45 days old shih tzu trowing up and not eating

Question
QUESTION: hi, i just got a shih tzu from a breeder. he was pretty active and playful when i met him at the store but started vomiting and not eating anything at all except water when i get him home. i took him to the vet and the doc gave him a shot and two syrups. that stopped his vomitting but he still don't want to eat anything, other then that he's as active and playful as any other puppy. i'm thinking og giving him milk but i heard it's bad of puppies. any advice on this would be very much appreciated.

ANSWER: Hi Vana,

You should not give your puppy milk if he's been weaned and is older than 6 weeks old. It can cause diarrhea.

What your puppy needs is medical attention. It's impossible to guess at what the problem is, and your puppy needs more than guesswork. Not providing medical care when it's needed is neglect. If you can't provide your puppy with the care he needs, you need to evaluate why you have a pet in the first place.

Best of luck,
Patti




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Petti, thanks for the advice and fast reply. i think maybe i might've sounded too detached or something like that anyway to have you suggest that i might've neglected Junior in anyway, medically or emotionally. i love him dearly. although it hadn't been 3 days, we've already seen two vets. i've tried loads of different kinds of baby food. on asking the cause of his sudden lost of appetite, one of the doctor said it's because of the change in his diet.i gave him  pro-pet just like his brother Rusty, a peke, when he first arrived.
the "problem" if you hadn't guess is his lack of appetite. the vet suggested that i give him a milk supplement for a while. i give him LACTOL, which he likes very much, thank god.
thanks for the advice about the milk though, much appreciated, i'll make sure he don't get a drop of it.i have no idea milk is so hard to digest.
after a couple of days of LACTOL, i'm thinking of giving him curd mixed with bananas or apples. good idea or bad idea? what do you think.?
Junior thanks you and so does Rusty

thanks,
Vana


Answer
Hi Vana,

I have to apologize to you.
I get a large number of these "all expert" messages, far too many are from people who's dogs are in desperate need of veterinary care. In your first message you didn't say that it was a milk replacement supplement, or that a doctor had prescribed it.

If you've only had your puppy for a few days, a change in diet could have caused some vomiting, and having an upset stomach could cause the lack of appetite. But if this has been going on for a few days, without improvement, I would think something more is going on other than a simple diet change/upset stomach.

Has your puppy been checked for "worms"? Many puppies are born with intestinal parasites, or get them while they're still nursing. A simple stool test would confirm this.

As far as feeding your puppy, have you tried hand feeding him puppy food? Sometimes this helps "jump start" them into eating. Try feeding your puppy a little cottage cheese mixed into his regular puppy food. If you aren't using a canned puppy food, you might try that. Warming the food a little is a good way of releasing it's odor, which can help entice a puppy into eating.

Since you already have Lactol on hand and you know your puppy likes it, mix some of it in with the puppy food. Grind up the puppy food and make a slurry or gruel. Once you get your puppy to eat the gruel for a day or two, start cutting back on the amount of Lactol so you're only feeding puppy food.

Another product you can try is called Nutri-Cal Puppy. It's a paste which can be given to your puppy to help keep up his energy and provide nutrition. Many Vets carry this product, or you can get it at larger pet stores, such as Petsmart or Petco.

You've mentioned being to the vet twice, if you can't get him to eat within the next 48 hours, you need to go back to the vet.

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti