Emergency care for orphan puppies
If this is your first experience caring for a newborn puppy, you should contact your veterinarian for a second opinion.
Prepping the home:
To get started an appropriately sized incubator box should be prepared for the puppy. The bottom should be lined with soft, clean rags or newspaper. Heat may be provided by a heating pad on “low” placed under the box or covered tightly with a towel to prevent the puppy from crawling under it. The heating pad should be positioned so that it does not cover the entire bottom surface. This will allow the puppy to seek a cooler or warmer temperature as desired.
The temperature is important and should be checked at the level of the animal.
Puppies less than one week of age should be kept at a temperature of about 90 degree Fahrenheit. This can be dropped about five degrees each week until room temperature is reached by the 4th week. Smaller puppies require warmer temperatures that larger puppies.
A heating environment will require added moisture.
50% relative humidity is satisfactory. A humidifier in the room or one or two pans of water placed close to the puppy’s box will help meet this goal.
It is important to avoid drafts on the puppy, yet still provide ventilation. Place a ventilated cover over the box to control drafts.
Determine the correct feeding level
it is always easier to raise a puppy if it has been able to nurse from the natural mother for the first 24 to 48 hours. The colostrum milk it receives will provide some natural protection against disease.
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