We just rescued a pup from our local animal shelter, they CLAIMED this puppy was about 6 weeks old, that the litter of 4 had been brought in 10 days ago having been found abandoned. Now, this pup (which has A lot of lab in him) is TINY, only weighs 3.5 pounds. We're guessing it MAY be about 5 weeks at THIS time, MAYBE. We brought it home and it won't eat, won't drink, and hasn't for 2 days. Carried him to the vet yesterday and they gave him 150cc's of saline via IV because he appeared to be getting dehydrated. He had worms and diarrhea. Vet de-wormed him, gave him something for diarrhea, and now he has no worms, but still has the squirts

The only thing we were able to get him to eat was a mixture of baby strained chicken and plain brown rice. Needless to say, he still has the diarreha, but its solid rice coming out. He barely drinks any water at all. He seems depressed, and skiddish. He'll only play for about 5 minutes after he wakes up, and using the word "play" is being generous. In general, he just doesn't seem happy and only wants to sleep.

We're using a crate to keep him in, but I fear that leaving him in the crate tomorrow (for approx 6-8 hours) when my wife and I both go to work, that all that will do is stress him out more as he just whimpers and cries if one of us is not in sight.

We've had puppies in the past, and have never ran into problems like this, and are really at a loss of what to do or how to fix it. Im not sure who is stressed more, the puppy or my wife and I.

He needs to go back to the vet.
The rice coming out sounds like he was loaded with worms and the dewormer has killed them, and he is shedding them.
But, go back to the vet.

There are dog and pet experts here that will be able to advice you better,but if you can carry the pup close to your chest as much as possible,stroke and nussle him,keep him warm,and get him back to the vet as soon as you can.

He needs to go back to the vet.
The rice coming out sounds like he was loaded with worms and the dewormer has killed them, and he is shedding them.
But, go back to the vet.
Its not worms, it actually IS rice coming out, it's the rice that he ate. I saw the worms in his stool when we first brought him home, those are gone. He's just pooping out what went in, but the rice just went through him without really digesting. We're probably going to take him back to the vet tomorrow after I get home from work, just trying to get a feel from others that may have experience with this.

Yanno, when we made this decision to get an animal from the pound, we wanted to do the right thing rather than buying from a breeder. Last time we adopted from an animal shelter (25 years ago), THAT puppy wound up having distemper and we had to have it put to sleep at 10 weeks old (2 weeks after we brought him home). And just like this pup, we carried him to the vet too to make sure he was healthy and starting his life on a healthy note. This is just depressing. :(

there are dog and pet experts here that wil be able to advice you better,but if you can carry the pup close to your chest as much as possible,stroke and nussle him,keep him warm,and get him back to the vet as soon as you can.
Yea, we're doing that. He is just like a baby right now, and loves being held close. Little guy only weighs 3.5 pounds. I think I'm going to go in late tomorrow and get him to the vet first thing in the am.

I'm sorry I can't help you,try and keep him hydrated anyway,I'm reluctant to say anything else in case I'm wrong,and it sounds like a sick little pup.

Can you ring the vet?

can you ring the vet?
Not today. Like I said, he'll be seeing the vet first thing in the morning though.

Do the best you can,keep an eye on your post,hopefully someone will come and be more helpful.

Todd, You might try giving him infant formula until you can get him to the vet again. Make a soup out of his regular food. For a pup that young and that sick, it is the highest density nutrition that you can give.

Also, check with the vet on just how old he/she thinks the pup is. Shelters have been known to get pups mixed up especially if they have multiple litters.

Good luck with the little guy. I hope we get to hear better news about him.

Thanks Cat. I picked up some "puppy formula" today, he took about 3 slurps, and walked away. At the moment, we're fixing some more of the rice and baby strained chicken since yesterday that seemed to be the only thing he would eat. We just got to get SOMETHING in his tummy, he has NO energy.

Im not sure if this board allows for images, but lets see if this works. This is the little guy and ALL he's done all day long.

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs257.snc1/10432_132031704653_719104653_2318949_2195763_n.jpg

Did they test for parvo while at the clinic?

Did they test for parvo while at the clinic?
Yep, tested for that yesterday, test came back negative. Also tested for "coxy" something or other, unsure of the pronunciation. Since he was starting to get dehydrated, they gave him an IV of 150cc of saline. I imagine they'll test for a couple other things tomorrow. I want a distemper test done too to rule that out as I said in another thread I think, we had to have the last pound puppy we got 20 years ago put to sleep after just 2 weeks (puppy was only 10 weeks old). I do NOT want to endure that emotional pain again.

Coccidia most likely. I'm actually very surprised they didn't keep him on IV for a few days.

