How to nurse a starvig puppy?

Question

spoke to vet and he told us to feed him every two to thre hours. the problem is if he eats more than 12 nuggets he throws up. it's iams puppy food and it doesn't seem like he can't tolerate the food but how do we get him to tolerate more volume. we rescued him 3 days ago, could it be that his stomach is so shrunk that is all he can tolerate right now and it will just take more time

Answer 1

You don't mention how old this puppy is. If it's under 2-3weeks, you need to be bottle feeding it with puppy milk replacement. At 3-4weeks, you give puppy milk mixed with soft, canned food. Even if he's old enough to eat dry food, you should let it soak in water to soften first. If puppy is in bad shape, dry food is a poor choice. Go to the pet store and get a food without corn, wheat, or byproducts. Start with very small amounts, and if the vomiting continues take him to the vet.

Answer 2

I agree with "Mom of Three." Plain,boiled chicken ( white meat,no skin,no bones) a little cooked rice and plain yogurt should help him. When he can keep that down,start adding puppy food a small amount at a time.Was the pup at the vet,though,and was it checked for parvovirus and parasites? If the puppy has a heavy parasite load,he won't get better until he is dewormed,and parvo requires hospitalization and intravenous feeding.

Answer 3

If he is very young, you may need to use puppy formula, you can actually get some at Walmart now, of course vets and pet stores also carry it, but they are not open 24/7. They also have puppy bottles. It is important that you use PUPPY formula because dogs do not digest cow or goat milk well and this could cause more problems. Puppy formula will have excellent viatmins and nutritians that he needs especially now. Being very young he may not be able to digest hard food well. You can also try a canned puppy food. Or, wet the dry down with warm water before you give it to him to help soften it up for him. Since he's vomiting, he's dehydrated, this happens automatically in young dogs, any vomiting or diarrhea will cause immediate dehydration. Get some pedialyte, and give tiny amounts every couple of hours to help rehydrate him. Call the vet if he's still vomiting tomorrow. Also keep him warm, young puppies can not maintain a normal body temp without their mother right there, so wrap him up. If he's hot and craws out, that's ok. Good Luck.

Answer 4

Canidae  Rice and Lamb or Wellness are good foods.

Has he had a vet check?  There may be additional things going on that is preventing him from eating.

Decrease the food amount and add Mother's replacement milk to his kibble.  You may have to decrease the milk replacement slowly.  If that doesn't work, have the vet check him out.

Answer 5

feed him 4 pieces every hour and then tomorrow 6 pieced every hour dont force it down

the vet should haev told you to feed your puppy can food its much easier

for it to eat

is it drinking?  

Answer 6

Iams is craptastic. Throw it out.

Get some boneless chicken, cook it and give him a couple ounces of that every couple hours with an ounce or so of plain yogurt. That will give him a protein boost and help normalize what is supposed to be in his gut. Don't let him over eat. Just keep after it for a few days until he is acting more normal. Then you can slowly introduce a high quality pup kibble.

How young is he? If he is under 8 weeks, I'd probably give a little pup milk replacer, too. Even though that's a little old for it, if he is that far down he may need a boost.

Good luck to you both.

Answer 7

Well how old is the pup?!

We can't tell you how much to feed if you can't provide some details like age (days?), breed (helps to know the size of the pup), and current weight.

A really young pup, one that should be nursing, gets fed by its mother every couple of hours.  It does NOT eat kibble -hard, dry dog nuggets.

IF this pup is about a couple of weeks you need to soak the food in goats milk and create a mush, something the pup can eat.

I have pureed the kibble in a blender with the goat milk to expedite the process.  It makes for an even, smooth cereal that's easy for the pup to swallow and digest.