Hi all - I have a 4 week old boxer puppy that is the runt of a litter of 9. He was always the smallest but he seemed just as healthy as the rest. Momma came to us already pregnant and not the healthiest. We immediately put her on vitamins and puppy food. As the puppies get older, all are thriving except the runt whom we call PeeWee. He is going down hill fast while the others grow. Momma still feeds them occasionally, but less and less. At feeding time PeeWee will come to the bowl and eat, but just for a minute. Then he'll just walk away and sit down. He'll come and play with us, but just for a minute and then he sits down and falls asleep. He just has no interest in food. He just doesn't have the energy I think. We've tried feeding him by himself so he can have all he wants. We've kept momma still so he could feed from her. Again he'll eat for a minute and then just sit down. Today we began to feed him a puppy milk substitute with an eye dropper. Any advice to help me save PeeWee is greatly appreciated.

At 4 weeks of age he shouldn't be weaned yet, he should still be getting his nutrition from mom, supplemental milk will probably not be enough.

Also is this formula specifically designed for dogs? I know it says in your post that it is, but I want to make sure. Dogs are lactose intolerant, so any milk based product is bad. The forumal you're feeding him must be designed for dogs.

A trip to the vet is a must.

Good luck.

I agree with Alty, he may need more nutrients added to his milk.

We had a runt years ago out of one of our Great Dane litters, we did everything we could, bottle fed every 2 hours, took him to the vet constantly. He eventually passed away at 2 weeks of age.

Runts usually have a lot of health problems and quite often organs haven't developed as well as they should have before they were born.

You need to get the pup to the vet to get him examined to make sure it is nothing too serious.