How and what do I feed newborn abandoned puppies?

Answer 1

Get a replacement milk formula made for pups, such as Esbilac or First Born. Do not use regular cow's milk as it can cause bloating and diarrhea. There are other formulas that can be used also to feed your pups. You can find them in a Pet Shop or the Co-Ops that carry pet supplies or your local Veterinarian.

I prefer to use, if a somewhat larger breed, a regular Doll's bottle (that a human child would use for her dolls or for human babies). I just heat a needle until it is red hot and poke a few more holes in the nipple, but not too large nor too many.

The pups like the larger nipple as opposed to those regular Pet nursing bottles. Make sure the pups are quite warm. If they are too cold the food will not be digested properly and can make them ill. Put them on a heating pad, set on LOW only (NEVER on high or you could burn their very sensitive skin) and then put several layers of blankets between them and the heating pad.

They should be fed about every 2-3 hours if very very young. They will get restless and start squealing when hungry. You can also use canned goat's milk, diluted one part goat's milk to one part water (add just a touch of karo syrup to it) and get it to room temperature, same for the Esbilac or any replacement formula you are using to feed the pups. Not too hot nor too cool, just at room temperature. Test it on the inside of your wrist by putting a few drops on the inside of your wrist. If you cannot feel the drops, then it is pretty much at room temperature.

The puppy replacement milk is the best as it has all the vitamins in it. If the pups are very young such as days old or a week old, you need to act like the mother dog would and rub with a soft warm slightly moist cloth or moistened cotton balls the potty areas, in order to stimulate them to urinate and defecate. Otherwise they are unable to do it by themselves & will become sick. Their natural Mother would be licking them constantly all over and this would stimulate them to go potty. So make sure to do that every time after feeding them so that they urinate and defecate properly.

Take them to your Vet if you have any problems with them and have them all examined. You should also deworm them at age 4 weeks for roundworms & repeat the deworming in 10-14 days after the first deworming. Most pups have roundworms. Or you can take a sample of their combined feces into your Veterinarian and have your Vet check the feces for internal parasites. Don't forget necessary vaccinations too. Check with your Veterinarian.