Foster puppy refusing food 7 weeks

[talwyn]

I am fostering 7 husky mix puppies, currently 7.5 weeks old, and their mother. I weaned the puppies into gruel and then soaked kibble and finally hard food. The smallest puppy was eating dog food okay until he was completely weaned off nursing and is now on a hunger strike. I have tried warm puréed food, warm soaked kibble, kibble in milk replacer, milk replacer alone, canned wet food and nothing gets him to eat. He will scarf down a piece of sliced turkey and is interested in lick pads but can’t get him to eat anything of substance. I’ve tried babying him and hand feeding and I’ve also tried tough love and just putting the food down with his litter mates. Anyone have experience or advice with what to do? I’ve already had him at the vet and there is nothing medically wrong. I haven’t gotten much help from the vet other than “get as much food in him as possible “. He has already lost 10 oz in a week and is only 9 oz up from his 6 week weigh in. He is at least 3 times smaller than the largest Littermate. I’m at a loss for what to do and fear the worst.

 

[kijani]

@talwyn Hopefully someone has info for you. I had never heard of “fading puppy syndrome” before my aunts dog had a litter and I started reading about everything I had to watch for.

I would try hot dogs, pepperoni, our puppies even like soup bones and eat the dry hard food the big dogs (dog chow vs puppy chow) eat now that we have combined everyone.

I’m sorry, I wish I had something to say to help. I hope it gets better.

 

[flowork]

@talwyn My wife is much smarter than me and suggests:

• Have you checked bile acids because maybe a liver shunt?
• Try canned tripe like tripett
• If he eats turkey, give him turkey

 

[joshuah0208]

@talwyn You can Make sure baby stays hydrated with plain pedialite. Also I use Dyne and puppy nutrical as a calorie supplement, and freeze dried liver entices them to eat well too. Good luck!!

 

[william3]

@talwyn What you can do is get nutri cal and give it to the pul 3 times a day to keep blood sugar up. For now give him anything to keep his blood sugar up and get nutri cal from your local pet store.

Puppies are very fragile and fading puppy syndrome does happen unfortunatly, if something does happen it's ok and not your fault.