Hand Rearing pup

Hi i am an owner of several dobie pups at the minute i am trying 2 hand rear 1 at the moment as mom decided to squash him..was x-rayed by vet but couldn't find any damage..weighed only 0.6 kg as never feed for a few days and mom rejected him..On vets advise said 2 feed him a milk replacer but as the weeks have gone on..now 5 weeks old we are stillstruggling to get him 2 gain weight he now weighs 1lb 13oz..vet said 2 start weaning him?he has all of his baby teeth(ask my Oh lol) what is the best thing 2 feed him?? also he has trouble goin 2 the toilet(number 2) on own, vet said try weetabix??Not ready 2 give up on him yet any advise gratefully received

Aww bless, sorry i cant help you on the subject, but dont give up on the little fella! you are doing such a good job

Hi MM your puppy is old enough to go onto weaning food and I have posted a link to another Thread on puppy feeding to give some food ideas .

For now to start off I would give scraped beef, puppy milk with fine porridge and a little honey, scrambled egg with puppy milk..all these a teaspoon at at time . Put a tiny amount in the puppies mouth so it gets the taste, it will soon lick it up .

Scraped beef is a good introduction to meat, unlike mince in contains no gristle so the puppy won't choke on it. To make it buy some stewing steak and scrape it with a sharp knife to produce a paste. Progress to mince as the puppy grows ..

http://www.dogweb.co.uk/showpost.php...36&postcount=3

hi thanks for reply..pup is very under developed for age he has opened eyes but keeps them closed most of time..also very hard 2 get him 2 eat he drinks only 5ml-15 ml milk..also find he has trouble with number 2 think this mite b as mom squashed him down there..he cannot lap..have been using a syringe?[img-big]http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/1812/120900013ha.jpg[/img-big]
as u can c the size difference..also he cannot walk yet he can stand when he strains for a poo spends alot of time asleep?

Milk replacer can sometimes make them a little constipated,and as he can't lap may not be getting enough fluids as my pups would also be drinking water at that age as well as small top ups from mum. I would start him on the scrapped beef as mini suggested introducing him to a little from your finger to get him going.
It maybe because he's not taking alot in that he doesn't have much energy to run around with his litter mates he needs all his food for growth.
Good luck with him

crazy cockers is the best person to help she hand reard a whole litter last year and did a great job

We used rump steak and scraped the meat until you get a paste and fed that a couple of times a day, it certainly got their taste buds going. I used a pedigree porridge, but to be honest it was just crushed puppy food mixed with powder milk ie. litterlac/welpi, so I ended up using Burns mini-bites and making it into a porridge.

I also used premature baby bottles, found puppy bottles and syringes not much help, the majority of the milk just ran out of their mouth.

Good luck, he's obviously a little fighter!

hi thanks for reply just came back from vets wid him as clear fluid coming out of bottom..i think it was his anal glands vet didn't even bother looking at it..just gave him an antibiotic..i am still giving him welpi, last night he had baby rice(lactose free) mixed with welpi..he has trouble goin 4 a number 2 but this morning exploded everywhere...he has lost 1 ounce since yesterday..he has just had some chicken and vegetable for lunch..liked that..the vet says they don't no what damage mom has done 2 him..mentioned colitis and spastic movement in limbs???damed if we are giving up on him yet he hasn't

We also find that he will only take a bottle grom the side of his mouth..we are using 1 that came with the milk replacer from pet shop all others he chews straight through..he can't stand p unsupported at moment..vet also says he has atropy in his right eye