My 4-day-old puppy isn't feeding well and cries. What should I do?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that your puppy is not eating well and seems ill. Puppies need to feed approximately ever 2 hours when they are first born; if they don't, they can become dehydrated and also get dangerously low blood sugar levels. If the puppy is not feeding well and seems to not be thriving, I recommend bringing the puppy to your local veterinarian as soon as you can. Puppies can rapidly decompensate and even pass on their own when they aren't thriving. Bottle feeding is not the safest option for feeding puppies, as they can accidentally aspirate the milk into their lungs and develop fatal pneumonia. The safest way to feed newborn puppies is tube feeding, where you pass a feeding tube down into their stomach and directly deliver the food. This should be demonstrated by a veterinarian so you can do it safely. I hope this is helpful!

It sounds like the smaller puppy may have ‘failure to thrive’. This is especially common with puppies from large litters and not surprising since the mother dog is refusing to feed them. It sounds like the bigger pup is doing great and you don’t need to worry about him at all. You should get a small scale (like a gram scale) so you can weigh the smaller pup everyday to ensure she is gaining weight. It is a little early but you could try to start introducing puppy food her as well. You can mix the canned food with milk replacer or moisten kibble with the milk replacer and see if she prefers this. If she is not eating much it makes sense that she is not pooping as frequently. Continue to stimulate her to defecate several times a day. You should also have the puppies dewormed at this age as well. If the puppy continues to refuse food after trying the above suggestions, you may need to take her to the vet to be examined. Your vet can also instruct you on how to safely syringe feed (or possibly tube feed) the puppy to ensure she is getting proper nutrition. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck!

I'm so sorry to hear about your pup. First step is to warm him up. A Heating pad set on low with the cloth cover on will work. Other types of warm packs are ok too as long as there is a towel/cloth between the heat source and the pup. Keep heating until a rectal temp of 99 is achieved. Meanwhile, rub a small amount of white karo syrup or honey on his gums to help with low blood sugar. Between these two things he will hopefully perk up within 10-20 minutes enough to take the bottle/teat. Then feed as often as he cries. DO NOT try to syringe or force food until you are sure he is swallowing well as this can cause pneumonia if he accidentally inhales a little. Side note: I know it's silly, but be sure that you have poked a hole in the nipple of the bottle (many come with no opening which is weird). Sometimes, despite these efforts, a puppy will not respond and you will need to see the emergency vet for IV bloodsugar and fluids, etc. Even then, we sometimes cannot save them and they do pass. Many times these are the runts of the liver or we suspect there is something else going on (born with a congenital organ problem). Hope this helps and best of luck to you and the baby!

She is very young, the only things you can do for her at this point is feeding her with a puppy milk replacer every 2-4 hours, keep her in a warm place and give her a lot of love. make sure she is pooping regularly as well.

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Puppies usually start feeding in the first 2-3 hrs of their lives. You should try and 'latch' the puppy on the nipple. Once the puppy has open mouth you just need to put the nipple in the mouth and wait 20-30 seconds for the puppy to start feeding. If he is not taking any milk or keeps crying for another 2-3hrs, you should get in touch with your local vets. Milk replacer should be used only as the last resort.

I am so sorry to hear that one of the puppies doesn't seem to be thriving early on. This is very common unfortunately and it is called fading puppy syndrome, which is caused by a genetic defect with the puppy. You can try bottle feeding the puppy, keeping her warm, and get her checked to make sure she doesn't have a bacterial infection that needs to be treated for, but the chances of survival in cases like this are low. You can also try offering her small amounts of Karo syrup to keep her blood sugar levels up. But before all of that, check the roof of her mouth for an cleft palate defects, since that is a common cause for the symptoms you have described. I do hope that she does turn around, and do your best to help her. Take care.

Poor Mojo! He could be crying because he is hungry or cold, but without seeing him in person, I can't say for certain. I can say that newborn puppies are extremely fragile, and whenever there is problems with them, they have to see a vet immediately in order for them to have the best chance of survival. I would take Mojo into a vet right away for medical treatment.