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The first 2 weeks of life are the most precarious for puppies. It is important for puppies to obtain the initial milk from the mother, called colostrum, as this contains high levels of antibodies to help protect them against disease. However, if the mother dies or rejects the puppies, or if there are too many in the litter for the mother to feed, the puppies will require hand rearing. This is a time-consuming process requiring a lot of patience, persistence, and care.
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What kind of environment do newborn puppies require?
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Since puppies under 2 weeks of age are unable to maintain their own body temperature they must be kept in an environment at 29 to 32°C, with 55 to 65% humidity. Their rectal temperature at birth is 35.6 to 36.1°C, increasing gradually to 37.8° by 1 week of age. Puppies should be placed in a crate or box lined with towels or another cleanable synthetic warm material. The box should have a heat source to maintain optimum environmental temperature, and should be large enough for the puppies to move away from the heat source if they are too hot. Hot water bottles or heat lamps are often used.
Cold puppies will huddle together, piling on top of each other, and cry more, whereas if they are widely separated they are probably hot.
The environmental temperature can be reduced to 27°C after 1 week, then to 22°C after 4 weeks.
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How do I feed newborn puppies?
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There are mild formulas available for puppies, and these will have feeding guides as to how much to feed depending on the age of the puppies; Puppies less than 2 weeks of age need to be fed every 3 to 4 hours, gradually reducing to every 6 to 8 hours at 4 weeks. Bottles and teats designed for feeding different sized puppies are available, and these need to be sterilised between uses, as for human babies.
You can start to offer milk in saucers from 2 weeks of age, gradually mixing in greater proportions of puppy food. Puppies can be weaned entirely off bottled milk as early as 4 weeks of age.
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Stimulating puppies to go to the toilet
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The mother would normally lick the area under the tail to stimulate the puppy to urinate and defecate. In her absence, you will need to clean this area with damp cotton wool or tissues after a feed to ensure regular toileting.
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How do I know if a puppy is unwell?
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The most common signs of illness are persistent crying, decreased activity, reluctance to feed, failure to gain weight, and weakness. Crying for more than 20 minutes is abnormal - it may indicate that the puppy is cold, hungry, or ill. Eventually the puppy will stop crying and become weak and cold. Since newborn puppies can become seriously ill and die very quickly, contact your veterinarian for advice if you are concerned about a puppy's behaviour.
Low body temperature (hypothermia) is a common cause of newborn puppy death. Hypoglycemia refers to low blood sugar levels and is due to insufficient food intake. Signs of hypoglycemia include weakness, depression, and muscle twitching. It is treated by giving a few drops of glucose solution such as Glucodin into the mouth. If this doesn't alleviate the signs, and the puppy's body temperature is normal, consult your veterinarian.
Diarrhoea is a common problem in hand-reared puppies, and can lead to rapid dehydration, infection, and death. Feed milk diluted with boiled water, but if this does not improve the diarrhoea within 24 hours, or the puppy shows other signs of illness, consult your veterinarian, as hospitalisation may be required.
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What veterinary treatments do puppies require?
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Puppies should be wormed from 2 weeks of age at fortnightly intervals until 12 weeks of age. They need to be dosed accurately according to weight. The first vaccination is at 6 to 8 weeks of age in most cases. However, some breeds in some areas require extra parvovirus injections, and some litters need earlier vaccinations if they have not received the important first milk (colostrum). Colostrum contains antibodies that provide some immunity to disease, provided the mother has her vaccinations up to date. Conatact your veterinarian for advice on the appropriate vaccination program for your puppies.
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Dr Rebecca Bragg BVSc
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