Feeding Newborn Puppies
Feeding newborn puppies is a serious task, to be done with great care. However, if their mother is around them and is quite willing to feed her newborn puppies, there may be no need for you to give the newborns any additional food. Mother's milk has all the enough nutrients that the newborn puppies may need.
Still, there are some times when the newborn puppies are away from their mother and are very hungry. Even in sometimes the mother refuses to feed her newborns. These are the conditions when you should know how to go about feeding newborn puppies.
Here are some useful tips following which you can offer the newborns healthy and nutritious diet-
- The newborn puppies generally open eyes between days 7 to 14. When the eyes are closed still the newborns are quite young. You have great work in front of you. Luckily, it is a rewarding job to see these little ones do activities, grow and get ahead.
- Have a checkup done by the veterinarian as soon as possible to make out their age and health status. He may come to know about the detectable health problems such as crusty eyelids, skin lesions, dehydration presence addressed by the veterinarian and suitable treatment in progress.
- The diet must be hygienic, healthy and rich in nutrients. They should be dispensed many times in a day following a rigid and exact schedule.
- Bring in use the top quality ingredients in the meal keeping in mind that you are preparing a substitute for the mother's milk. You should conscientiously observe basic hygiene rules. Even a little amount of carelessness can lead to some grave health problems, such as diarrhea and can be fatal.
- To serve food to them, you can make use of a box or little crate with many dry and clean bedding.
- You can make sure that you may change or clean the bedding often times so that it doesn't get dirty or soiled.
- Place their den in a calm, warm and peaceful place free of drafts but careful not to make them overheat either. Make sure that their bed is not near a heater or air conditioner ventilator.
- For very young puppies, you may need to get milk replacer and a few of the feeding devices. The veterinarians use a simple eye dropper or syringe to use it as a tool to dispense the milk replacer in the puppy or kitten.
- For the milk feeding tools, you can visit the pet stores or vet clinics that have nursing bottles also. You should be alert about the fact that the newborns may not be able to suck the food contents using the small nipple.
- To feed, you need to squeeze the milk out for the puppy having a nipple in their mouth. Before feeding, warm it a little under the hot water tap.