weight gain after litter

Question
hello, i have a concern with my 2 year old boxer. she had her first litter of 7 puppies on august 24th. she has lost a LARGE amount of weight and she looks very sickly. we feed her 3-4 times a day and she contently drinks water. i have called the vet and they just say its because shes feeding her babies. how can i get her to gain weight?
another question i have is in regards to her feeding. my problem is that she wont. she will sit for less then 5 min and then get up and leave. i have to make her go to her whelping box and make her sit but that only lasts as long as I'm in the room with her and at night she doesn't feed either. when i get up at night i check in on her and she is sleeping on the floor and not in the whelping box. can i give the puppies something to replace breast milk? the vet said to wait 4 weeks then switch to cereal. what do you recommend i do? this is our first litter and we are just starting to breed, i feel foolish for not knowing what to do. i was very well prepared for the birth and most everything else I'm just coming up short on the feeding issue.
thank you for your time

Answer
Hi Jessica. If these pups were born on Aug. 24th, that would put them at 4 weeks. This is the normal time when a lot of Boxer moms quit fooling with the pups. You can go ahead and try soaking their puppy food in water or puppy formula and see how they do. I'd say they'll take right to it, and maybe you won't have to do night feedings anymore. As for mom, it'll take awhile for her to get back into shape. You can get some Nutri-Cal from your vet for her and the pups. This will give them extra calories and nutrients. To dry mom's milk up, reduce her food and water intake just a bit, and apply cool compresses to her breasts. Be prepared, it may take a few weeks after the pups are weaned for her to start to put some weight on. One thing, have you wormed them yet? If not, you may want to think about doing it now, or at least worming mom. This may help her out a lot. It sounds to me like mom is done with the pups, or at least feeding them. If they take to the puppy food, then you may also want to think about weaning them now. This will also help mom with her weight problem. If I can help with anything else, let me know!