I have found that plain canned goats milk to be my best friend in these cases. I use it full strength.
I have NEVER had good luck using the puppy suppliments like Esblac.
Contrary to popular believe of some vets, goats milk is the most easy to digest of all the milks.
Infact its also what most DR. will recomend for children that have allergies to cows milk.
Make sure it is canned goats milk as it has been pasturized and does not carry unsafe microorganisms.
I have found that for toy puppies the easiest way to feed them the goats milk is in a small syringe.
You just slowly squirt it into their mouths and the will usually latch onto the syringe and drink like they are suckling off
mom. For standard puppies I have been told by several breeders that using the even flow baby bottles works wonderfully.
NOTE: If it is possible to get the puppies to nurse off mom at all please do so especially in the first
few days so they can get all the colostrum possible. It is this colostrum that provides the puppies with the vital antibodies
and immunities that their mother has to keep them healthy. Also if it is at all possible to place your puppies on a
surrogate mother rather than hand feeding this is also best as long as its not straining the surrogate mother and her
puppies.
I usually will feed the straight goats milk up till 4 weeks of age if I am supplimenting. If I am
feeding the whole litter without mom I will usually start adding some "extras" to the goats milk at about 2 weeks of age.
This helps to aid in the nutrition the puppy is getting and helps with weight gain. I got this from Linda over at Daisy
Hill Poodles. She uses this formula from birth throughout.
Here is Linda's puppy formula
1 can
(15 oz) Goat's milk ---
Look
for it near the evaporated and condensed milk aisle or on the baking isle, don't call and ask if they have it. They
will say no, because most don't realize they carry it, but they do. Just go look for it!
1
Carton Plain Yogurt (8 oz) -- (optional as I recall)
1
Egg (YOLK only)
2 Tbsp
light Karo syrup
Mix thoroughly
and keep refrigerated.
It keeps
for 4-5 days.
Usually at 4 weeks I will start
to introduce real dog food into the mix. I will take the dog food that I feed to my mothers and puppies, usually Purina
One Puppy, and I will put the dry food in a blender and blend it until it is powder (I have found the little magic bullet
blender, like you see on T.V., to be the best for making a nice powder and its quick and easy).
I then add 3/4 cup of goats milk
to 1/4 cup of the dog food powder and add 1 egg yoke and mix well. It will usually come out like a thick shake.
It can be kept in the Fridge (it will get thicker as it sits). If it gets too thick to use in your syringe you can add
some hot water or more goats milk to thin it down. If your puppies are ready to eat out of a dish just pour it in.
It is more messy for them to eat out of the dish but much easier on you.
At about 5 weeks of age I quit
grinding the dog food into powder and just soak the full kibble in the goats milk and egg yoke mixture so that the puppies
start learning to chew. Then at 6 weeks I will just soak the kibble in water. Soon you will find that the puppies
will eat the dry kibble on their own. But don't forget to give them a fresh bowl of water at all times. Poodle
puppies drink water like crazy.
