Neonatal Care
Puppy neonatal care is the specialized, intensive care required for newborn puppies from birth to 2-3 weeks old. Dr Estle and the Private Poots team have extensive experience with caring for young puppies and kittens. Please let us know as soon as possible if a newborn is failing to thrive.
Key Aspects of Neonatal Care:
- Environmental Control: Keeping puppies/kittens in a warm, draft-free environment. For the first week, they require temperatures between 84ºF – 89ºF (28.9ºC to 31.7ºC), as they cannot regulate their own body temperature.
- Nutrition and Feeding: Ensuring all babies nurse within 24 hours to receive colostrum, with close monitoring to prevent malnutrition or dehydration.
- Health Monitoring: Regular, often daily, weight checks to ensure they gain 5–10% of their birth weight daily, as weight loss is a critical indicator of illness.
- Veterinary Care: Private Roots can help manage risks like hypothermia, hypoglycemia, and neonatal mortality by examining for symptoms and checking reflexes. Merck Veterinary Manual.
Important Checks:
- Monitoring Feeding: Checking to see if the mother is producing enough milk and that all puppies are nursing regularly.
- Temperature Regulation: Setting up a whelping box with a heating pad set to low, covering only half the area to prevent overheating.
- Daily Weighing: Recording the weight of each puppy to ensure they are properly developing and doubling their weight within 7 to 10 days.
- Orphaned Care: Providing manual stimulation for urination and defecation in the absence of the mother, as well as formula feeding every 2-4 hours
- Deworming: Deworm as directed by the Private Roots Veterinary team and check a fecal for parasites before the litter’s 8-week-old examination and vaccination.
Veterinarian’s Oath
Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health and welfare, the prevention and relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.
I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.
I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence.
