The first milk the puppy receives should be colostrum, the mother's milk at the beginning of lactation, which offers a large amount of nutrients and defenses, although that is not always possible. Sometimes the death of the mother, the rejection of the parent, the abandonment of the children or various combinations, will make us need to know how to act in these cases. We know that the first days of life of the little ones are vital to be able to face the world and we cannot waste time.
From our site we want to help you learn how to make an emergency milk formula for puppies, in a homemade recipe.
Without a doubt, mother's milk is irreplaceable, always referring to a he althy and perfectly balanced dog. But in the countless circumstances that we find ourselves with the need to feed the puppies, this article can help them with the arduous task.
There is no better puppy milk than mother's milk
Without a doubt, breast milk, in all species (including the human species), is irreplaceable. All the nutrients that little ones needare offered by the mother, as long as she is in perfect he alth. We will not seek to replace this act of love but yes, as the title says perfectly, to act in an emergency.
Fortunately, there are infant formulas on the veterinary market for these moments that cover all the needs of puppies, dogs or cats, at this stage of life.
But to begin with, we need to clarify some basic concepts about milk and lactose: lactose in recent years has gotten very bad press due to intolerances and/or allergies in people and, therefore, we animal lovers question it as well. But lactose is nothing more or less than a sugar found in the milk of all mammals, vital for good nutrition.
In the intestine of puppies an enzyme is produced, lactase, which converts lactose into glucose and galactose, essential to offer energy to puppies during their first days. This enzyme disappears from the intestine as it matures and it is unnecessary to continue consuming milk as weaning time approaches. This would be the justification for milk intolerance in adults.
For this reason we must respect the weaning age so that our puppy grows up as he althy as possible and does not have to face diseases throughout his life.
Ideal milk levels for puppies
In order to evaluate, or better understand the nutritional needs of our puppy, we must make it clear what we will find naturally in our mothers, whether she is a dog or a cat [1]:
A liter of dog's milk will provide between 1,200 and 1,300 kcal with the following values:
- 80 gr. of protein
- 90 gr. of fats
- 35 gr. of carbohydrates (lactose)
- 3 gr. calcium
- 1, 8 gr. of phosphorus
Let's compare it with a liter of whole cow's milk, industrial, where we will find 600 kcalwith the following values:
- 31 gr. of protein
- 35 gr. of fat (higher in sheep's milk)
- 45 gr. of carbohydrates (lower in goat milk)
- 1, 3g. calcium
- 0, 8 gr. of phosphorus
Observing the nutritional contributions we can highlight that the composition of cow's milk is half of the contributions of our pets' milk, which is why we should double the ration. We must be aware that if we use cow's milk we are not nourishing our puppies in the right way.
For more information, check out this other article on Feeding Newborn Puppies.
How to make puppy milk? - Homemade recipe
According to the veterinary neonatologists of Venezuela, home formula recipes for puppies, both for dogs and cats, must be composed by the following ingredients:
- 250 ml whole milk.
- 250 ml of water.
- 2 egg yolks.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
However, the ideal is to opt for formulas that can be found in the marketor whatever puppy milk the vet suggests.
How should our puppy's milk feeds be?
Before starting this type of feeding it will be essential to weigh our puppies, (with a kitchen scale, for example). Many times we are not sure if they are in their first or second week of life and the important thing here is the caloric requirements:
- 1st week of life: 12 to 13 kcal/100 g of weight/day
- 2nd week of life: 13 to 15 kcal/100 g of weight/day
- 3rd week of life: 15 to 18 kcal/100 g of weight/day
- 4th week of life: 18 to 20 kcal/100 g of weight/day
To better understand the table above, we will give an example: if my puppy weighs 500gr and is a golden retriever, he must be in the first week of life since it still has traces of the umbilical cord and is dragging, so we should take 13 kcal/500 g/day: 65 kcal/day, so recipe 1 would be enough for 2 days. It will depend a lot on the size of our little animal and the choice of diet.
As we can see, the requirements change and, normally, the puppies would suckle from their mother about 15 times a day, on average, so we should calculate giving them artificial suckling about 8 feedings a day or every 3 hours This is common in the first week of life but later, we can space it out much more, until reaching 4 feedings in the third week when they will begin to eat porridge and drink Water.
The care and feeding of newborn puppies must be very intense, especially when they are smaller. Do not forget that having by your side a veterinarian to help and guide you in this exhausting and loving task will be essential, mainly so as not to forget any step when it comes to parenting.