Coccidia most likely. I'm actually very surprised they didn't keep him on IV for a few days.

That's what it was.

He was actually fairly alert yesterday, seems like today it went further downhill.

Well, keep a close eye on him, and just make sure he's getting his liquids. That's about all you can do aside from calling an emergency vet.

The vet may have some better ideas for you but whenever one of my dogs or puppies gets the sqirts, I open a can of pumpkin. They love it and it works. He is soooo cute!

He is an adorable creature. Hopefully all will go well with the little guy.

I think you should go out and get a baby bottle to put the puppy formula in.

That, and a wind up clock that ticks. It mimics the sound of a mother's heart.

Also, get a nice, stuffed animal to put in his box. Something he can snuggle up to.

Good luck to you and the puppy.

We just got a bottle about 30 minutes ago from a friend that has a newborn. When he wakes up, we're going to give that a try. I just don't want him to get TOO used to being bottle fed. My wife and I both work during the day.

we just got a bottle about 30 mins ago from a friend that has a newborn. When he wakes up, we're gonna give that a try. I just dont want him to get TOO used to being bottle fed. My wife and i both work during the day.

I understand that. Maybe he was weened too soon.

Maybe he has the blues. I hope everything works out for you.

I think you did the right thing adopting him. I'm going to get another puppy myself in the next couple of weeks. I'll be going to the pound.

It looks like you got a good one.

Well, the bottle with the mothers replacement milk didn't work. :( he just went pee/poop, and 5 minutes later, asleep again.

The main thing with the replacement milk is getting nutrients in him so that you can get him to the vet again.

We got an eyedropper, and he still wouldn't take the milk, but we got some gatoraide in him. I just couldn't go to sleep knowing he hadn't drank anything since yesterday. It def. seemed to help and perked him up a bit. Every time we do get anything in him, it almost seems as if he's aspirating it as he coughs for a good while afterwards. Time for bed now, so hopefully he/WE can get a bit of sleep tonight before its time to get up and go pee in a few hours. LOL

Todd, I just replied to the same question that you posted in a different topic.
It helps to only post a question once on the forum.

Apologies to anyone that has already offered this information but I will cut and paste it here as I do not have time at the moment to type a reply out all over again.


Tough situation, firstly let me say thank you for adopting the little tyke.

First thing I would do is grab some Pedialyte from your local chemist /Pharmacy.

Is he drinking water? Or is he still drinking milk?
To encourage him to drink the water and keep him hydrated firstly use the pedialyte, then you can try adding a dash of puppy milk to his water (NOT cows milk)

If he is reluctant to drink then feeding him with a syringe or even a baby bottle might be your best bet until he is in better health.

As for the food, what you are feeding sounds good... Have you thought about trying some puppy dry food?
It is a little more balanced for them.

To encourage him to eat that you just need to soak the dry food (say 1/2 a cup) in 1/4 of a cup of boiling water for half an hour.
It will basically turn to mush and will be easy for puppy to eat.
On top of that he is getting even more hydration from the water it is soaked in.

If the diarreah continues for much longer you will have to take him back to the vet.

Good luck with your puppy, I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

The verdict is in. He has a mild intestinal infection. Doc has him on anti-biotics, and some IAMS perscription dog food specifically formulated for intestinal problems. They gave him another 150cc's of saline, technicians hand fed him the food (which we tried, guess he didn't like the stuff we had here), and he's now home and a completely different pup. He's eating and drinking normally, poop is still very runny, but is starting to get thicker, which means we're on our way to good health. After we got him home this afternoon, he was running around 100mph for about 45 minutes or so, then like a light switch, crashed and burned for a couple of hours. Woke up, pee'd, pooped, ate/drank, was wide open puppy again for about the same amount of time, and is now crashed and burned again. Finally acting the way a puppy his age SHOULD act.

We will be dropping him off at the vets for $10/day for the next 2 work weeks so they can moniter him and get him on a good schedule. With him only being just now about 6 weeks old, and both my wife and I working, I hated the thought of leaving him home alone for 8 hours a day in his crate. He just needs so much attention right now, that it just wouldn't be fair. They take the puppies out to play 3-5 times a day and do a great job with them, so for me, its money WELL spent. At 8 weeks, he should be healthy enuff that he's not pooping water (really good if he HAS to go in the crate, it won't be running everywhere).

Thanks to EVERYONE for all of your suggestions. We tried them all, and finally, last night about 11 just before we turned in for the night, we finally got him to take some gatoraide from a dropper. This looks like a GREAT place to get good information, and I appreciate all of your responses.

Thanks for the update. I am glad he is going to be okay. :)

That's great you got the problem figured out Todd.

I hope he continues to keep getting better.