Development
of the Heat Balance.
The
heart rate of a puppy at birth is 200 beats per minute,
the respiratory frequency is between 15 and 35 per
minute. The puppy is not yet capable of maintaining his
bodily temperature as the necessary reflexes have yet to
develop. At colder body temperatures the increase in
metabolism in minimal.
Shortly
following the birth, the puppy's temperature can sink to
as low as 27° C (80.6° F) and then, under normal
circumstances, gradually increases up 35.5° C (95.9°
F). After 1 or 2 weeks the temperature rises to 37.5° C
(99.5° F), and at the age of 4 weeks the body
temperature is independent from the environment.
Hypothermia
causes the heart and respiratory rates to decrease and
the puppy stops nursing, whereby this quickly leads to
dehydration. In the first few days following the birth,
massaging the stomach and the genital area with a damp
cloth (at body temperature) will stimulate respiration.
Premature
puppies can be recognized by the lack of hair around the
mouth and on the paws.
When
is Supplemental Feeding Necessary?
I
can give a few tips here but a lot is dependent upon the
experience of the breeder and their instincts.
A
healthy puppy constantly gains weight from their birth
onwards.
Newborn
baby's may lose a little bit of weight the first days,
but this shouldn't happened with puppies.
Newborns
may lose a little bit of weight but this shouldn't
happen in older puppies. Puppies should be weighed
immediately following their birth and again 12 hours
afterwards which should not show a loss.
There
should be a 10% increase in their weight when they are
are twenty-four hours old. The situation is
life-threatening when a puppy loses more than 10% of his
body weight. Supplemental feeding is then absolutely
necessary.
On
the average a puppy should double his birth weight by
the 8th to 10th day, at 17 days his weight should have
tripled and by 24 days quadrupled.
Feeding
the Puppies
Energy:
Puppies
are fed according to a particular formula based on their
weight and weight gain. For our breed the average birth
weight is 330 gr.
The
commercially manufactured puppy milk that I use has an
energy value of 4.2 Kilojoule per ml. When you use
another puppy milk the formula may change.
The
puppy should gain 10% per day (the following calculation
is based on the above mentioned average birth weight of
330 gr. 10% of which gives us 33 gr.) For each gram of
body weight 16 kilojoules are required, per day 528
kilojoules (33 gr. x 16). When the commercial milk
provides 4.2 kilojoules per ml than the puppy needs 126
ml (528:4.2) per day (24 hours).
At
8 feeding times per day each puppy needs 17 ml per
feeding. You could of course give 9 feedings daily (nights
every 4 hours, days every 2 hours) which would mean 14
ml per feeding.
The
puppy's nutritional requirements increase proportionally
with their increasing weight. The feedings are adjusted
accordingly following the daily weight control.
Water:
A
puppy required 150 to 180 ml of water per kilogram. A
puppy weighing 330 gr requires 50 to 60 ml per day.
Sufficient water intake is allowed for when feeding
according to the above described plan.
Warmth:
With
a normal litter a constant temperature of 24° to 27° C
during the first three weeks is recommended. Orphaned
pups on the other hand need a temperature of 30° to 32°
C during the first week and 27° C in the following 2
weeks. Thereafter the temperature can be reduced to 21°
to 22° C.
It
can be critical if the temperature goes above or below
the guidelines. A deciding factor here is the behaviour
of the pups. If the puppies sleeping peacefully,
distributed about the whelping box then this is a good
indication of the optimal environment.
Pipette
or Tube feeding?
When
feeding with a pipette (or spoon) the danger that the
pup will swallow incorrectly is great and possibly
resulting in suffocation. Therefore I prefer tube
feeding.To avoid possible injury a very soft, flexible
tube should be used. First you must "measure"
the pup: lay the tube next to the pup from the muzzle to
the last rib and mark it. Insert the moistened tube
carefully into the pups mouth allowing him to swallow it.
Be sure to check that the tube hasn't inadvertently gone
down the windpipe. In this case the air stream would be
felt coming out of the tube. When the tube is correctly
inserted, puppy milk is slowly feed for 1-1/2 to 2
minutes. The chance to go into the windpipe is extreme
low. In case you do the puppy starts coughing
immediately.
Milk
is always fed at body temperature and care must be taken
that no air gets pumped into the stomach.
Further
readings:
*
J.S. Mosier, Tediatrics The neonate
*
Psychotic differences between puppies and adults.
*
Meyer. Ernarung des Hundes,
*
Poffenbarger, Chandler, Ralston en Olson, canine
neonatology, Psysiologic differences between puppies en
adults
*
A. Thomee, Verdaulich und verträglichkeit von
hundemilch und Mischfutter bei Welpen unter besondere
Burücksichtigung der Fettcomponente
*
J.S. Van de Linde-Sipman, Neonontale pathologie van de
hond
*
Van de Weyden,Taverne, Dieleman, Wurth,Bevers en Van
Oord. Physiological aspects of pregnancy and parturition
in dogs.
