What can I feed 5-week-old puppies if mom stops nursing, no formula?

At this point mom has generally begun to wean her puppies. Offer water, regular dry kibble, kibble soaked in warm water and canned food. This does need to be a large breed puppy formula for the food. There’s a brand that makes a food specific for weaning puppies called Royal Canin and I recommend to pick some up at the pet store or online. You may need to smear some of the food on the puppy’s mouth so that it gets the idea. Also allow him to see mom eating so that he has the desire to copy her. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! At this stage you can try to feed him puppy food. You can water it down to make it softer or just feed him the wet kind. If he is not wanting to eat that yet, you may have to start him on a milk replacer until he is a bit older (perhaps a few more weeks) and try solid food again at that stage. Have a good night!

Hello. This should get you through until you can pick up some puppy nursing formula: 1 cup whole milk 1 tsp salad oil 1 drop children's multi-vitamin ( if you have any ) 2 egg yolks. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Puppies get weaned between 4 and 6 weeks, so it is probably just time! I recommend mixing water with canned puppy food (or dry puppy food) to make it really wet and mushy. The puppies will often play in it and then lick it off their paws. Here is a helpful article: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2108&aid=887

Mom should have enough milk for all five puppies and you should not need to hand feed them formula. If you think they are not getting enough milk, have it verified by your vet. In that case you can supplement with puppy formula while they are still feeding from mom.

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 two weeks they are able to eat both semi solid foods and puppy milk formula, they are likely willing to lap and may not need syringe feeding. More than likely she will return to feed them, they should start gradual weaning from now even if she does in case she wanders again!