Care and Management of New-Born Pups and Kittens

Proper feeding is very important part of pet care. By knowing and understanding what a pet’s requirement is, one can be sure that the pet will remain healthy and active throughout the life.

Here are the points to consider while managing a mother dog and pups or kittens:

Some birches are in habit of eating their own pups just after delivery. Be careful in such cases and do not allow her to do so during parturitions.
Allow the bitch to lick her pups for cleaning and proper respiration. If she is not doing that, clean the body and nostrils of the pups by yourself. Dress the navel cord with mild solution of povidone iodine each day after ligaturing and cutting it by a sterile scissors.
Since, eyes of the newly born pups and kittens are closed, assist them to reach the teats after proper cleaning of the udder and nipple of the bitch with lukewarm water containing little potassium permanganate.
All all the pups and kittens one by on to suck the first drawn milk from teats directly because it contain disease resisting substances.
Remove the pups and kittens and put them in a card board box or basket having soft bed made by cut newspapers underneath. Keep them warm by a soft towel/blanket or hot water bottle under the bedding. This box should be kept in front of the mother, so that she may take them out for licking and nursing as and when desired.
If the mother is not able to breast feed the pups or kittens provide them a mixture of a half cup cow’s milk, one teaspoonful of Nestle’s or Amul’s condensed milk, one spoonful glucose at body temperature with the help of a dropper. One tablespoonful of this mixture in sufficient for toy breeds, while large breed pups may need a half to one ounce of this mixture per day up to the age of about one week. Due to high content of lactose in cow’s milk may cause diarrhoea which may be corrected by feeding milk of magnesia.
In case of artificial feeding, remove the pup from her mother after 3-4 weeks of age. Provide 30 ml lukewarm fresh cow’s milk to each pup during 24 hours. Feeding of soup and puppy biscuits soaked in milk puddings can be started side by side. Change from liquid to solid diet should be slow and gradual.
Pups and kittens should be fed every 4 hours during the first weeks, reducing this to 4 times a day for 2nf and 3rd weeks. Thrice a day up to 16 weeks of age. Thereafter feed twice daily up to maturity and onwards. Pups of large breeds may fed five times a day up to eight weeks. Therefore 4 times till 16 weeks, 3 times up to 9 months and 2 times for the rest of their lives. Since the biological clocks of pets are very accurate, food should be given precisely at the same time each day.
Pups and kittens do not voluntarily urinate until around 18 days of age. Hence, if they are bottle raised, it is essential to tickle their anal and genital regions with moist finger or cotton swab just before feeding.
The pups and kitten should be regularly dewormed and vaccinated at proper time as per schedule recommended for the purpose. Start deworming and vaccination between 6-8 weeks of age after consulting your nearby vet.

Formula for Milk Substitute for Pups

Fresh Cow’s Milk	850 ml
Fresh cream	150 ml
Fresh egg yolk	1 egg
Steamed bone meal	5 to 6 grams
Vitamin A	2000 IU
Vitamin D	500 units
Citric Acid	3 to 4 gram

Warm this mixture to body temperature each time and feed to pups, 5 times a day until they start eating solid food. For each 500 gm body weight the requirement of this food is 90 gram daily. At 10 to 12 weeks of age, the pups should be given solid food gradually along with cooked meat. The coat colour may be improved by coating the skin with cod liver or AD oil.

Avoid night meals to growing pups.

Care after Weaning

It is advisable to wean the pups between 5-6 weeks and kittens at 6-8 weeks of age. The weaned pups should be proper trained in corner of room. As they get older, give them less newspaper so they learn to go in one area, then take them outside to ease on solid newspaper.
The best time to take them outdoors, when they are most likely to evacuate, is as soon as they wake up and a few minutes after they have been fed. Housebreaking is no problem with kittens given easy access to a litter tray.
Ideally, the pups should go to new home between 6-8 weeks and kittens 8-10 weeks of age.
The new owners should be told to give them same diet that they are used to.

Change in feeding, if required, should be slow and gradual.
After 8 weeks of age, the enzyme renin required for digestion of milk is not secreted in the digestive tract of pups. At this time, therefore develops a little disliking of milk. This is the time where we need to switch over to curd, cheese, boiled potatoes and eggs, corn flakes, other easily digestible food grains and cooked meat supplemented with calcium, Vitamin C and D.
Small quantity of food given at well spaced intervals is the key to success feeding. As a general rule of dog food should include 1/3 meat, 1/3 starch or carbohydrates (rice, rajma, bread, chapati) and 1/3 mixed vegetables (carrot, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers or any other fresh leafy vegetable). The amount of meat should be 5-10 grams per kg body weight.
Avoid feeding bones due to risk of injury to the digestive tract. Offer them dog chew in the form of raw hide bones for better development of teeth and gums.
Adding of little amount of cod liver oil, olive oil, sunflower or coconut oil and a pinch of salt and turmeric helps to improve taste and flavour of the pet food.
Fresh drinking water should always be made available to the pets.
Sugar and salt present in usual diet is not harmful but avoid feeding extra sweets to your pet. Mango, banana, papaya, orange etc. are suitable fruits for pets.

Exercise of Pets

Sufficient exercise should be provided daily to the pets for better upkeep growth and development. This may done either by walking or with the help of ball in the lawn, courtyard or park.

First Aid Kit

For household emergency, this kit should include Savlon, Dettol, Iodine, Soframycin cream, surgical cotton, gauze pads, gauze roll, adhesive tapes, band aid, flea and tick spray, electrol, dog shampoo/soap and few common medicines after consulting your vet.

For Erection of Ears

Provide neurogenic B-Vitamins and Vitamin C and E to the pets. Plaster round the base of ears or over the flaps of the ears with card board support from inside. Frequent taping of ears is also useful.