Food Fussy Puppies

[moobee]

got an adorable litter of Koolie x pups just on 6 weeks (we think) in on friday. Underweight, thought to be full of worms (but worming friday and again today on vets advice (drontal puppy suspension from vet) has produced no sign of them out the other end) they had spent a week at the pound on pound dry food

so...

DAy one woofed down anything... small feeds, and about six of them!

day two, no problems,

Day 3 - Sunday - one not eating..... arrrgghh , syringe feed electrolytes and some divetalac...monday morning tried lots of things then he ate the mince from a chicken sausage...he seemed OK but a different pup was not eating..... Trip to vet, parvo test both pups, blood in stool but.....All clear ...though naturally we are still on high alert and following all quarantine proceedures

Monday lunch - all not particularly interested,

Monday afternoon tea - all but one eating (puree'd raw chicken thigh fillet)

Monday dinner ..... none of them want what they all scoffed for afternoon tea! tried again an hour age and still disinterest even for puppy milk!

have tried..... puppy porridge, puppy milk, divetalac, divetalac and farex baby cereal, optimum tin food, cat food, puppy rehydratable. naturesgift semidry, two other dry foods, vip roll mashed, chicken mince, beef mince, puree chicken fillet.........and various combinations of the above

any suggestions for something they won't be able to resist??? Have rescued over 50 pups in the last year and NEVER had a problem like this!!

also the little one is still not eating (Orlando)??? been syringing formula and electrolyte. he keeps it down, is sleepy but not lethargic, fights me every time i feed him, cuddles and plays...sniffs the food bowls but doesn't eat.

Also, just to verify i'm getting it right....Advice please on how much per feed/ how often. he's currently weighing in at 1.4kg

thanks all

[JAG]

Oh boy!!! That is a tough one. Have you tried cooking any of the meat to give it a tasty smell?? When all else fails here I use cooked/roasted chicken or cooked beef tongue. You could also try a cooked lamb shank.

Personally I would just go back to basics and not give them such a big choice. Try cooked chicken mince with plain yoghurt mixed in and a bit of cheese. If not beef mince with the cheese semi cooked.

Good Luck!

[moobee]

They haven't touched cooked stuff. Though haven't tried tongue.

When i say tried i mean nothing seems to even tempt them. The only thing they have actually eaten is puppy milk & farex (when it was obvious two of them were still basically lapping) and raw chicken (didn't eat the cooked) and this afternoon raw beef mince (human grade, wouldn't touch the pet stuff).... everything else they have sniffed, licked then left alone. when they do that i wait a while, take away what they didn't eat and leave it a while before the next thing.

If it wasn't for the fact they were so underweight already i would consider persisting with one food till they ate but they don't have any weight to lose! One being fussy i can deal with but when a litter won't eat ... We've had almost 70 puppies in our care in the last 12months and have NEVER had this before...

They all (except little Orlando who is still not eating on his own) seemed happy with beef mince this afternoon but who knows what will happen by dinner time? They loved chicken mince at afternoon tea yesterday but wouldn't touch it for dinner.

Oh boy!!! That is a tough one. Have you tried cooking any of the meat to give it a tasty smell?? When all else fails here I use cooked/roasted chicken or cooked beef tongue. You could also try a cooked lamb shank.

Personally I would just go back to basics and not give them such a big choice. Try cooked chicken mince with plain yoghurt mixed in and a bit of cheese. If not beef mince with the cheese semi cooked.

Good Luck!