need advice to pass on

[sugarbaby]

I have a friend who went to look at chi puppies , they were disgusted to find they were only 4weeks old and being fed milk and weetbix
it was either leave Gemma there to die or take her and look after her .
she isnt even reading on the chi weight chart at 6oz / 180grams at 4weeks , any tips i can pass on would be great , i have passed on what i know myself but dont want to miss anything .

this is a pic of her with a 6 week old ferret , just a note that isnt normal milk gemma is drinking

[Kristi]

oh lord! Well glad your friend has her now --

a few things come to mind --

--heating pad, chis this young can't regulate their own body weight
--puppy milk replacer/formula, I am guessing she is drinking some variation of that here
--feeding syringe, or medicine dropper -- she should be fed every 2 hours.
--I THINK a 4 week pup should be eliminating on its own, but if she hasn't seen it "go" she can stimulate the pup with a warm washcloth & rubbing the genitals and anus till the puppy goes.
--4 weeks is when a pup should very slowly begin to be weaned by the mum...so you can probably mix a teen bit of canned food in with her milk. You can google weaning formulas for small breed dogs and go from there.
--check on her every 2 hours. That means in the night too. And feed her. Help her eliminate if she's not doing it on her own yet.

You can google tons of articles on hand rearing puppies from birth...best of luck and let us know how it goes

[Sarah]

Gosh I feel sick!!

The pup should definately be eliminating itself she needs puppy pads outside it's bed too!! Also change blankets as soon as she pees on one as the bedding needs to smell fresh!!

I would also box her up and ge her to the vet for a check

Get some panacur 10% And worm her she needs worming every two weeks!

I agree with Kristi too about the feeding regime she needs to be wean onto 1 meal a day for the first couple of days and slowly increase the amount in the feed and number of feeds she will also need toppin up with milk after!!

She looks like she is lapping milk up I would offer a very shallow dish of water to drink (not milk) and top her up with a bottle after her meal and every 2-3 hours or so!

Honestly and I am not being a know it all at all that puppy is not 6oz some pups are born at around 5oz and they are smaller than gerbils! Her head is large in comparison to the dish Hopefully jess will come on and give some advice as she has handreared Evie!

A heat pad is a must!! We posted some in paulas thread yesterday she needs to be kept warm! Another thing I'd I would think of is does someone have a mum who would adopt her for now?? Singletons can be awful dogs when older if not raised correctly and socialised properly from birth! It's a lot of hard work!!

I too would of walked a mile from this!

[Amy]

this is awful, just so glad your friend now has her and is giving her the correct care she needs... keep us updated on her

[Lucy]

Great advice given, nothing to add myself but please keep us updated on Gemma

[Hollie]

My Boyfriends family had 3 litters of labradors fed on milk and weetabix, I didn't even know how to respond when he told me that. One of the puppies was attacked by the mother in one litter because she gave birth in a barn and a thunderstorm statred and freaed her out. The pup they kept cos he had a massive head injury and wouldnt sell. He had to be rushed into the vets and have surgery at a few weeks old because it wasn't healing andh e got an infection - There is no doubt in my mind that he didn't heal properly because he was getting ZERO PROTEIN. How can the body repair itself without protein??? Also he has a neurological condition which causes him to have fits and I think this may have been linked to his brain development as a puppy being impared because of being fed no protein or fatty acids, only wheat. It is so sad for poor Donald, he has cancer now too and is on his last legs.

[lilanddot]

Just to add,you can buy an electric heat pad from Amazon,that keeps the temps just warm enough for the puppy

[sugarbaby]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone , will pass on anything i have missed , one thing i wasnt sure of is the panacur so will do a quick google when ive finished this post .
i may have converted her weight to oz wrong , she was 180grams last night and is 185grams today so there is a good weight gain , already .
the vets seems to think the stronger puppies have pushed her aside , gosh i hope the others are in good hands , i was so angry when i seen her that someone could home them so young , her owners are going to take shifts through the night , will let them know about the heat pad from amazon aswell as at the moment they have a hot water bottle wrapped up and have made her a little coat to keep her warm