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Puppy Is Three Weeks Old, Belly Looks Swelled, and wont eat
Sent to Dog Experts July 17 03:50 AM

One puppy out of six isn't eating very much, he doesn't suck at all hardly, acts like it hurts him, and his belly looks swelled, he did go too the bathroom today, but he cries alot, like hes hurting when he gets picked up, or tries to eat, the other five puppies are fine, what can i do, i can't afford to take him to the vet, what are your suggestions, he tries to eat, but it's like i have to force some of the puppy milk into his mouth by squezing the bottle very little at a time, and then he sucks it down, but his belly does look red and purple like and swelled.

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
July 17 8:52 AM (5 hours and 2 minutes and 11 seconds later)
         
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The swollen belly may be an indication of a birth defect that is keeping him from thriving. Dogs have large litters and not all live to grow up in the normal course of things. He could have a heart, or liver, or kidney defect.
The pup may have ingested some thread or string or something from its bedding that is impacting the gut.
The pup may have a more severe than normal infestation of worms.
He could have a problem where his bowel is twisted or telescoped in on himself too.
Unfortunately many of the problems are things that do need vet care if the pup is to survive.
About the only thing you can home treat is if its worms and the poison in a worm medicine might kill him if he is as sick as you say.
You can try stimulating him by rubbing with a damp facecloth and try to make sure you stimulate him to eliminate. Do not feed him if he is chilled as that will leave him with food that will rot in his stomach instead of being digested. If he feels cool to you warm him by letting him sleep on a low temp heating pad or near a hot water bottle. Make sure he can get to and away from any heat source easily so he can regulate his temperature.
Its likely though that you will lose this puppy without vet attention and you may lose it even with vet care but unless you have a vet look at it you won't know if you could save it or not.
Some pups you can't do anything for - nature seems cruel but not all pups make it.
Hope this helps you - and good luck with the puppy!



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