pups now 4weeks old mum is very ill and in the vets for the night ...she was feeding them twice aday (morning and evening) so now no milk at all for the pups ,i carnt add milk to feed as 2 of the pups get very bad runs and if i try and feed them 2 on their own without the others thay dont eat!! so im feeding them every 3/4 hours and their eating well and laping water ..will they be ok at 4weeks without milk ???

Should be okay at 4 weeks.  They should be able to lap milk at 4 weeks, that is if it does not give them diarrhoea - you could try giving them a feed of milk last thing at night and first thing in the morning, like mum was doing.  Then feeding them a few hours later with their solid food,  my breed which is a large breed I like to give them 5 feeds a day at 4 weeks (of a suitable puppy kibble), mum would also supplement them depending on how much milk she has, otherwise I would put milk down for them a couple of times a day (lactol or whelpi).   Fresh water is available also.

hi dogsdinner thay re eating 5meals aday and have water but i carnt put milk down for them ,its giving 2 of them the runs bad!! what i want to know is....will the pups be ok with no milk at all now ? or shall i give milk morning and night to the other 6 and not give 2 of them it ? xx

which milk are you giving? goats or lactol? is mum ill with tummy type of illness that she could have passed onto the puppies, they may have a bacterial tummy bug, giving them yoghurt to correct theier tummy natural bugs.

lactol ,ive tryed both and it does the same

white lilly
Just my take on it.  I would expect them to survive without milk if they are getting solids down them ok.  Not much point in persisting with milk, as you already know the consequences.  I think you will find that others have had litters survive, when, for some reason, the bitch has been unable to cope.

You seem to be doing ok on your feeding routine.  Keep it up, and good luck!  :-)

mum has had to have an enima but needed a genral for it bless her ,she stoped eating last night and would drink at all! she was very weak this morning ,at the vets she had a scan ans all looked good, so then she had xray and this found a large swelling in her colon ? they think its a build up of poo ? now when we rang to see how she got on they said she needs to stay in over night they need to keep an eye on her? and thats all i could get out of them :( im worried sick !! i dont think its poo and i have a feeling theres something eles going on with her ,i could be wrong but i dont know! was a different vet i spoke to when i rang up ,and she said i will need to speak to other vet in the morning?

thanks jean ,their having 6meals not 5 lol i work it out so i feed them their last meal at 11-12 at night and the 1st at 6am and the last 2 meals are more funny so i know their getting enough water cus i dont leave it down at night at this age .

> hi dogsdinner thay re eating 5meals aday and have water but i carnt put milk down for them ,its giving 2 of them the runs bad!! what i want to know is....will the pups be ok with no milk at all now ? or shall i give milk morning and night to the other 6 and not give 2 of them it ? xx

A long time ago now before all of these modern dried foods were available I had to take the litter away from mum at 3 weeks of age, in those days I used pedigree chum tinned puppy food, they did not have milk, as with the tinned food it was too much for them.   They all grew up fine and lived long lives!!   If the other 6 are okay on milk I would still offer it to them.  I expect as you know as pups grow that they loose the enzyme that coverts the lactose in milk.   Or is it possible that they are just the two greedy ones in the litter and are having more than their fair share of the food.

Do hope that mum is okay this morning

what about trying half and half..puppy milk and water?  Could it just be too strong for some of them them?  I know I do this for one of my adults where as the other gets it straight from the carton no problem.

mum is home now :) she cryed all the way home i had to wash her down very quick and she ran to her babys ,it made me cry lol she hasnt left them since ,bless her ....she needs to go back next week for another xray to make sure no more buld up ! vets says if she wants to feed pups she can so thay will still get milk if mum wants too ,and after seeing her with them today im sure she will give them 2 feeds aday :)

Really pleased to hear your good news white lilly.  Hope that all goes smoothly now.

Hi WL so it was just a build up of no2 then thankfully.

what a time you have had with this litter.

yes roni its enough to put ya off breeding forever :(

thankyou dogsdinner x

Oh my u really have been through the wars with this litter. I've been following your other posts too and u have given me good advice too!  I hope things get better for u! X

I hope things start getting better for you and that the bitches owner is supporting you ? you are reallbearing up  a diamond of  a friend to take all this on and with things going on in your family too. Hope everyone is bearing up x  

thanku chelcd xx

she is helping hun but mainly money ,i must say im geting a pup and some money but it has been very stressful and i wouldnt ever do this again for no one!! its even more stressful than having ya own litter xx

Have to agree, I did this once and would never do so again.

In my case the bitch was unwell and needed a C section and had to be force fed 4 times a day throughout whelping and given calcium supplementation because of Eclampsia, not fun at all.

The responsibility fo soemoen elses bitch is just too much, I was lucky not to loose the bitch.

I only have someone elses pups and find it more stressful than my own litter so couldnt imagine what having the bitch too would be like.

You are doing a great job!!!

xx