Chihuahuas

Can someone give me advice on how much to feed chihuahua puppies, they are not quite 24 hours old. So far I am feeding them until they turn their heads away and I am doing this every two hours. This was my dogs first litter and she ate the first one and tried to eat everyone after. She had 5 total, So far they are all thriving as far as I can tell. Any help would be appreciated.

My vet told me 5cc but only 1cc per minute but that was for apbt pups.Also my vet told me not to use a bottle because you could asperate the lungs but to use a tube. You have to have someone show you how.I went in to my vets office to learn how. Luckily I didnt have to do it.

What did your vet say when you called them? I would follow their advice. Is this her first litter? How old is the bitch? She may not be cut out to be mother material, not all dogs are perfect parents.

What are you feeding the bitch? Is she in a quiet area? Out of the way of heavy foot traffic? You shouldn't be allowing family and friends to poke and prod at a new litter of puppies or she may refuse to care for them at all. Are there other dogs in the household?

It sounds like you will have your hands full for a couple of months. Do you have puppy formula and puppy bottles on hand in case that is what the vet recommends? You may have to feed each puppy every 2 hours, around the clock.

Where is your mentor? You need them to be in close contact, especially right after the whelping.

Basset_Lover

Personally I would see if I could find someone else with a lactating female and see if she will adopt the pups.

The puppies need moms colostrum and I would suggest buying a muzzle to put on her every two hours to let the puppies nurse from her. Supplementing is good but nothing quite replaces good ole mothers milk. Dont know if you have already but do not give cows milk, they do not have the digestive enzymes to break it down. You may be giving dog milk replacer but just thought I would bring that up.

My lola is 4 years old, and she had never had a litter before. She has not shown any interest in them. I have tried several times to lay her down and hold her and put pups on her, but she won't let me and begins to scratch and bite at my had to let her up. She is not agitated with me othewise. She is not engorged either. I called the Vet he told me to use a dropper or a kit from the store, didnt mention using a tube, but I will look into that asap. they seem to be drinking well, and going potty afterwards and sometims before. I'm careful to make surethey don't get too much in their mouths while feeding them. I have them all in a box in some warm babies receiving blankets on top of some water bottles (assembled from zip lock bags) until I can go to petsmart and buy something better. I'm trying my best. As for a mentor I don't have one. I wasn't planning on breeding her ever but I hadn't gotten her spayed and we babysat a small male chihuahhua 60 some days ago and now here we are. Believe me it was a surprise to me to see her gaining so much weight. We have already talked to the vet about having her spayed as soon as is advisable. As for the little ones they are beautiful and I hope they survive.
Thanks for all your advice.

Teresa