How long does it take to breastfeed a puppy? Most puppies feed on their mother’s milk until they are at least eight weeks old, and from then on they can eat solid foods. But what should we do if an animal becomes an orphan or its mother does not give milk to it? Well, until he is big enough and can eat solid foods, we have to feed him with a bottle.
Feeding motherless puppies takes quite a lot of time and requires a lot of patience and a series of tools, including suitable bottles and special milk powder.
Don’t worry, we know this way. We are here to see how to breastfeed a few-day-old puppy, how much should be the volume of each portion of milk, and whether should we feed it every few hours.
What kind of milk should we give to the puppy and with what means?
According to the wikihow site, you should give him puppy formula. For this, use a special bottle and dry milk that you can get in most pet supply stores. Another thing is that you need a pan and a gas stove to sterilize the bottle.
Feeding rate of puppies
The amount of powdered milk for a puppy depends on its weight and age, and the description should be written on the package, but if not, usually a newly born puppy eats about 125 grams of powdered milk for every kilogram of its weight. Divide this number by the number of servings.
How to breastfeed a puppy?
Wash the bottle, cap, etc. with soap and water and then drain completely to make sure that there is no soap in it, and then put it in boiling water for a few minutes to sterilize it (maximum five minutes). Then add water to the dry milk to the amount written on the package and stir.
When feeding the puppy, make sure to keep his head straight, because if his head is tilted up, the milk will go into his lungs. Keep the animal’s body horizontal, but let it remain in a natural position, and do not put it on its back like a human baby. When you put the tip of the bottle in his mouth, you should also keep the bottle horizontal so that he does not raise his head while eating.
Just like a human baby, after every feeding, you have to make the animal burp so that it doesn’t hurt. To hold the puppy, hold it upright and put it on your shoulder and then gently tap its back.
You should also help him to defecate after eating. Infant puppies cannot urinate or defecate by themselves and their mother has to stimulate them with her tongue. You can gently rub a wet cotton ball on the puppy’s genital area and anus. Pay attention to the animal feces and see if it is normal or not. The stool should be soft but not watery. Watch out for the symptoms of diarrhea.
Diarrhea can also be a sign of eating too much, so if this happens, you should reduce the amount of food a little and see if the problem is solved or not, so that the dog does not suffer from a digestive disease!
The duration of breastfeeding the puppy
Newborn puppies should be fed every two hours, even in the middle of the night. A one-week-old puppy should eat eight to ten times a day, and a four-week-old puppy needs to eat four times a day.
If it’s hard for you to set up a food plan for your puppy and you’re constantly concerned about what to feed him, how much to feed him, and when, don’t worry, we’re by your side. All you have to do is follow the steps below so that the Pet Press nutritionists will prepare a plan for you as soon as possible to meet the needs of your little Hapoo so that you can follow a plan very easily.
It is a program that guarantees the future health of your dog and does not allow anything to be too much or too little in his body and harm him.
Breastfeeding a motherless puppy in an emergency
If you don’t have access to commercial formula, you can temporarily use blood formula instead, but remember that these things can’t meet all the needs of the animal and we don’t highly recommend it.
To prepare homemade powdered milk, mix these ingredients together:
- 1 cup of cow’s or goat’s milk that has not been separated from the fat
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 egg yolks
Heat the blood milk slowly to 35-38 degrees so that it is easier for the animal to eat it. Be careful not to do this too quickly or too much, otherwise, the egg yolks will cook. If you want to use a microwave oven, do it little by little in 5 to 10-second increments and stir well each time, otherwise, some parts may get very hot.
If you don’t have a special bottle, you can temporarily use a dropper or a syringe that can be washed and sterilized or a small spoon.
How long does a puppy breastfeed?
According to the kennelclub website, it is recommended to start weaning puppies at around 3 weeks of age and this may take up to 7-8 weeks. Then you should start giving regular food little by little.
Conclusion
Feeding a puppy with a bottle is not very complicated, it just takes some time. But by knowing how many feet of potting, this work becomes very, very easy, and it takes less time. Try not to separate the puppy from its mother as much as possible, but if this happens for any reason, take the responsibility of feeding the puppy yourself. Use puppy milk powder as the first option and baby milk powder as the second option and be sure to follow the points mentioned.