. It paid off; she didn't lose a single pup!

 

[Barbara Winters]

The 3 litters I helped whelp had 10, 9, and 10 puppies. The breeder fed the pups in shifts, and all worked out for mom and pups. Also slept with them and was around pretty much 24/7 the first couple of weeks and when the pups had to be left for a short while they were kept seperate from the bitch. No losses here either.

If I recall it's pretty normal not to gain the first day, even some loss is ok but should gain after that.