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Caring For Orphan Puppy Health ProblemsThe Resource for Everything About Dogs |
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Caring For Orphan Puppy Health Problemsby Judy Wellsworth
Immune systems in a newborn puppy leave the puppy susceptible to disease and infections. As the immune system builds up strength, the puppy will become less susceptible to health conditions resulting from bacterial, fungus and viral infections. Puppy health problems result from many different things including dirty birthing areas and unkempt sleeping areas. The mother cannot do everything, the owner or breeder has to help. The number one thing to remember is the puppy needs to drink from the mother right away, which supplies some antibodies needed by the puppy. The colostrums from the mother?s milk are at peak time about eight hours after birth. If the absorption level is low, usually after twenty-four hours, you need to contact the vet immediately so he can perform a blood test and test for antibodies and then inject the serum from the mother under the skin of the puppy to protect from infection and disease. This is vital to the puppy?s health and long life. Caring For Orphan Puppy Health Problems If you are faced with an orphaned puppy, proper care and some knowledge about what you need to do is extremely important to protect the puppy and make sure the puppy grows up to be healthy and happy. Sometimes a mother may not have milk for the puppy or she may have complications and die, or the puppy could be abandoned, either way you need to be the surrogate mother. Because a puppy?s so weak when born there body?s have a hard time keeping warm, you need to have a heat lamp overhead to keep the puppy warm to prevent hypothermia, which will kill the puppy very quickly. This is caused because their thermoregulatory system is not fully developed. The heat of their bed must remain at eighty-five degrees for at least two weeks after birth. Some people use hot water bottles, but then once the heat is gone you need to replace the bottle, therefore a heat lamp is ideal. Nutrition and timed feeding are important and cannot be rescheduled or missed by even an hour. These puppies need to eat at the precise time to ensure they stay healthy. Formula from the vet or a pet supply store will provide the nutrition the little puppies need to grow. Never use milk you drink, cow milk or goat milk as it does not have everything the puppy needs to survive. If you use something other than milk formula made for a puppy, slow growth and possible cataracts could cause health problems in the puppy. Vaccinations for Orphan Puppy Health Problems You need to take the puppy to the vet to have the proper vaccinations that fight against parvovirus, distemper and rabies. The overall health will be checked and the puppy should be all set to start running and playing in the yard and with other animals. Keep in mind, this puppy thinks you are their mother, so you have formed a bond and so have they, separation may be hard to do if you need to give them away after bringing them this far.
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