Hi,

My pups have developed diahorrea. I tried them on the new Oatibix and goats milk today, about 1.00 o'clock. They have been eating very well and I wondered whether it is anything to be concerned about or whether it is maybe the different food. They are all very bright and happy. Should I withhold their supper?? Mum is still feeding them. Or, are they too young to go without a "solid" meal until morning?

Thanks

I would certainly think that the oatibix is the culprit - personally I wouldn't give them another solid meal tonight, but you will have to keep any eye on them - and I wouldn't be feeding oatibix/weetabix at all!  Prefer puppy porrage!

Margot

Do you have any protexin in the fridge? It's excellent for soothing upset tummies.
http://www.hyperdrug.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PROTEXPK 

I would still give them supper, and see how they were afterwards and get them to the vets tomorrow morning if they're still upset. Little puppies can go downhill so quickly.

p.s. Personally I wouldn't give my pups human cereal or goats milk. I would stick with puppy food and lactol or similar.

Thanks. I have been feeding puppy food and they have had scrambled eggs once and their poos were really firm. So I hope it is just my crazy idea to try oatibix that is to blame. I sleep downstairs with the pups when I have a litter so I will keep an eye on them overnight. 
They are all running around just now playing so I hope this is a good sign.....looks like a nightshift for me though!

Most likely to be the goats milk that has caused the diarrhoea. I always give my puppies fully skimmed cows milk as it has all the vitamins and calcium, but none of the dairy fat. It's the dairy fat that is the culprit.

Don't often disagree with you Saxon, but today I'm going too :-D  I swear by goats milk, after hand raising a litter on it and never having the runs I can't say a bad word about goats milk, so much more nutritious than any type of cows milk, easier on the stomach and I always make my scrambled egg with it too.

I'm with Carrington here. Full fat goat's milk is much better for pups, being closer to bitch's milk, than full fat cows' milk. Skimmed cows' milk is starving pups of the fat they vitally need, because bitches' milk is even higher in fat than goats' milk.

Your right, go back to scrambled egg, soaked complete puppy food, and chicken or mince with rice, none of these foods have ever given mine the runs.I know a lot of breeders give these cereals but........ if I sent my bitch down to Tesco's or Sainsburys for some puppy food, she would come back with some nice chicken or meat and perhaps an egg or two, she definitely would give the cereal isle a miss. :-D

How old are your pups?

5 weeks :d :d 

Okay ..... 5 weeks. When were they last wormed?

I completely agree with carrington i swear by goats milks ive raised all my puppies on this untill they are about 6/7 months old and i personaly dont let mum feed them anymore after 4 weeks although mum can see them as much as she likes but i think 5 weeks it to old to still be feeding from mum plus the weaning food the puppies are on surely it wont be long till there leaving homes to there new homes 7/8 weeks only 2 or 3 weeks to go to fully wean them

Hi,

They were wormed at 2 and a half weeks and at 4 and at half weeks.
I have given them goats milk regularly since I started to wean them and had no problems until today.I am not going to give them any more cereal from now on.

Probably didn't make myself very clear. I usually give my pups skimmed milk during weaning only, whilst they are still suckling from mum. The combination of fat from mums milk, plus fat from goats milk is too much for their little tummies to cope with. I quite agree that goats milk is excellent when they are no longer taking much from mum. The globules of fat in goats milk are much smaller then the globules in cows milk, making it easier to digest. I agree with you carrington, if you are hand rearing puppies then they DO need the dairy fats in the goats milk, but if you are just using the milk as a medium to make some other food of the right consistency for teaching puppies to lap then given that they are still suckling from mum, then I usually use skimmed milk. Having said that, all litters are different. I've had 2 litters this year. The first litter of 10 went straight on to goats milk to help mum out and the second litter of 6 were such greedy fat little b*****s that if they had had goats milk as well as mums milk they would have been too fat to walk. I've kept 2 puppies from each litter and there is no difference in size, bone etc.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. The pups are back to normal this morning and I am going to stick to puppy food and scrambled egg.

I have never fed a litter rice and mince before but I see that Carrington suggested this....is this simply plain white boiled rice?

I am trying very hard to discourage them from feeding from the bitch but she is equally determined.

Thank you all once again.

Why are you trying to discourage them from feeding from the bitch? As they take more food (and water) from you they'll take less from her, and weaning will happen naturally.

Yes, I agree, my pups always continue feeding off  their mum for as long as they wish they still have a couple of feeds right up to leaving, my bitch wouldn't have it any other way, the more they eat the less of mum's milk they need and the less is produced, so no it is not a necessity, but more importantly it continues the bond between pups and mum right up to leaving. I feel it important that the bitch is allowed to be with her pups, she is there to teach and protect and can come and go as she pleases.

The only way to stop pups feeding is to seperate them from the bitch as the bitch will naturally continue to feed them.

Even when I  had to hand rear, my last litter, my bitch still wished to be with them, and would have tried to feed them it is a natural instinct, and I am a real believer in if all is well allowing them to be together when they want, this is a natural state of how it should be. :-)