How much formula should I feed my 3-week-old puppy and how often?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! 3 weeks is young. I’d recommend a puppy milk replacer and bottle feeding for another week or 2. Then mix the puppy milk replacer in with canned puppy food and gradually add dry food over a couple of weeks. I like Purina proplan orhl’s puppy foods. Good luck!

Hello. I like to imagine the size of the puppies stomach. For a puppy this size, it is approximately the size of a tennis ball, so start with smaller amounts of the dry food & add a little more every day while decreasing the puppy formula. Decrease the amount of puppy formula equivalent to the added amount of gruel she consumes at each meal, which should be offered about 4 times per day. Timing is not so important, but formula in the morning & soft food the rest of the day says about right. Adjust the amounts as necessary. It is hard to overfeed a growing puppy. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

At 3 weeks of age, you can actually start introducing wet puppy food. I would wet it down with some puppy milk and put it on a paper plate. This way he can explore the wet food and try some. If your veterinarian evaluated him and say he is physically ok then I would not worry too much that something is wrong. I would just continue with trying to feed him the bottle but also offer and wean him onto the wet food. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Since you are bottle feeding I would start to wean sooner than if she was nursing from her mom. Milk replacers tend to either constipate or cause diarrhea. Since she is having loose stools I would have a fecal tested at the vet for parasites. Coccidia is common in puppies. By 2 weeks of age you can start dewormning with pyrantel pamoate every 2 weeks. Starting at 4-5 weeks offer canned puppy food and milk replacer twice daily. At 5-6 weeks mix canned with dry puppy food and bottle feed once daily and by 6-7 weeks just dry and off the bottle by then. Once stool a day is not enough. I would buy a different brand of milk replacer and mix with what you are using now to get a better consistency for the stool. 2.5 lbs=40 ounces, so you should be feeding 50 mls every 3-4 hours or 350 mls per day. I would divide that out every 4-6 hours and see how things go and start weaning in the next 1-2 weeks. I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Onyx is adorable! At 6 weeks old he can eat puppy food. I know you want to wait but it sounds as though he might not be getting enough nutrition and doesn’t want a bottle which indicates he is weaned. I would get canned puppy food and mix the puppy formula in to it. Feed small frequent meals, 3-4 times per day. I like Purina Proplan, Royal Canin, Iams, and Hill’s Science diet. Good luck

Great question! They should get 15-20ml per day for every 100g body weight when they are two weeks of age. Divide this by the number of feedings they get per day, which should be six to eight feedings a day, and that will give you how much they should get at each feeding. At three and four weeks, they should get 20ml per day for every 100g of body weight. This is just a rough estimate, however, and it's always better to underfeed than overfeed. Feed them until their belly is gently rounded but not beyond that. As long as they are steadily gaining weight, they will be fine. I hope this helps!

Every puppy milk replacer will have slightly different guidelines on how much to feed, so start by reading the directions. If you have more questions, then get a picture of the instructions so that we can officially tell you how much to feed. For example, Esbilac instructs that you use 30ml of reconstituted powder for every 115g of body weight per day. So for your puppy, he would need around 25ml per day. Divide this up into your daily feedings, which should be every 2-3 hours. So if you feed every 2 hours, then you would feed 2ml per feeding. Here is some more information on raising orphan puppies: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=576