Roy Sparks - Hand raising and caring of new born pups.

[Roy Sparks]

Hi folk , I have never had to help a bitch mother her pups. I have a very good and proven bitch welping her second litter at this very moment. Her first litter was 11 pups and she only managed to raise 3. Closer observation led to me discovering that the size of her teats seem to be to large for the pups to suckle with ease. This handicap is unfortunate but its not her fault or mine.

I would appreciate some direction in order to raise this litter with fewer mortalities. What type of milk , how much , how regularly etc.

Any help in this regard would be much appreciated. I have staff to work it in shifts with me so hands are not a problem. Its the how to do part I need help with and what type of bottle or instument I should use.

Thank's so much - Roy Sparks.

[Plotts]

Roy three years ago we had a litter in July and it was the hottest week of the year and the female just did not produce any milk for a few weeks.

We used ESBILAC, a powdered milk replacer for puppies, and bottle fed them for a while.
We bought it at Petco but you could probably find it online somewhere as well.

We lost a few at first but once we got them on ESBILAC the pups started gaining and we didnt loose anymore.

Good luck/

[cobalt]

Did they get colostrum? If so Esbilac made by Bordens is good. If you do not have that available these formulas will work til you can get some.
#1- 1cup homogenized milk
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon corn oil
1 dropper liquid pediatric vitamins
#2- 26.5 oz. homogenized milk
6.5 oz. cream (12% fat)
1 tsp bone meal
1 egg yolk
4 grams citric acid
Liquid vitamins to provide 2000 I.U. vitamin A, 500 I.U. vitamin D
#3- Evap. milk reconstituted to 20% solids
1 tsp bone meal per pint
These formulas provide 38 usable calories per ounce.

[Roy Sparks]

Guys thanks. Since the post I have seven surviving pups from that litter. I had a litter arrive 4 days after this litter , there are seven pups in that litter. The second litters pups are at least 2/3 rds the size of the other pups feeding from their mother.Naturally the first litter has been at a disadvantage.

Once they start feeding themselves on solids what can I boost them with ? Can I reasonably expect them to recover and gain what they lost and fell behind while being bottle fed ?

Theoritically they should be slightly larger hounds as adults the sire being a Black 'n Tan Bloodhound Bluetick Cross weighing about 40 kg and the dam a BGH about 22 kg in weight.

I would really like to give these pups the best possible chance to come out of this with the least possible defects so any good advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks - Roy.

[cobalt]

They can be weaned completely now, if they aren't already and on high quality pup food soaked until soft in hot water and allowed to cool 3 to 4 times daily. At 6 weeks they can and should eat it unsoftened.
They should be wormed right now with ivermectin or strogid or pyranel pamoate weather you think they have parasites or not and again in 10 days. It makes a big difference. If they have consistant diarrhea, they may need to be treated for coccidea immediately.

[catdogs]

A good puppy formula:

8 oz. yogurt
jar of strained baby beef food
1 can condensed milk
1 can water
1 egg yolk

blend together and feed. Our pups are doing great on it.

[Roy Sparks]

You guys are great and thanks a lot for the help. Catdogs excuse my ignorence but what does the strained baby beef food constitute of to give me an idea of what to look for? I'm sure we have the equivilent but may call it something else.

Thank's - Roy.

[catdogs]

Its just beef based baby food or we use cooked liver. Throw it all in a blender - they love it.

[Roy Sparks]

Will do , thanks guys.