Page 294 - Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 5th Edition

Feeding Puppies from Birth to Weaning 299

VetBooks.ir of colostrum decreases within 12 to 24 hours after whelping, Table 16-2. Average litter size and birth weight of dogs.*
primarily reflecting a decrease in protein.
The lactose concentration of colostrum is very low compared Breed Litter size Birth weight (g)
Airedale terrier 9 300
with that of mature milk (i.e., 1.0 vs. 3.4%) (Meyer et al,
Appenzell mountain dog 10 465
1985a). Levels of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium are very Australian silky terrier 3 -
high in colostrum and decrease after two to three days to levels Bernese mountain dog 5 445
Borzoi 9 450
that are lower than in mature milk (Meyer et al, 1985a).
Boxer 8 440
Just after whelping, colostrum contains high levels of iron, Cavalier King Charles spaniel 4 230
copper and zinc, which decrease within 48 hours postpartum Chihuahua 2-3 140
Chow chow 6 460
(Meyer et al, 1985a). Colostrum is high in vitamin A (Meyer et
Dachshund 4 215
al, 1985; Ferrando et al, 1975); colostrum levels increase the Dalmatian 5-6 -
liver reserve of vitamin A in puppies by 25% within a week Doberman pinscher 7 410
English bulldog 7 295
(Meyer et al, 1985).
English cocker spaniel 6 230
Milk is assumed to be a complete food for neonates. The English springer spaniel 11 375
composition of milk (i.e., water, protein, fat, lactose, minerals Fox terrier 3 260
French bulldog 5 215
and vitamins) is designed to support the normal growth rate
German shepherd dog 6 445
of neonates. Thus, the nutrient content of bitch’s milk in German shorthaired pointer 7-8 415
Table 16-4 summarizes the key nutritional factors for nursing Great Pyrenees ≥5 705
Hovawart 11 435
puppies. For nutrients in which the concentration in mature
Irish terrier 6 270
milk is unknown, values recommended by the Association of Labrador retriever 5 450
American Feed Control Officials for growth should suffice Maltese 3 155
Miniature dachshund 3 210
(2007). In lieu of other information, the key nutritional factor
Miniature pinscher 3 -
discussion for weaning and postweaning puppy growth pro- Miniature poodle 2-3 165
vides information that could be extrapolated to neonates Miniature schnauzer 4 155
Newfoundland 7 595
(Chapter 17).
Norwich terrier 5 225
Milk from different mammalian species contains the same Papillon 3 120
components but in different proportions. One reason for the Pekingese 2-3 -
Pomeranian 2 -
difference in milk composition may be the relative growth rates
Pug 3 -
of each species (Johnson, 1974). The faster the rate of growth, Rottweiler 7 -
the more concentrated the milk nutrients to support growth Saint Bernard 7 640
Scottish terrier 5 240
(Table 15-4). Bitch’s milk is higher in energy, protein and min-
Shetland sheepdog 4-5 260
erals than cow’s milk (Table 15-3). As with other species, the Shih Tzu 2-3 -
nutrient concentration in bitch’s milk changes with duration of Sloughi 3 670
Standard schnauzer 6 285
lactation (Adkins et al, 2001).
Yorkshire terrier 5 95
*Because of the very large variation in adult body weight (BW)
Water and number of puppies per litter, there is no direct relationship
between the birth weight of a puppy and the BW of the mother.
Water is one of the most important nutrients in orphan feed-
Puppies from largest breeds are approximately 1% of the bitch’s
ing. The normal water intake of puppies is relatively high. A BW, whereas a Chihuahua puppy averages 6.4% of its mother’s
normal puppy needs about 60 to 100 ml of fluid/lb body weight BW. However, there is a strong relationship between the weight
of the total litter and the bitch’s BW. On average, the total litter
per day (130 to 220 ml/kg body weight per day) (Lawler, 1991;
weight is about 12 to 14% of the bitch’s BW. This relationship
Mosier, 1977). On average, orphaned puppies should receive and the values in this table may be helpful to determine if indi-
about 180 ml of water/kg body weight to make orphan feeding vidual puppies are far below the average expected birth weight,
and to assess the bitch’s nutritional status during pregnancy.
successful. Water should be given until 180 ml/kg body weight
is reached if the milk replacer doesn’t provide this much water
at the recommended dilution.
Table 16-3. Optimal environmental temperatures for
Energy orphaned puppies.
Data from two studies show that bitch’s milk is extremely Age °Centigrade °Fahrenheit
digestible (Mundt et al, 1981; Kienzle et al, 1985). The ener- Immediate environment/
gy intake of suckling puppies can be expressed in terms of incubator for orphans
Week 1 29-32 84-90
gross energy (GE) because the energy digestibility is greater Week 2 26-29 79-84
than 95%. The high digestibility of milk maximizes its usage Week 3 23-26 73-79
and helps puppies survive the critical first weeks. Bitch’s milk Week 4 23 73
Environment around litter
is high in energy and provides about 146 kcal GE (610 Week 1 24-27 75-81
kJ)/100 g of milk.
Total milk intake per puppy is lowest during the first week of