7 wk old with bloat? (!)

[corpuswinn]

We've had our puppy for about a week now. Until tonight he has been a very finicky eater. Won't touch any dry kibble, even if mixed with wet food and water. All he wants is this Pedigree wet food that I bought after hours the other day (I don't want to feed him this all of the time) or the cat's food. We had to do everything we could to keep him out of it last night. No playing-he would make a beeline for the cat food and cry loudly whe we put it out of his reach or blocked him out of the cat's room.

I noticed his belly was getting bigger yesterday. Tonight I fed him 1/2 can of Nutro Natural Choice Ultra Puppy and he has gotten really big.

I called the animal hospital & they gave me a few things to watch for tonight. I'll take him in if he gets worse.

My question to the board is: how much bigger is his tummy supposed to get after eating?

 

[Sabrina Jay]

It can take a few days for them to become adjusted to their new home & being away from mom and littermates. Puppies should never leave their mom & littermates until they are at least 8 weeks old (preferred age is 9-10 weeks).

Don't let him eat the cat food, as it can make him sick. Use the canned dog food to mix in with his dry to entice him to eat. You should be feeding him 3-4 meals per day, divided over the 24 hour period. I do not recommend leaving food down all the time, as it can make picky eaters and it is harder to housebreak them (because of no set schedule).

You need to take your puppy into the vet for a visit if you haven't already. All puppies need a vet check right off. You need to do a fecal and do the vaccines if they haven't already been given. A puppy goes thru a series of vaccines which are very important, early on. To me, it sounds like your puppy probably has intestional parasites. (overly-extended tummy). If the pup does, and depending upon the level of infestation, would depend upon how sick they can get with them.

Its not uncommon for puppies to also look overly round after eating, as most will over-fill themselves. (Another reason to do measured feedings.) Start with what is recommended on the bag, and adjust up or down, depending upon your dog. The amounts to feed on a bag are a TOTAL amount per day. All you need to do is divide that into the number of times per day you feed. (again, your pup should be eating at least 3-4 times per day, spaced over the 24 hour period).

 

[ZsaZsa&Eva]

Hi,
I experienced this with Eva when she was around your puppy's age. She would have a pot-belly after she ate her meals. My vet said that it was normal for puppies that age. She was so cute, waddling around with that belly after she ate! She will be a healthy 2 year old next month. Good Luck.
Thanks,
Monica

 

[corpuswinn]

Doing Better

Thanks for the posts! He is looking much better this morning. I probably just gave him too much food. The new food I gave him is richer as well...

He had his first visit to the vet four days ago. They didn't find anything in his fecal exam but they found tapeworms in our 15 yr old cat.

They gave us medicine for the cat, but 2 days later I saw live tapeworms in the puppy's stool. We called the vet, got medicine and I they all (?) came out (dead) in his stool this morning.

Can tapeworms cause gas and/or bloat?

Also, we adopted our puppy from a shelter at 6 weeks of age. I know that this is very early. He was in the shelter with his littermates for only 3 nights before coming home with us.

Is there anything we need to be concerned about or do differently with a pup that was taken away so young? The shelter insisted on neutering him before we took him home. Will doing this so young affect his health, behavior, ect.?

Thanks!