Help gaining weight

[sqs1]

@nizz Oh yes, a c-section can mess things up. How well is mom eating and drinking? She needs calories and fluids to make milk. I bought milk replacement for my puppies when I thought mom had milk fever…turns out she was just dehydrated from making all that milk so I gave her the milk replacer mixed with water and a little goat milk 3 times a day. She loved it.

You could also call the vet and she if they can give her anything to stimulate milk production.

And if she has milk but won’t feed them, you can hold her down. Mother’s milk is better for the puppies than formula and it’s worth doing that. I usually end up doing it with one of my breeding females when the puppies are about 4 weeks old because she needs to be fully on her back for them all to nurse at the same time and won’t do that independently. It works but is a hassle, but if you are already having to feed them yourself it’s no moreso.

Is it possible she has some milk but not a lot to be visible? The first week of my first litter the mother’s milk had not fully come in but the puppies suckled all the time and gained about 20 grams per day. And having them suck even if they don’t get any milk will encourage her body to make milk. If nothing is drinking it they don’t produce it. That’s how milk dries up after weaning.

 

[nizz]

@sqs1 The first couple of days she didn’t want to eat because they pulled a tooth that hadn’t wanted to fall out while she was under, but she seems to be eating just fine. We mix plain ground beef into her kibble to encourage her to eat more, since it’s softer. Once she gets started on that she starts eating the hard food.

When she was pregnant, she had milk come out when squeezed out of only the middle two nipples. Unfortunately, those are the ones right next to her C-section wound and she won’t let us touch near it.

We’re going to try holding her down in about an hour when the puppies are due for their next feeding, I was going to do it yesterday but she seemed a little tired. I suspect she will not be too happy lol, anytime anybody gets near her sutures she starts growling. I assume she feels vulnerable about it.

 

[nizz]

NEWS!! Update;

I don’t know if it’s normal but it made me happy. One of them went from losing ~17g throughout the first 3 days and then maintaining/losing small bits to GAINING 11g in the span of 6 hours! The other one went from maintaining weight to GAINING 12g in the span of 6 hours!

https://preview.redd.it/93tsbso6v2k...bp&s=b8371aacfc0d619b61c329153e7baf0a6d5142d1

For reference, I potty them before weighing.

‘Edit; also, the area temp is 84F and I am aware that they need to be between 85 and 90F at this stage, they have a heating pad underneath them, and a heater at full blast (which is what is keeping it at 84F lol).’

This was also the best day for feeding for them. They usually get 1-3mL feedings with one or two 4-5mL feedings in a day. This was after the nipple hole adjustment, though I have figured out that a syringe with a nipple on it is actually a lot easier. Let me know if there are any downsides to this.

If anyone can tell me if I’m right for being happy over this or if this is actually concerning rather than exciting (due to it happening in the span of 6 hours), please let me know

Edit; also, I hadn’t yet switched to the Myra Savant Harris recipe the replies recommended. I was waiting for my next grocery store trip (I don’t drive) to do get the ingredients for it. I did, however, notice that the recipe called for Mayonnaise as an alternative to olive oil. I decided then that I would atleast put a small bit of Mayo in their formula so they have a little extra calories, even if it’s minuscule. I put about 1/8 tbsp of Mayo in ~60mL of the formula, as well as 2 drops of karo syrup (they haven’t been pottying very well) and split the mixture into two bottles of 30mL each. I may disclude karo syrup in the mixture in the morning since they seemed to potty alright today. My next grocery trip is Saturday. If they continue gaining until then, I may stick to the formula so as not to waste it.

I calculated it to be about 2x the ratio of Mayo to formula as the Myra Savant Harris recipe. MSH calls for ~15mL of olive oil (or Mayo, in my case) in her ~877mL recipe. 15/877=0.017 I put about 2mL of Mayo in my 60mL formula. 2/60=0.033

 

[nizz]

3 hours later they gained even more

https://preview.redd.it/6chpa9sys3k...bp&s=57e062f7bc286f889630bfa4cf369e17e685e030