Abandoned puppy is sick and bloated

by Dana
(Douglasville Ga)

someone had left a 5 wk old puppy to die and I brought it home to at least try to help it. the baby is TINY - no where near what she should look like at this age. I started giving her mooshy puppy food mixed with a home made formula, and she was eating it up at first. I read that a formula alone was better, and she was constantly trying to nurse on me, so i switched to formula alone and now she is vomiting and lethargic. Her stools were ok, but no matter if it was formula or food she stays looking bloated.

I wondered if it were worms or a hernia possibly, she has a tiny lil bump on the spot where her umbellicus might have been. I'm very worried, I wondered what I could do for her. She had firm but puppy type stools before on food, now with formula she is having diarrhea. The formula I am using is a mix of karo syrup, water, evap milk, and egg yolk that I found online that seemed to be very popular. I have stopped the formula, and will try to get her to eat some pup food again.

If you can help me at all with this lil girl Id appreciate it so much. Thanks.





Hi Dana
This is difficult as you've no idea of her history, and the symptoms you're seeing could be due to stress, change in diet, worms, sickness or any combination of the above!

If she's 5 weeks old she should be able to eat puppy kibble, even if it's soaked in warm water or proper puppy formula. She really only needs water to drink.

I would imagine that she does have puppy worms as most puppies do, and if she's not been properly taken care of then they could be quite severe. You really need to have a vet take a look at her as over-the-counter dewormers aren't very effective and can even be unsafe. Your vet can give her a proper medication and she also needs some puppy shots as she's at risk of getting sick.

It's possible that she also has a small hernia, this is pretty common, but isn't generally serious unless complications set in.

She's been a lucky little girl so far to have found someone who is loving and willing to take care of her. She could easily have died if left alone. However, she does need some veterinary help too if she's to have a good chance at growing up healthy, so I'd recommend taking her to your vet asap.

Apart from that, just plenty of rest, a good nutritious diet and lots of rest should be 'just what the doctor ordered'!

I wish you the very best of luck with her and hope that she makes a full recovery and gets over her rough start in life.