My small breed bitch welped 6 days early, she is a first time mom, 2 yrs old, she has not taken to any of it very well, puppies are have put about 4 ozs on the past week, I have tried to suppliment but they are not interested, mom does not seem to have a great deal of milk. But obviously enough to keep them going,  I will probably have to start weaning them inabout another 10 days (they are 8 days old now).  She wont eat much and wont drink much.  Has anybody any words of wisdom please.

HI
have you try warmed water down evaporated milk half and half the more she drinks the better

you may need to top babs up to i gave this to my babs which helped alot i also mixed baby porridge in it which my vet told me to do

try giving mum chicken fish pasta i gave this all to my mum to get her to eat i hope this helps :)

sorry can't really help but have you taken her back to the vets for a check over since having the pups. maybe the poor girl isn't feeling right.
I'm sure your get lots of helpful replies coming soon from people that know.
good luck.

I find it perfectly natural for my small breeds to whelp anything up to a week early, so no problems there.

By 8 days their natural maternal instincts have kicked in, so if your girl is showing no interest, I would be wondering if something is amiss.  Was she vet checked after the whelping?  Did the vet check the pups palettes?

As to feeding, mine would starve rather than get out of the whelping box, and I feed them by hand, or hold the feed bowl under their chins, tempting them with freshly poached white fish, chicken, scrambled egg, pilchards.

Totally agreed on the Evaporated milk.  Diluted with warm water, I hold that under their chins, and find that they will lap up huge quantities, as long as they are not expected to move.

Only the very tiniest I have bred put on three quarters of an ounce per day.  Up to an ounce is more usual.  If your girl hasn't got much milk, those pups need to be suckling to bring it on.  Have you tried latching them on?  I will do my utmost to get them to suckle, rather than supplement.  I prefer to put all the nutrition into my bitch.

Let us know what your vets comments are.  Good Luck.  Jean

Pups are viable and can be born perfectly happily a week before the due date, so unless they are obviously weak treat as normal.

Hi, thanks everyone for your advice,  puppies all seem fine, if very dinky, Mum and pups all checked by vet and mum has been back today for a calcium jab she has not got a temperature and to all intents and purposes the vet says she is fine. Food!  Have tried most things, inc evap milk whelpie, etc also sardines scrambled egg, rice chicken, toast tinned food is the only thing she will eventually eat after pushing it all round the room, if I hold it in the whelping box she gets up and turns away from it, would prefer her to eat Royal Canin but she will only eat it dry, so that gives me more problems with the drinking.  I am thinking of syringing some whelpie into her as she refuses to drink out of the bowl and my fingers dont hold enough. Will keep persevering and just hope that as Brainless says her mothering instinct will out eventually.  thanks again.

Have you tried raw green tripe??   You can buy it frozen in most good pet shops and I've yet to see any dog refuse this ;)    I usually add a sprinkle of garlic granules and thyme - but that's really for my own benefit as it smells better to me ;)

You can also add warmed water to it which will help with getting liquids into her ;)

Other liquids to try, weak bovril, beef stock, chicken stock, or soups made from these ;)

Hi minimom i know how u feel ! i had the same problem with my girl she whelped 9weeks ago ,she would eat her dry food all day long but getting her to drink was a nightmare :( ,i tried everything but she wouldnt have it and she started to lose her milk so i had to start and wean at 2 1/2 weeks old and by 5weeks old she had no milk at all ,all pups have gone now and had put loads of weight on :) xx

I find it is being a bit clever with bitches, they can be a bit funny at this time.

I personally cook chicken strip it and mix it with soaked food for the first couple days , even giving it a bit blend with the hand blender , I am happy to sit and hand feed it to them in the box. Never had one who never loved it.   They don't tend to like anything that is not warm and super fresh also.

Fingers crossed she has got the message, I started syringing water into her with the bowl in my hand and after a couple of times think she relised it was easier to just drink it out of the bowl,  puppies look a  little chunkier today. Thanks everyone, you never stop learning. Also her appetite has picked up.

have you tried nature diet warmed in the microwave add a little lactol or goats milk to make it soft my girl wolfed it down  and she usually eats soaked arden but wouldnt touch it, our puppies are now 6 wks and mum is back on her normal diet.
My litter have been bottle fed from early on as mums milk dried up puppies look fab so dont be put of from hand rearing if you have to ...you have to!