[labman]

From an email:

> I have a 7 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She is not eating,
> only when we force feed her. I am becoming very concerned because she is
> shaking and sleeping a lot. We have given her karo syrup and maple
> syrup as per our breeder. But she will not eat the food in her bowl. I have
> added chicken broth to her food to make it mushy so it will be easier
> for her to eat (kind of like water). Do you think maybe a bottle with
> milk or pedialite would help?

How long have you had her? None of my labs were ever that way, but some puppies take a day or 2 to adjust and start eating. If it wasn't for the shaking, I would say wait a day or 2. Skip the milk, puppies can't digest the lactose in it. The Pedialite couldn't hurt. Are you offering her the same chow as the breeder? In most cases, there is no good reason not to stick with what the breeder was feeding. The different chows may start with different ingredients, but they are all formulated to provide the same things.

When the crisis is over, check out the stickies at the top of the dog forum.

[rselle]

I have a king charles, these dogs are not big eaters to start with. Try a little plain yogurt with his food, don't change the food the breeder was using to quick, ad a little of the new food each day to get him use to it. You can also try cottage cheese. If he won't eat at all try a chicken hot dog cooked in the microwave and dried, cut it up real small and feed that to him, maybe even grind some up in his dog food good luck

[animal advocate]

This puppy is too young to try out different diets and methods to get her to eat. Take her to the vet. If she is shaking it could be that she is in pain, cold, ill or scared. The trauma of being taken away from her mother and litter mates could be traumatic for her. Also she may not have been weaned properly and doesn't know how to eat on her own. Also the breeder may have given her a vaccination that is causing this reaction. She could become dehydrated easily.

Again, please don't wait with this baby. Take her to the vet.

Molly