How and When to Bottle-Feed a Newborn Puppy

Plus, learn about how to prepare puppy formula.
In order to grow and develop properly, newborn puppies require their mother’s milk for nutrition. If a mother cannot nurse her pup, an alternative is needed. This may happen because she isn’t producing enough milk, isn’t present, or has rejected the puppy. In these cases, you must find another way to nourish the puppy. Thankfully, there are emergency milk replacement recipes and commercial puppy formula products available to help keep up with your puppy’s nutritional needs.

We talked with Elizabeth Fuller, DVM. Fuller serves as the Vice President of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians and Chief Medical Officer for the Charleston Animal Society in Charleston, South Carolina to learn the safe and proper way to bottle-feed your newborn puppy.

Do All Puppies Need Formula?

There are multiple reasons a puppy may require formula.

“A puppy may require formula as a supplement when the mother cannot make enough milk to satisfy the puppy’s needs,” Fuller says. A puppy may also require formula if she cannot nurse from her mother at all, including if the mother is ill or otherwise unavailable.

“Of course, puppies should nurse from mom as much as possible,” Fuller says. “There are benefits beyond just nutrition; behavior later in life is better when puppies are allowed to stay with mom for at least 8 weeks.”

How to Make Homemade Puppy Formula

Fuller directs owners caring for orphaned puppies to the resources available through Maddie’s Fund. Maddie’s Fund is committed to keeping humans and their pets together by providing funds and resources to help animals in need of care.

Maddie’s Fund provides two emergency milk replacer recipes, depending on the ingredients you have available at home. “It’s important to remember that this should only be used for a short period of time, until a commercial milk replacer can be obtained,” Fuller says.

How to Bottle-Feed a Newborn Puppy

When feeding a newborn puppy formula, it’s important to follow the instructions on the milk replacer carefully. “Mixing in the incorrect amount of water can cause constipation or diarrhea, both of which can be very dangerous for a puppy,” Fuller says.

According to Fuller, puppies should be fed on their stomachs with their heads upright. You should use a bottle with a small hole in the nipple, just large enough for the milk to drip out slowly. Your puppy should suck the milk out instead of having it fall into the mouth. It’s also important to not overfill your puppy’s mouth or force-feed them. “Feeding incorrectly will very likely cause pneumonia,” she says.

“Please remember that you should only care for an orphaned animal with the support of a licensed veterinarian,” Fuller says. “Puppies can become very sick very quickly, so careful monitoring is crucial.”