6 week old puppy not eating

by stephanie
(portales new mexico)

i have a 6 week old puppy, the mother died 3 weeks ago. 2 of the puppies died 2 weeks ago. i took 1 puppy to the vet because his hiney fell out.

the vet won't see this puppy without payment up front, and i don't get paid til next week. this puppy is the runt of the litter, and she usually eats very good, but now she wont eat much,but shes drinking, and she has the runs.

is there anything i can do for her here at home to help her until i can get her to the vet next week?



Hi Stephanie
I'm so sorry to hear what's happened to your dog and pups, that's heartbreaking. Do you know why the momma and other puppies died? I'm wondering if there's some contagious canine illness or disease involved.

As for this little pup, I'm really not exactly sure what the problem is. If the diarrhea came before his problems with his little bottom, it could just be that he's straining too much.

Puppy diarrhea alone can cause dehydration and serious problems. You could try adding Gatorade or Pedialyte to your puppy's water, this helps to replace the minerals etc. lost in diarrhea. But regardless, this puppy really does need to see a vet.

Could you call around some other local veterinary clinics and see if you can find one that will let you set up a payment plan, maybe with just a percentage of the fee upfront? In my area some will do this.

If not, the only other thing I can suggest is to try my Ask A Vet page. For a small fee (usually around $10 or so), you can ask a licensed veterinarian for advice and get an expert answer fairly quickly.

Obviously, a real-life vet would be far more suitable in this situation, but while you're trying to set that up this might be a way to find out what is going on with your puppy.

I wish you the best of luck with her, hope everything works out well for you.