weaning

Question
hi Disney my yorkie had 9 pups on the 17th DEC. sadly one died on the 19th DEC. the other 8 are doing great and putting on weight every day, although Disney is looking very thin now and I've brought milk, victims she hates going to the vets at the best of times, what else can i do , someone said wean them early but I've read on the net this is bad for them.

please can you give me any info, dad is also a yorkie of the same size 5lb

Answer
Bev,

I think the fact that she had 9 puppies is amazing.  It is no wonder she is thin and doesn't have enough milk for all the puppies.  Of course it is not good to wean puppies before its time but if you have to do it then you have to.  What you need to do is get some Gerber baby cereal.  It comes in a box and it is in flakes.  Rice is the best thing to get.  What you need to do is mix the cereal with warm milk until it is watery.  Feed it to the puppies while it is still warm.  It is easy to digest and it will give them the nutrition they need.  As for mom you should bake some chicken and then chop it up into small pieces and feed it to her.  As long as she can tolerate it and it doesn't give her diarrhea then continue feeding that to her until she puts on a little weight.  You must keep a close eye on the puppies, they can starve to death in as little as a day when they are so small.  As they get bigger you can increase the amount of flakes and make the mixture thicker.  At about 6 or 7 weeks you can do the same with puppy chow, mix it with warm water until it gets really soft and then mash it up so they can eat it.  As they get older you can gradually reduce the water until they are eating the puppy chow hard.  

If you think that your mother still has enough milk for all you can try giving her the chicken as I suggested and give the puppies the cereal but also allow them to nurse.  You will have to make the decision on what is right by how the puppies and mom are acting.

I hope all goes well and that everyone get fat and healthy real soon.