paranoid owner

[iluvdachsunds]

My friend recently rescued a pregnant Dachsund. She was bred at 11 months old. By the time we got her she was to far to abort. She had 5 puppies. They are four almost five weeks old. They are weened from their mother (Sadie) her milk dried up rather quickly because the previous owners did not see to her needs. She was kept in a kennel with about 10 other Dachsunds. She was in very pour condition and we weren't sure she would make it. Anyway she's great now. My question is the puppies were doing great and then they started having problems two of them are pooing almost pure liquid and one threw up today. They were checked for parvo and came back negative. The puppies and the mother are with me now and I've never had puppies all my dogs are fixed so I'm just wondering is this stuff normal at four weeks. They are eating and drinking but I'm not sure if they are eating and drinking enough and if the pooing and vomiting are normal. Please help!

[erdog3]

Sometimes it happens when you switch to solid food, they are a little young to be completely weaned, they still need some milk till about 6 weeks.
Go and get some puppy formula from the vets, then a rice based cereal, I use a babies one you can get from any supermarket.
Mix it to the consistancy of thin porrige, try them on that, also the vomiting could be a sign of worms, they should have been done by now and then every 2 weeks thereafter till 12 weeks of age.
Don't give them any puppy tin food, that will go straight through them, it's terrible, till they are about 5-6 weeks old and been digesting puppy biscuits for a few days. Their tummies are very sensitive.
If it doesn't clear up after doing this in a couple of days you will need to go to the vets and get some electrolites to replace their feed with and dry them up a little.

[iluvdachsunds]

I've been giving them Esbilac 2nd step Puppy Weaning food. I called a vet and he said to take their water away and not feed them anything to see if they still get sick. I'm just worried they may get dehydrated. They seem healthy they are gaining weight and are very alert, I'm just worried because I've never done this before and their mother is dried up and shows no interest in them, is this because she is so young. They were wormed earlier this week and I've been watching their stoole.

[erdog3]

Probably, she is just a puppy herself, but she should want to play with them, although I suppose everytime she goes near them they would want to suckle.
Do what your vet says, they will be ok for a day or so, you should notice a difference very quickly in pups that age, everything that is gonna go through them normally does so in about 8 hours.
Have they been wormed yet?
Your vet will probably advise you more when they stop pooing and vomiting, you can get electrolites, they replace any food, they have all the nutrients your pups need for a few days, they could also have caught a tummy bug, which would clear up in a couple of days too.
Sit tight, just keep an eye on them, as I said they can go for 24 hours, it is only when they are much younger you can quickly lose them.

[iluvdachsunds]

I have one more question my dog is male, he is fixed. He is dying to check them out, but someone told me male dogs kill puppies. Is this true my dog is a very gentle soul and loves other animals. I just don't want to make a mistake. The mother does want to play but as soon as they try to nurse she wants out of the kennel. I pulled their food up and they didn't seem to mind. thank you for your help!

[iluvdachsunds]

I forgot yes they have been wormed.

[erdog3]

It is always a bit risky bringing the male in, what you could do is to pick a puppy up, and let the male have a sniff while you have a firm hold of it, see his reaction, if his hackles go up on the back of his neck or bottom of his rump, or he gives any kind of growl don't push the intro any further. If he is wagging his tail, then you could do a gradual intro, but always supervise this, if you are going out, never trust them alone.
Your welcome with the help, anytime, just write in and ask, I'm on everyday.

[iluvdachsunds]

Three of the puppies are eating and keeping it down and their pooping o.k. My little girl is not eating she is drinking alot of water but won't eat. I'm not sure what to do should I take her to the vet or try to force feed her?

[sgour]

Has she stopped eating for an extended period of time, or did she not eat during one session? If she has stopped, she may not be ready for the solids, try the bottle for now and see if she'll take it. If she just didn't eat once while the others did, she may just not be hungry yet. I have a little finnicky (sp?) eater, he doesn't like a crowd. I feed him seperately, or I make him his own bowl and feed him outside the box.

Another question, are you feeding them just the weaning formula? None of mine liked the pure weaning formula (I also used Esibilac). I put a few pieces of moistened puppy food in with the formula and all ate great. I guess they just didn't like the taste of plain formula. They ate like this for a week (mine are now 5 1/2 weeks) and I noticed that they were lapping up the moistened puppy food. That's when I realized it was time to transition them to just moistened puppy food.

Keep us posted! And good for you taking in a pregnant dog!

Shannon

[iluvdachsunds]

i have been giving them moistened puppy food and the other three are little pigs. But i will try taking her out and feeding her alone. She is still active and alert. My husband says I'm just being paranoid. Thank you for the advice.