I rang a vets up earlier to enquire about a tube feeding kit for a weak puppy, I was told that the only way to tube feed a pup was under G/A now I know that's a load of bollox, another vets said they couldn't sell me one but try pets at home, I know these don't sell them
What's your thoughts on these 2 vets? Surly they could sell me a catheter :s

try hyperdrug

Theres some on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221333515813

i can get one from my own vets tomorrow, it was just the dam right refusal from these 2 vets and telling me the pup had to be under general anasthetic?

how much would you feed a 230g pup? im feeding every 2 hours round the clock atm

My own vets, who I have been with for very many years, would not just say yes to me when I enquired.  They do have to safeguard themselves remember.  How would it look if they just said yes to anyone without knowing their training and experience in tubing?

I was instructed in tubing by one of the vets, and a check was made that I was given the correct size tube for the breed.  A lot of vets hate doing it as it is so easy to put the milk into the lungs.  You say that you rang up a vets and that doesn't sound as if they knew you for years, and knew your experience, so all these things do need to be taken into consideration.

Hyperdrug definitely do sell them. Unless you are experienced though, personally I would not recommend it. I know a lot lot LOT of people recommend tube feeding, even more so in kittens than puppies, but I have not only been shown how to do it by a vet, watched lots of videos about it, spoken to lots of people with experience of it, and yet every single time I have tried with kittens, without fail, it has killed them. I KNOW how to tell if the tube is in the right place etc, and still they die. Some instantly, some manage a few feedings and then die. Yet I have saved literally dozens by slow syringe feeding, kittens AND puppies. It could be that I only try tube feeding when the situation is desperate and therefore it has always been animals that would have died anyway. Or I'm just useless. In any event I am VERY scared about tube feeding.

We came up with a technique with our litter earlier in the year as we were not keen on tube feeding. The smallest pup in the litter kept losing weight for the first couple of days her was suckling but not with enough force to get milk from mum. We tried bottle feeding but he had the same problem and really was on the brink of losing his fight so I got a 2ml syringe and filled it with baby dog milk and then pushed it through the teat of a baby bottle teat and then slowly (and I mean slowly) started to syringe it in as he suckled.
The first feed I managed to get 1.5ml in him and we were so pleased with this we ended up feeding him this way until he was weaned in the end he was having 50-60ml this way and it really did save his life.

>The first feed I managed to get 1.5ml in him

:-)  :-)  :-)
Satisfaction!  Well done you.  Doesn't it make it all worthwhile.

Feeding by bottle or syringe is very suitable unless you have a litter of 4 or more which need feeding 2-3 hourly all through the night.
Tubing is done in just moments hand feeing takes longer.